ANTONY Covers BEYONCE in Amsterdam

All I can say is wow!

ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS "Epilepsy is Dancing"

In conjunction with yesterday's release of “The Crying Light” LP, Antony and the Johnsons also serve up this spectacular new video for the track "Epilepsy is Dancing".  For lack of better phrasing, here's this...

"Antony asked his friends the Wachowski Brothers to work with him on a video for his new single "Epilepsy is Dancing". They in turn invited painters Tino Rodriguez and Virgo Paradiso to create costumes and a mystical environment and choreographer Sean Dorsey and his dancers to bring the dream sequence to life. Antony's artistic partner Johanna Constantine stars as herself in the role of "Deer Monster". The video was lit and shot by the up-and-coming directors of photography, Chris Blasingame and Banker White, and produced by Jim Jerome. The production team collectively named themselves AFAS. Please enjoy the fruits of their San Francisco art party."



The Crying Light is available now via Secretly Canadian.

ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS - The Crying Light

Antony and the Johnsons will release their 3rd LP The Crying Light on January 30th, 2009 via Secretly Canadian. The effort has been said to be greatly influenced by the "natural world" and a press release states that it could be an album "emblematic of its time, a reflection of the momentous changes that we are facing, within each of our private worlds as well as collectively, and how we are summoning the courage to start moving through them." Wow.

The Crying Light will feature the phenomenal track "Another World", a rightful contender for one of the best tracks of this year. With a breathtaking vocal by Antony Hegarty, alongside a harrowing piano refrain, "Another World" is a lament to the destruction of our planet in what is one of the most heartfelt pleads to take action I've ever heard. Sorry Al Gore.

And now I have the privilege of offering the track to you. Enjoy the beautiful talent of Antony and the Johnsons.

Antony and the Johnsons - Another World (mp3 link)

And here's the video...

ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS Set to Return with New Ep and LP

Antony and the Johnsons are prepping a pair of follow-ups to their Mercury Music Prize winning album I Am a Bird Now. The first release will be the 5-track ep Another World, which hits stores October 7th via Secretly Canadian. The same label will also release the new full-length The Crying Light, due January 2009.

In the meantime, you can still get your Antony fix on the Hercules & Love Affair album and on the new Bjork single "Dull Flame of Desire", which will also feature remixes by Modeselektor. A new video for the single is also on the way.

Antony will embark on a special symphonic tour in September, where he will be joined by a local symphony in each city. Due to the scattered nature of the dates, I expect more will be added. Here are the dates as of yet:

9/5 Portland, OR
9/10 Milan, Italy
9/12 Zaragoza, Spain
10/14 Los Angeles, CA
10/16 New York, NY
10/30 London, England
10/31 London, England

New Video Friday

Shocking Pinks - Emily


The Raveonettes - You Want the Candy


Cut Copy - Lights and Music


Hercules and Love Affair ft. Antony - Blind

BJORK Transcends Madison Square Garden

BJORK amazed last night, bringing her stunning live show to Madison Square Garden. Complete with fire, confetti, lasers, flags, special guests and a brass section dressed as a tribal army, this was a global circus of stimulation that only Bjork could pull off. The setlist (which you can find at the bottom of this post) was crowd-pleasing, highlights of which were 'I Miss You', 'Hyperballad', 'Army of Me', and the electrifying 'Pluto'. Another highlight was 'Dull Flame of Desire' of which Bjork brought out special guest Antony of ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS for a gorgeous and flawlessly executed duet.



Also on the bill were SANTOGOLD and KLAXONS. It was Santogold's birthday and you could feel her genuine excitement about the show from a mile away. Playing to a half empty stadium, Santogold gave a highly energetic performance that easily overcame the 8:00 opening slot obstacles. Santogold is an artist to watch in the future. She will be big. In between songs, Santogold introduced herself to the crowd by saying something to the effect of, "I don't have any music that you can buy. Bjork just picked us up and she's making it all happen." It also doesn't hurt that she had DIPLO onstage with her, providing the electronic beats.

Faring not so well were the recent Mercury Music Prize winners Klaxons, who got off to a rocky start with sound issues. Their set was lost on the crowd, as they seemed to just move through the motions, without any charisma or energy whatsoever. This doesn't close the door on Klaxons for me, as I love the album and will continue listening to it. But I think Klaxons haven't evolved into an arena-sized band yet. I would much rather see them in a small venue like Studio B. Some sort of light show would have hugely made a difference as well.

Check out this short clip of Bjork's closing encore 'Declare Independence'. This was truly a spectacular finale...

Bjork - Declare Independence (live at MSG) (partial)


Setlist:

01. Intro - Brennið Þið Vitar
02. Earth Intruders
03. Hunter
04. Pagan Poetry
05. I See Who You Are w/ Min Xiao-Fen
06. Unravel
07. The Pleasure Is All Mine
08. Dull Flame Of Desire w/ Antony (of Antony & the Johnsons)
09. Jóga
10. Desired Constellation
11. Army Of Me
12. Innocence
13. I Miss You
14. Cover Me
15. Wanderlust
16. Hyperballad
17. Pluto
encore
18. Oceania
19. Declare Independence