What do you think of Antony & the Johnsons?

he is playing portland sept 5 with the oregon symphony [nico muhly conducting]. does anyone have a link to the presale password?

as for the thread title...i like him. seen him 3 x's and would really like to catch this portland show.

I saw him at Doug Fir in Portland. It was flawless. Would love to see this symphony show, (though I think it's up against Steel Pole Bathtub...)

Whoa, they reunited? Didn't hear about that! Forget who I saw them open for way back when...

Ned likes Antony? would never have guessed that...

i think, "david tibet has finally lost his fucking mind."
-- your null fame

GOLD

Ned likes Antony? would never have guessed that...

Erm, am referring to Steel Pole Bathtub.

I knew he was talking about SPB. I could tell because he sounded excited.

Ned, I was talkin bout this, rather:

This guy.

-- Ned Raggett, Wednesday, May 2, 2007 12:58 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Link

Hahah, the unspoken tone of that was VERRRRY dismissive.

What does a Ned Raggett think of Hercules & Love Affair, then...?

x-post nate carson::

i see that this http://www.musicfestnw.com/performers.html is happening in september. do you have a link to a better schedule? i would like to catch the nightmarchers and a few other bands but the website schedule is not complete.

I don't have a link yet, but I should soon as I'm writing previews on like 15 bands for this thing. It's sponsored and curated by a weekly I freelance for...

I'm sure this has been discussed elsewhere, but why does this guy sound exactly like Nina Simone? Is it a coincidence, or is it deliberate?

What does a Ned Raggett think of Hercules & Love Affair, then...?

A vast improvement.

I love Antony, but he doesn't sound "exactly like Nina Simone."

Well maybe not exactly, but very much like her. The first time I heard a song by this guy, for a few moments I thought it was her, and I'm a Nina Simone fan.

Isn't that a good thing?

there's a major comparison there but i don't know how anyone could honestly mistake them, let alone a fan.

i did a 180 on this record. i love Antony now. I LOVE YOU ANTONY!!! xoxo

Ned doens't like flashy male singers.

Yes, this is why I utterly loathe Marc Almond and Billy Mackenzie, for instance. I only have all their albums and side projects and rarities around just to be annoyed at them, and listen to them regularly to buttress my hate.

Now thine enemy!

Know, even.

I think I need to go back and give I Am a Bird Now another chance. I strongly disliked it when it first came out, despite giving it multiple chances to charm me. I wrote Antony off as someone I just wasn't going to get. The weird thing is, though, I've gone on to love almost everything I've heard featuring him since that album. I loved both his songs on the Bjork album, adored his turn on the I'm Not There soundtrack, and can't get enough of his songs on Hercules & Love Affair.

He also does a great guest turn on Joan As Police Woman's "I Defy".

I find him a bit much on his own albums, song after song of him, but I think he's a fantastic guest singer. Like Ludacris.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e392/exitmusic76/picatba2008018.jpg
i have to say it was pretty impressive being at the portland concert. the oregon symphony was amazing and the bew songs that were played sounded pretty good. the beyonce cover of "crazy in love" actually rocked and was very reminiscent of "blind" off of the hercules& love affair album

tell more about the new songs, drone/a/sore :)

setlist::

mysteries of love_done in total darkness. very interesting,although i really go to see live performance to see it.
new song don't know the title.....pretty mellow though.
cripple and the starfish
for today i am a boy
fell in love with a dead boy longest pause ever....at least 45 seconds of total silence. not something i am accustomed to when i attend concerts.
kiss my name i think that is what he kept repeating,although i have seen it listed as "give my name"
new song this was interesting for its use of the cellos as percussion. my fave of the new material.
rapture
ghost (?) also fairly mellow....i liked it as well.
crazy in love (beyonce) the highlight for me! antony rteally cut loose with this one and it actually rocked. he seemed to really enjoy singing it.
dust & water this changes each time he does it i think. i saw him play this at "on the boards" in seattle back in april '06 and i thing i liked that version more for the audience participation.
everything is new (moondog)
new song sadly i don't really remember much from this one.
encore-river of sorrow i have now seen him perform 4 times and each time has been special. antony did not address the audience other than to softly say "thank you". he also did not play piano (thomas bartlet did),which left me with the impression that he was not always comfortable with what his hands were doing.

I forgot about it in most of my year-end lists, but "Another World" is so fucking incredible. My favorite of his. Really haunting and depressing. Video is incredible, too. Caused me to bawl when i first watched it.

The new album is great. "Aeon" should convert even those who've held back up to now; it just builds and builds and his vocal phrasing has some very unexpected twists. The arrangements are amazing- he gets the most out of everything that's there, and when a new instrument enters it has maximum impact.

yeah i'm prety amazed that there's been so little metion of this album on here. i was a late convert (post H&LA) but i love him unreservedly now. "One Dove" is incredibly beautiful and "Aeon" into "Dust and Water" knocks the wind out of you (in the best possible way). My favourite record for a long time.

Jed mostly OTM. I never got into the last album, but I fell for Antony somewhere between his cover of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" (never thought anyone could make me want to hear that song again) and "Blind". I'm still not 100% sold on The Crying Light yet, but "Aeon" and "Dust and Water" are sublime.

I liked his last two albums as well as H&LA a good bit, loved the Another World EP, but haven't spent enough time with the new album yet. Listened once on headphones at work, but that's not the right environment for what is, I suspect, quite an intimate album.

Saw last night's show in Chicago. First time seeing Antony live, and it definitely did not disappoint. Played most of the Crying Light, a few from I am a Bird, Crazy in Love, Shake That Devil. His 6-piece band was super, especially the older gentleman who played oboe, sax, and rocked the electric guitar. Antony also made some funny comments, asking the crowd what's going on and encouraging people to divulge some personal stories. Besides playing the piano, he also did some really nice finger-snapping (seriously!). If anyone else was there, what was the first song they played? It was the only one I didn't recognize and I don't really remember the words now either, unfortunately.

I will not read the rest of this thread for fear that it will sully my pure childlike state of mind, so I'll just hop in and say that I looooove Antony.

Ok now I can read the rest of this thread.

adored his turn on the I'm Not There soundtrack, and can't get enough of his songs on Hercules & Love Affair

This is not a bad way into Antony (if you'll pardon the disgusting imagery).

They were really great last weekend in Knoxville.

I was at the Vic show too, but also don't remember the first song. Haunting and rejuvenating.

god damn, The Crying Light.

god damn.

Damn good album, isn't it?

YES.

I've been a fan of the self-titled release for a while and hadn't heard anything else, so I was quite shocked when I listened to the Crying Light. very very sparse compared to that first record, but it works out gorgeously. I see myself OD'ing on "Another World" in time, without the OD part

this reminds me of antony and the johnsons, its been on my fb feed about six times this month but apparently its like two years old?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_2AgaZJWro

So has anyone else heard the new album out this week? It really has had very little fanfare at all.

I could not get into The Crying Light at all, it was actually one of the biggest disappointments of recent years but Swanlights is a massive return to form for me. I saw him do the song Ghosts six years ago and it's as great as I'd remembered. The song with Bjork is predictably my favourite track. Thank You For Your Love kind of reminds me of Dexys Midnight Runners, obviously no bad thing.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy it so much but it's great all the way through and has the warmth of I am a Bird Now.