We do a music podcast for fun, and while conflicting opinions is the bread and butter of our appeal, I just wanted a place where my opinion can go unhindered, and any after thought can be touched upon and examined in full light. This week...
Antony & the Johnsons- The Crying Light
Gorilla in the room: Antony is a it a bit odd. All the songs make use of his distinct falsetto voice, and it sets the eerie tone for the rest of the album as you will notice. The Crying Light musically takes a minimalist approach to it's arrangements, putting his voice in top seed. In particular the track Aeon utilizes a new trend I've notice in modern indie, the dual self harmonies. A vocal trick in part pioneered and possibly bastardized by Of Montreal, luckily used in moderation here, is a stand out track along with Epilepsy in dancing, which appears early in the batting order, and of course the title track, the Crying light.
The other party stopper is the cover artwork which is off putting to say the least. A geriatric Asian man, a withered shell in drag. Antony, having dealt with inter sex and trans gender themes, is no stranger to less than ideal subjects, as starting points for hidden beauty. That makes the use of Kazuo Ohno- a celbrated Butoh performer and respected artist for Antony, a likely inspiration. Butoh,is a form of interpretive dance, intentionally slow paced and methodic, deliberate and punctuating. He draws from his muse continuously throughout... Visual imagery, and keen sense of making the macabre sensational and endearing, is probably the best aspect of Antony and the Johnsons, new album. Epilepsy is Dancing, for instance, is taken for it's literal translation, with lyrics that that reach the core about trying to find his rhythm as he shakes in the snow. Bold imagery about taking a horrifying experiences such as uncontrollable convulsions and drawing the relationship to artistic expression flow flawlessly in this particular album.
Lyrically top notch. Emotionally up and down, the entire album finally culminates, and musically blossoms and blooms with a complete marrying of raw vocal talent, and a bittersweet lullaby.
Why you'll hate it and fight me to the bitter end on this? It's sad sap music at it's most pungent. From verbrato to crescendo, it drips it's sticky resin, and unless willing, may leave a bad taste in your mouth.
When reviewed this week, I was pleased to find we all disagreed on aspects of this album. I'd rather polarization than indifference. Art's sole responsibilty is to invoke emotion and opinion. A good artist knows that and braves criticism to find the passion that sits untapped in all of us.
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There are things that need to be sucked and there are things that just suck.
ReplyDeleteAntony & The Johnsons fall into the latter of those two. The lead singer's voice, honest to Peter, has got to be the most grating noise my head has ever heard. One song was all it took for me to get up and look for something long enough to jam through my ear and then out through my ass.
I tried to be civil, but where was your body when I needed it.
Shaun ladies and gentlemen...
ReplyDeleteWe on for tomorrow night?
Of course, I still need that thing to shove in my ear.
ReplyDelete