[BaselBimbooooo]

"The Cripple & The Starfish"... wow.

this is the first i've heard of the orchestra's work. really gorgeous stuff. of course, antony's songs lend well to orchestral versions anyway. i really hope tori doesn't botch things (as she's prone to do) by selecting shit songs. with antony's repertoire, they really couldn't go wrong.

thanks for posting the clips, ebby. i can't wait to watch the rest of them tonight.

[globjgtyf]

I was watching these too when I youtubed Metropole Orchestra the other day...beautiful!

[maxfieldj1]

Watching those really just got me excited about this orchestra Tori gig that's about to happen later this week!

[Tveabuti]

good remider, this will get me through the crappy journey home through the tube strike!

My standout tracks are Swanlights and Christina's Farm (I'm wondering now if he did this at the Barbican and I forgot). I'm still quietly optimistic about Tori's show as I've never been to a show and hated it]

The Bjork duet was at first a highlight but for some reason I'm skipping it, perhaps in a hurry to get to the last song. I'm thinking about merging the two Lights (Swan and Crying) and arangng them in a new way - any suggestions? Would you include anything from the EPs?

[RenyBontes]

Wow. He's an amazing performer and vocalist and I love his music, but he looks like he's having a stroke on stage.

[dremucha]

I still love his performance of Aeon on David Letterman:

[Crazykz]

SWANLIGHTS is now available in its entirety on NPR's First Listen until the date of the album's release.

[Bounce]

antony takes over Guardian's music page for a week starting today.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesi...nsons-takeover

so far, there is a piece about him and marina on there. he is collaborating with Marina Abramovic on a play/opera about Marina's life. i couldn't possibly be more excited and pleased about that. they are the two artists that excite me the most, three if we count Björk. so to hear that they met at a Björk party where "Matthew Barney was grilling fish on the lawn" made me have quite a hysterical moment of jealousy, i'll admit!

[pedFlicle]

^The news that he's working with Marina is incredibly exciting. I hope the opera is filmed and released in some form, it sounds like a great project.

[maxfieldj1]

I saw Marina at the NYC MOMA back in April!

[RerRoktoido]

some thoughts after hearing three tracks from Swanlights (I've bought the album today) > first I needed to hear Violetta, cuz it's name of the daughter of my sister. Well, that was over quite quickly

as for the title track - well, I was very reliefed when I heard it. That is because I found The Crying Light to be a tad boring at times, being too soft and slow and too much of the same - especially after I had heard Shake That Devil. I need my uptempo moments to enjoy Antony - I Am A Bird Now partially worked for me cuz it had Fistful Of Love. I was just so afraid he was gonna continue the nice and slow direction of The Crying Light. But then I heard the dark and creepy, almost electronica like opening from the title track...

as for Thank You For Your Love - well, I just think me and thank you songs don't go along that very well. There were others before by Sinéad and Alanis (and Dido too) that were a bit blah - nice intentions, boring execution and therefore not really reaching their point. Being oh so humble is nice, but not all that interesting to listen to. I think this particular song was saved a bit by the fact that it is a bit uptempo

[TughEmotteTug]

When Antony phoned Björk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/audi...2/antony-bjork

[RerRoktoido]

on further listens, Ghost seems like a more shy and less moveable version of Shake That Devil

[E4qC1qQ5]

I was listening to my ipod with Cocorosie on shuffle , and i have this live show where Antony was there and they sang You Are My Sister
it's just , too beautiful

[rasiasertew]

Suddenly can't get enough of The Spirit Was Gone.

[8Zgkdeee]

We've had some time to digest "Swanlights." I don't love it in the way that I love "Bird Now" and "Crying Light," but it's still an amazing album by an amazing band. Something is slightly off about the album. Maybe it's the song order? Many of the songs conjure up entirely different feelings but are still stuck beside each other on the album. Going from "Swanlights" to "Spirit" to "Thank You" is a jarring, disjointed experience sometimes!

Still, I really love this band. Antony just does everything that I want from music! I've had a hard time finding similar artists, though. Pandora isn't extremely helpful, and no matter how many times they throw an Iron & Wine song at me, I am not going to agree that they're similar bands, haha. Does anyone have any music recommendations for someone who is eat up with Antony and the Johnsons? I like pianos and mostly dislike guitars.

[Tveabuti]

Try Baby Dee's last record Regifted Light which has lots of piano - some beautiful instrumentals and a crazy song about pie!!! Also the kind of compilation A Book of Songs for Anne Marie is gorgeous - mostly on harp. Quite different to Joanna. The Robin's Tiny Throat is nice, Safe Inside the Day is more bawdy - fun but I don't listen to it often.
Give her a few listens as on first listen I wasn't convinced it worked.

My favourites are
Lilacs
Regifted Light
Yapapipi
Endless Night
Calvary
Love's Small Song
So Bad
When I get Home

[8Zgkdeee]

I love Baby Dee, actually! But you're right, that's a very good recommendation. My favorite Baby Dee song is "Price of a Sparrow."

[Tveabuti]

So you're already a fan! super! From the just1star guys I got pointed to Agnes Obel

I think her song Riverside must be being used on tv and ads but can't think where or how!



If you know Baby Dee you'll probably know Joan As Police Woman...???

To Survive has some amazing piano (but some guitar too!).

[8Zgkdeee]

I got the Swanlights EP today. Hmmm! An interesting choice for a single, I suppose, as it's probably the most inaccessible song on the album, especially for first-time listeners. The OPN edit of "Swanlights" is similar to the treatment that "Returnal" got on the Antony/Fennesz EP. Just some scattered lyrics with a light electronic atmosphere going on in the background. These OPN edits kind of make me dart my eyes around nervously.

We've had "Find the Rhythm of Your Love" for years, so that was nothing new, but the new b-side "Kissing Noone" is pretty darn good. It's just Antony and the piano, as I prefer it. It has some really great lyrics.

Was it a dream...
From the abyss?
Deep inside nowheres...
Of loneliness
Kissing no one
Kissing you
Your hopes haunt me
Your hopes curse me