Antony and the Johnsons "Antony and the Johnsons" Durto 050CD 1998/2000 (34:53)
Twilight (3:49)
Cripple and the Starfish (4:11)
Hitler in My Heart (3:32)
The Atrocities (3:53)
River of Sorrow (4:03)
Rapture (3:57)
Deeper Than Love (4:40)
Divine (3:13)
Blue Angel (3:35)
Antony (voice/piano), Todd Cohen (drums), Baby Dee (harp), Francois Gehin (bass), Cady Finlayson (violin), Liz Maranville (violin), Vicky Leavitt (cello), Mariana Davenport (flute), William Basinski (clarinet), Barb Morrison (clarinet/sax) Charles Neiland (guitar effects)
This is the debut album from NYC based band Antony and the Johnsons, originally recorded in late '97/early '98, now remastered and re-released worldwide courtesy of David Tibet's (Current 93) Durtro label and World Serpent Distribution. Tibet's discovery is now, thankfully, the world's discovery. The Antony/Current 93 split single from earlier this year featured "Cripple and the Starfish" which is a very good indicator of what to expect from the rest of the album. Antony, the proudly androgynous front man, is a blazing star of emotion. His stunning voice is capable of restrained beauty, hall filling depths and powerful, soaring highs wherever necessary. The skilled 10 piece orchestra breathes melodramatic life around and into Antony's words and piano with an array of strings and winds, gentle guitars and drums. The sound is organic and full, the songs well written and composed throughout ... artsy, but not pretentiously so, much like Dirty Three or Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. There are no duds, a nice flow and a well balanced variety of tempos and moods within individual songs and the album as a whole. This is a gorgeous piece of work, especially for a debut album, that approaches perfection. The only thing that might possibly help to make it more perfect would simply be more since it's only a little over half an hour long. "Antony and the Johnsons" will be on my top 10 of 2000 list, I'm sure of it ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Riouxs Records.