New Antony and the Johnsons Album Coming To Bring Beautiful Gender-Bending Tunes To All!
By Scott Lauer on Nov 17 2008
(This preview has been approved for all audiences.)
In 2005, Antony and the Johnsons released I Am A Bird Now (TMT Review), one of the most crushing epics to come out of the new millennium.
And now, in 2009, Antony and the Johnsons are bringing you their full-length follow-up, The Crying Light.
Following the Mercury Prize-winning Bird, Antony is set to please audiences once again. Critics agree: Antony and the Johnsons have something special going here. The Los Angeles Times reports, “Before the rapt audiences eyes (and within our delighted ears), Antony had become an unnamed creature in a freshly born world”; while the UK Guardian muses, “This latest reinvention means his own legend is assured.”
Antony and his beloved Johnsons are expected to dive deeper than ever before, exploring relationships with the natural world, featuring arrangements by avant-classical composer Nico Muhly. Listeners will laugh, cry, and be moved (presumably) to songs like “Her Eyes Are Underneath the Ground,” bringing us a world of winking leaves where the sun “dances crystals in my eyes.” Share in Antony’s joy in “Kiss My Name.” And be shocked and awed by the album centerpiece “Another World,” where Antony will lead audiences into the despair of a vanishing landscape.
Hear the album that has critics rejoicing:
“Antony has moved on to a transformed sound still more beautiful. Joining him in the shadows was breathtaking.” – Evening Standard
“This isn't a heart breaking; it's a heart waking...” - The Oregonian
Coming to ears near you, January 20, 2009.
A Secretly Canadian production.
Marnie Stern Sets Up Kissing Booth; Indie Boners Popping Up Everywhere
By Julbucket on Nov 14 2008
Facts:
1. Marnie Stern is hot.
2. Marnie Stern is really good at guitar.
3. Marnie Stern can play a double-necked guitar.
4. Marnie Stern will make out with you.
Yes. That’s right. Marnie Stern is going to kiss you. All you have to do is hit up Los Angeles’ El Ray Theatre tomorrow night. In addition to melting your face with her playing, Stern will kiss you on the cheek for $3, kiss you on the lips for $10, or give it to you Full-On Tongue Style™ for one hundred smackers. Good deal!
Stern's kissing booth is also occurring at tonight’s show at San Francisco's Bimbo’s 365 Club, but it’s probably too late if you’re reading this. In fact, as I write this, Marnie Stern is probably French-kissing somebody who isn’t you.
What an awesome PR move... I’m now going to list her tourdates. Marnie, you’re so smart!
Mario Speedwagon’s Under The Radar News Roundup: Wierd Records, Mark Kozelek, Napster, TorrentValley.com, and Thrill Jockey
By Mario Speedwagon on Nov 14 2008
This week we have anniversary parties, websites shutin’ it down, old dudes releasing solo records, Thrill Jockey signing another band who met in art school, and more!
- Wierd Records in New York is turning five years old. To celebrate, it's having an anniversary shindig at the Music Hall of Williamsburg November 21, 2008, featuring Blacklist, Xeno & Oaklander (I kind of wish it was Xenu, like that Scientologist bullshit,) and Led Er Est. Doors are at 8:30, jams start at 9:30, and it's $10.
- Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon and the Red House Painters is dropping his latest LP, The Finally LP, December 9, 2008 on Caldo Verde Records. Party.
- So, I totally forgot Napster existed, let alone that people still use it (same as Friendster... really?) Anyway, Miram Hall Patel -- the chick who ruled that peer-to-peer music sharing services “knowingly encorage[ed] and assist[ed]” the swapping of copyrighted music, therefore “destroying” the music industry -- decided we need to reform the policies of copyright licensing, royalties, and other shit by forming some music-industry-cheese-dick administration comprised of people with “competing interest” to set up new rules. Napster, really?
- TorrentValley.com has been “raided and shut down,” as reported by TorrentFreak. Oh well.
- Thrill Jockey continues to tear it up by signing Mountains. Mountains is a duo from Brooklyn-by-way-of-Chicago Art School and has been compared to “Brian Eno and Fennesz” (cool!) The group is preparing its third LP for a Thrill Jockey release of February 17, 2009.
Alright, I’m out, bitches.
Coming To A Grocery Store Near You: Barack Obama’s Martian Origins Exposed; What Your Man Really Wants In Bed; and… Bob Dylan In Conveniently-Sized Gift Card Form?
By Elzee on Nov 14 2008
Think about this: when did In Rainbows come out? You wanna say “It was like six months ago,” right? Because all anyone still talks about is how the distribution method was supposedly fucking genius, right? Or maybe you never got sucked into the cesspool of exalting Thom Yorke for remembering that the internet exists, and you knew right after I asked that the album came out in 2007. Either way, we can all agree that everyone needs to get over the fact that technology affords us a shit-ton of ways to get music.
Apparently, however, Sony BMG isn’t on board with us. It basically goes like this: one day, one of those gift cards at a Safeway checkout stand got really fucked up and, feeling overconfident, managed to pick up a sexy iPod with inexplicably low self-esteem. Nine months later, she called him and said he was going to be a daddy. Their child’s name: Platinum MusicPass. Cute, huh? Unfortunately neither of them could afford a kid and decided to sell it to Sony BMG, which cloned it and is now distributing lots of Sony MusicPasses all over the Southeastern U.S. in Winn-Dixie supermarkets. $12.99 gets you a pass for a full-album download of high-quality MP3s (but are they FLAC rips?) plus bonus material in some instances. Highlights include Korn, Avril Lavigne, the previously mentioned Mr. Zimmerman, and a selection of decades-themed compilations.
Great job, Sony-BMG, you’re definitely not adding an unnecessary intermediary step between MP3 and consumer. And I’m pretty sure people are going to care about this one more than they did about Radiohead!
Bonnie “Prince” Billy to Release Beware, His “Most Ambitious” LP to Date
By Mango Starr on Nov 14 2008
Hey, girls, you can stop making food in the kitchen and washing clothes now -- boys, stop playing with your nuts: Bonnie "Prince" Billy is back on the attack! On March 17, Drag City will release a brand new album, Beware, which is being described as his "most ambitious" by his publicist. In fact, the press release is all kinds of colorful:
- "It blooms in low light and cold but thrives in the sun as well, showing enticing spots and eating small creatures as they wander into its jaws."
- "Where fiddle and steel contribute their rustic timbre alongside guitars and voices, a thickening thud of low tone rolls beneath, giving the record a bottom that’s fun to watch bounce in new clothes."
- "Song titles suggest half of a heated dialogue, perhaps just one side of a super-apocalypto phone call."
- "Sometimes all you want to do is f**k."
How come press releases are so well-written nowadays? Can't we go back to when they were like, "This album will blow you out of the water!!" and "This is sure to be a classic album!"?
Anyway, Beware sees The Old Ham playing with his regular band (Josh Abrams, Jennifer Hutt, Emmett Kelly and Michael Zerang) along with special guests ranging from Leroy Bach to Rob Mazurek. A tour is expected around the time of its release. But it's not like you care, you fucking loser! Go back to your own country, jerkoff!
Beware tracklisting:
11.21.08 - Lexington, KY - Old Tarr Distillery (Save Kentucky's Hemlocks)
11.27.08 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Studio SP
11.28.08 - Salvador, Brazil - Boomerangue
11.30.08 - Porto Alegre, Brazil - Centro Cultural Santander
