Thursday, December 29, 2005

Hope There's Someone

Shit. Tellin ya - you ain't actively looking for new music, you missin out. Again from PitchforkMedia, another song worth your time, "Hope There's Someone" by Antony and the Johnsons:

Breaking down and letting it all out, in this brief and moving torchsong Antony tries on almost all of these lyrical stances and affective modes, and then glides up and away from them with startling ingenuity. It starts all atremble with a disarmingly naked prayer ('Hope there's someone who'll take care of me when I die, when I go'). As the song progresses that someone changes shape, and becomes a spectral double, as Antony sings for and against himself; the hoped-for someone is both a loving companion and an exterminating angel.


The first time I listened to the song that Pitchfork claimed was the #1 recording this year, I thought, somewhat annoyed,...'What the fuck??', but another listen and I thought, somewhat more cautiously,...'What the fuck?', and after my third listen I thought...'Holy f***!', and...'Are you f***ing kidding me?!', and some other stuff.

Check this out:

Tall and broad, Antony (he has only one name) has a rugby player's build but the soft, round, benign face of a medieval saint. As soon as he begins to sing, you can hear why this singular New Yorker gained the patronage of Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed - who employed him as a backing singer on his recent world tour.


This dude is built like a rugby player, but sings like that?! Holy f***!

UPDATE: New resource: Magnet Magazine. Saw some dude reading it on the train today. Antony was on the cover.

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