Antony Zee Nutshell

Antony And The Johnsons - Turning (2014) [CD+DVD9 PAL] {Rough Trade}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 414 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 184 Mb
DVD9 -> 5.76 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 16:9 | Dolby AC3, 2 ch / Dolby AC3, 6 ch | ~ 90 m | ISO Image
Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 109 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2014 Rough Trade / Rebis Music / Kobalt | RTRADCDDVD723
Rock / Alternative / Indie Rock / Cabaret / Chamber Pop / Original Score

Antony Hegarty has no apparent interest in being an ordinary pop star, and it stands to reason he wouldn't be interested in making an ordinary live album, either. In 2006, Hegarty collaborated with artist and filmmaker Charles Atlas on a performance piece called Turning, in which Atlas created carefully detourned video projections of a handful of women ("beauties," as they were identified by Hegarty and Atlas) whose difficult life experiences often belied their appearance, while Hegarty's band Antony and the Johnsons performed a set of their powerfully emotional and atmospheric songs. Atlas directed a documentary about the tour, also called Turning, while Antony and the Johnsons have released a soundtrack album that documents the London date on the tour.

Antony And The Johnsons - The Crying Light (2009) {Secretly Canadian SC194}
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© 2009 Secretly Canadian | SC194
Rock / Chamber Pop / Alternative Pop / Art Rock

The black-and-white image of legendary Butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno that adorns the cover of The Crying Light, the third full-length by Antony and the Johnsons, seems to offer a view of a being enveloped in both ecstasy and agony – or does it? The songs contained here offer something else: a glimpse of a universe beyond the pale of vision, seen only by the individual experiencing it. Antony Hegarty recorded and considered 25 songs for inclusion on The Crying Light, before settling on ten. The Johnsons are the inimitable cellist Julia Kent, Thomas Bartlett, Maxim Moston, Rob Moose, Jeff Langston, Parker Kindred, Doug Wieselman, and Will Holshouser. The additional orchestra includes Greg Cohen, Suzy Perelman, Tim Albright, and Lisa Albrecht, to name a few.

All of the composers on this album were part of a new ‘English Style’ that blended traditional lyricism with wider influences from Europe and Scandinavia. They shared a rebelliousness against established musical conservatism and created vivid responses to nature and the living folk heritage of England and Ireland. From Vaughan Williams’ enchanting textures, via Bax and Bridge’s harmonic surprises, to Delius’s return to his roots at the end of his life—this is a rich collection of shimmering gems from the British Isles.

Antony And The Johnsons - Swanlights (2010) {Rough Trade}
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© 2010 Rough Trade | RTRADCD573
Rock / Chamber Pop / Alternative Pop / Art Rock

Swanlights, the fourth full-length by Antony and the Johnsons, reveals that 2009's The Crying Light was a stepping stone that furthered his sophistication as a songwriter, arranger, and singer. While that album's tunes about acceptance, death, transformation, and loss were added to immeasurably by Nico Muhly's gorgeous string arrangements, Swanlights employs the same band, this time augmented by a chamber orchestra. Antony Hegarty uses his voice on this set as much as a textural element in his songs as he does to deliver his poetic, and sometimes head-scratchingly obtuse lyrics, like "Elect the salt mother, for she is a selective Christ." These songs engage with popular genres from folk-rock to grand classical chamber orchestral, but they do touch on vanguard art song as well.

Antony Blaze is the New Age alias of Antony Kalugin, a prolific musician and composer from Ukraine. His bands Karfagen, Sunchild and Hoggwash plus his solo albums has gained him many fans.