Antony and the Johnsons

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Antony and the Johnsons
Genre(s)	Chamber pop Dark Cabaret
Years active	1998 – present
Label(s)	Secretly Canadian Rough Trade
Website	www.antonyandthejohnsons.com
Members
Antony Hegarty (vocals) Julia Kent (cello) Parker Kindred (drums) Jeff Langston (bass) Doug Wieselman (horns) Maxim Moston (violin, arrangement) Rob Moose (guitar, violin)

Antony and the Johnsons is a Mercury Prize-winning^[1] music act from United Kingdom.

Contents 1 Career 2 Band members 3 Discography 3.1 EPs 3.2 Singles 3.3 Live albums 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Career

British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released in 2000. In 2001, Antony released a short follow-up EP, I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy, which, in addition to the title track, included a cover of "Mysteries of Love", a David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti song and "Soft Black Stars", a cover of a Current 93 song.

Producer Hal Willner heard the EP and played it to Lou Reed, who immediately recruited him for his project The Raven. Now gaining more attention, Antony signed to US-based record label Secretly Canadian, and released another EP, The Lake, with Lou Reed guest-performing on one of the tracks. Secretly Canadian also re-released Antony's debut album in the United States to wider distribution in 2004.

Antony's second full-length album, 2005's I am a Bird Now, was greeted with positive reviews and significantly more mainstream attention, winning the Mercury Prize for the best album of 2005. Rival Mercury nominees, and favorites for the prize, the Kaiser Chiefs suggested that Antony got in on a technicality; despite the fact he was born in the United Kingdom he spent much of his time in the US — although they later apologized for the suggestion that he wasn't a deserving winner.

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He appeared as a prison inmate, performing an acoustic version of the song "The Rapture" in Steve Buscemi's movie Animal Factory. He also made an appearance in the Sebastian Lifshitz movie Wild Side performing the song "I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy". In the Wachowski brothers' screen adaptation of V for Vendetta, the main characters dance to Antony's "Bird Gerhl" from I am a Bird Now as it plays on V's illicit Wurlitzer.

In November 2006 Antony and the Johnsons performed a successful European tour of 'Turning', a multimedia collaboration with video producer Charles Atlas, which focused on themes of transformation and metamorphosis.^[2]

Antony gave a break-out performance in the 2006 concert documentary, Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, a star-studded tribute to Leonard Cohen that was later released on DVD along with an accompanying soundtrack. Antony's interpretation of "If it Be Your Will" was considered one of the highlights of the show.

The 5-song Another World EP was released on October 7, 2008. Antony and the Johnsons' third album, The Crying Light, was released on January 19, 2009^[3]. Antony has described the theme of the album as being "about landscape and the future"^[4].

Antony has also contributed to the 'Dark was The Night' charity compilation album. He covered Bob Dylan's "I Was Young When I Left Home" with Bryce Dessner.

Antony and the Johnsons are scheduled to perform at the Manchester Opera House for the 2009 Manchester International Festival.

[edit] Band members

Current members include:

• Antony Hegarty - lead vocals
• Julia Kent (previously of Rasputina) - cello
• Parker Kindred - drummer
• Jeff Langston - bassist
• Doug Wieselman - horns
• Maxim Moston - violin, arrangement
• Rob Moose - guitar, violin

[edit] Discography

Year	Album details	Chart peak positions					Certifications (sales thresholds)
		UK	AUS	EU	SWE	U.S.
1998	Antony and the Johnsons 1st Studio Album Label: Durtro	—	—	—	59	—
2005	I Am a Bird Now 2nd Studio Album Label: Secretly Canadian	5	69	—	22	—	SWE: Gold
2009	The Crying Light 3rd Studio Album Label: Secretly Canadian	18	33	1	2	65
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

[edit] EPs

• I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy (Durtro, January 2001; reissued on Rebis Music, 2006)
• Calling for Vanished Faces/Virgin Mary 7" (Durtro, May 2003) (Split single with Current 93; Limited to 500 copies)
• Hope There's Someone (Secretly Canadian, June 2004) #44 UK (charted in 2005)
• The Lake (EP) (Secretly Canadian, November 2004)
• You Are My Sister (Rough Trade, November 2005) #39 UK
• Another World EP (October 7, 2008) #179 US

[edit] Singles

• Cripple and the Starfish
• Epilepsy Is Dancing (Secretly Canadian, April 7 2009)

[edit] Live albums

• Live at St. Olave's (Durtro, May 2003)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Antony and the Johnsons

Wikinews has related news: Antony & The Johnsons win Mercury Music Prize

• Antony and the Johnsons
• Antony and the Johnsons at MySpace
• Secretly Canadian artist page
• Concerts and Interviews on NPR Music

v • d • e Antony and the Johnsons Albums Antony and the Johnsons  · I Am a Bird Now  · The Crying Light EPs I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy  · Live at St. Olave's  · The Lake  · Hope There's Someone  · You Are My Sister  · Another World Singles "Cripple and the Starfish" · "Hope There's Someone" · "You Are My Sister" · "Epilepsy Is Dancing"