Antony and the Johnsons: "Cut The World"

The title track from the prolific and consistent artist's career encompassing live album, which sounds pretty excellent. Some easily recognizable faces in this one...

If This Is What Epilepsy Is Like, Count Us In

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ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS "Epilepsy Is Dancing"

Antony & The Johnsons released the fantastic new album, The Crying Light, today. We've been riding this for weeks as one of the best albums of our still very young 2009, and as the reviews start coming in, the world seems to agree. Pitchfork, who yesterday bestowed the prestigious Best New Music tag on the album, is premiering Antony's wild new video for the single "Epilepsy Is Dancing," and we're in turn relaying the video to you in case you read Stark Online over the far-less-popular Pitchfork. 

Naturally, "Epilepsy" is the centerpiece in this week's On The Blog Reel. Antony asked The Wachowski Brothers (remember them?) to help him out for the video, and they put matters into the hands of painters Tino Rodriguez and Virgo Paradiso, who created tribal costumes and a mystical environment. Choreographer Sean Dorsey and his dancers brought the dream sequence to life, and directors AFAS helmed the final product. So yeah, it's sort of a production. It's haunting and exquisite, lending the already haunting-and-exquisite song its perfect visual counterpart. View the video after the jump.

Pre-order The Crying Light, Get Digital Album and Bonus Track

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Antony and the Johnsons - "Another World"

We're seriously digging The Crying Light, the new LP from Antony and the Johnsons. It certainly improves on last year's Another World EP, and if given time, it may even top 2006's devastating classic I Am A Bird Now. The record is absolutely worth buying, if only for the haunting cover art above, which is a reprint of a 1977 Naoya Ikegami photo of dancer Kazuo Ohno (who happened to grace Another World's sleeve as well.) But here's another incentive to purchase the album: preorder the album now via the band's Web site and hear the album instantly, and receive a download of the bonus track "My Lord, My Love." And you get the automatic satisfaction of listening to one of the year's best albums so far. (Okay, so there's not much competition, but let's give a little love to someone other than AC.) 

The Crying Light is out January 20 on Secetly Canadian.