#anohni & the johnsons

[knightofleo]

x

[997]

YES!

[reckonslepoisson]

I Am A Bird Now, ANOHNI and the Johnsons (2005)

ANOHNI’s soul music at first feels distinct, of course, but also sparse, cold and confused; over the course of I Am A Bird Now (and subsequent listens) that soul is further revealed as not just distinct from all else but loaded with immense, immense power. The warble most obviously bears the weight of emotion, but the intimacy of the songwriting, the craft of instrumental palette behind her voice, all is tremendously affecting.

Pick: ‘Fistful of Love’

[zurich-snows]

ANOHNI and the Johnsons - Sliver Of Ice (Official Video)

[thinkingimages]

Antony and the Johnsons - (2009) - Daylight and the Sun

[the-inevitable-minor-fires]

I've dreamed of this show for twenty years and it did not prepare me for how wide open I am torn. They are a perfect band any time but there is nothing so powerful as a band at the end of a tour and tonight was the final night. We were ugly crying more than once, and I broke almost immediately when they tore into 4 Degrees as the second song. The full band interpretation of the Hopelessness songs was flawless and mesmerizing. Her voice is, of course, perfect.

She got on the piano just once at the encore for Hope There's Someone. "let's see if I can croak this one out," she said, and the band filed in as she played to retake their instruments and just devastate us at the climax.

Just the most incredible music.

[neurowinter]

11 Songs I Liked in No Particular Order (2023)

Dang. Humans are so good at making music. Here some tracks I enjoyed this year with some thoughts - some long, some short - on why I liked them. All song titles are linked to a YouTube video if you want to give them a listen.

Caroline Polachek - Welcome to My Island

Bouncing between the staccato verse and the swelling anthemic chorus, Polachek gives it her all for yearning. And, let me tell you, I am a yearning romantic. Lacan and myth blends into the sensual. Is she Calypso? Circe? Ariadne? All we know is that she wants, in all the meanings of that word, reveling in it.

Screaming Females - Beyond the Void

Rest in peace, Screaming Females. A fantastic, consistent rock band ending their run on a fantastic album. This song has an incredible key change into the chorus with Paternoster's trademark vibrato crooning a danceable rock waltz. Wherever this trio ends up next, I wish them all the best.

Björk ft. Rosalía - Oral

Damn if this is what's in Björk's vault, imagine what else she has. Recorded in the interim between Homogenic and Vespertine, it recalls her earlier pop-forward output. No one years quite like Björk, and she is going through it in this song. Imagining the object of her limerence in her mind, desperately wanting to show physical affection, but unsure if it's right. *chef's kiss* The addition of Rosalia's complimentary voice turns into a dialogue between two voices of the narrator's mind. And all the proceeds are going to stopping factory farm fishing!

ANOHNI and the Johnsons - Sliver of Ice

As someone with depression, I think about death a lot. Anohni recalls a conversation with Lou Reed as he was dying about how a caretaker placing a sliver of ice on his tongue was a moment of clarifying, sweet beauty. Here that narrative once becomes a sad but accepting paen of someone's final moments. All the gorgeous kindness of life focused on a melting ice chip.

Sufjan Stevens - Goodbye Evergreen

Speaking of death. Sufjan's latest album is dedicated to his late partner opens up with an incredible outpouring of everything in his heart. All of Sufjan's artistic forte comes through on this opening track. He finds anger, strength, sorrow, solace, and joy all at once and lays it bare here in noisy, melodious wail.

Yves Tumor - God is a Circle

This rocks AND rolls. Industrial, grungy, post-punk art rock balm for my ears.

Grrrl Gang - Spunky!

Indonesia is doing/has done Britpop better than any. Energetic, fuzzy, vibrating hooks dance all over this song.

Atarashii Gakko! - Tokyo Calling

Thumping bass and volcanic singing with anger at the current state of society. This is a desperate time, the group notes, of malaise, of being trapped and crushed by the systems built so long ago. But yet there is hope in the future, one that starts now as they declare, shouting and grabbing at their destiny: We are marching!

Romy & Fred again... - Strong

An honest-to-god trance bop in 2023 on a banger of a trance/house album. Like much of her work, Romy adds tenderhearted moments into the texture of the song. Small, quiet moments of two lovers punctuate the song between the thumping melodies, like the knowing glance or the smile.

DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ - Honey

Speaking of throwbacks: pseudonymous producer Sabrina output has been staggering. Their album is like a house party, ebbing and flowing through the night. This track stands at the climax as the emblem of their plunderphonics work. It's a golden-hour hued house track suffused with late-summer afternoons.

Kelela - Washed Away

I'm upset that I got to her album, Raven, so late this year, but - oh man - is it something special. Her powerful voice crests and swoons over this ethereal track. The sparse vocals speak of renewal, an ablution with the earth itself, on moving forward.

If you found this, read it, skimmed it, or skipped it, I hope the rest of your year goes by peacefully, restfully.

[tempestades]

[underachievers-please-try-harder]

Track of the day // ANOHNI and the Johnsons - Breaking

[cristalconnors]

SONGS OF THE YEAR, 2023

The best albums of 2023 can be found here. Click through the links below to listen to the songs. :)

20. "MAKING THE BAND (DANITY KANE)", EARL SWEATSHIRT

19. "GOOD LIES", OVERMONO

18. "RUSH", TROYE SIVAN

17. "I SWEAR, I REALLY WANTED TO MAKE A 'RAP' ALBUM BUT THIS IS LITERALLY THE WAY THE WIND BLEW ME THIS TIME", ANDRÉ 3000

16. "HEAVEN", MITSKI

15. "POUND TOWN", SEXYY RED & TAY KEITH

14. "OVULE (feat. SHYGIRL) [SEGA BODEGA REMIX]", BJÖRK

13. "STRONG [I. JORDAN REMIX]", ROMY & I. JORDAN

12. "RAPPER WEED", BILLY WOODS & KENNY SEGAL

11. "MOUNT MEIGS", LONNIE HOLLEY

10. "IT'S MY FAULT", ANOHNI AND THE JOHNSONS

9. "A&W", LANA DEL REY

8. "SEAFORTH", KING KRULE

7. "EVEN IT OUT", FEVER RAY

6. "DAZIES", YEULE

5. "BOY'S A LIAR, PT. 2", PINKPANTHERESS & ICE SPICE

4. "CONTACT", KELELA

3. "PRETTY IN POSSIBLE", CAROLINE POLACHEK

2. "SO YOU ARE TIRED", SUFJAN STEVENS

1. "CO-STAR", AMAARAE

[knightofleo]

ANOHNI and the Johnsons | It Must Change

[iamlisteningto]

ANOHNI And The Johnsons’ I Am A Bird Now

[reckonslepoisson]

Antony and the Johnsons, ANOHNI and the Johnsons (2000)

Even here ANOHNI’s voice could slice through a room, her intimate warbles carving each listener into their own sense of isolation. Antony and the Johnsons isn’t regarded as one of her most acclaimed works but perhaps it should be, boundlessly resonant.

Pick: ‘Cripple and the Starfish’ 

[gedankenstroeme]

Rest like the soul of a diamond

Rest like a woman in a field of wheat

Rest and she'll come home to you

She'll come home to you

[littlemusicreviews]

ANOHNI & The Johnsons – My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross

July 7, 2023 (Rough Trade)

ANOHNI is a generational talent, and her new album My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross feels like a culmination of her 25-year career. She reunites after more than a decade with long-time band The Johnsons, and thus the sonic palette harkens back to their chamber pop releases from the 2000s. However, the influence of her electronic solo album Hopelessness is felt through the presence of the maximalist instrumental builds in “Scapegoat” and “Rest”, as well as the whiplash of “Go Ahead”, which takes an immediate left turn with its bold, experimental structure.

ANOHNI’s vocal performance is chameleonic and also draws from her entire previous body of work. In “Sliver Of Ice” she plays the part of a coy lounge singer, and then a mere song later on “Can’t” she wails like a banshee, evoking urgency within the listener through her pained performance. This urgency is multiplied by the lyrical content of My Back Was A Bridge, which overflows with sadism and masochism in equal measures. ANOHNI addresses dead family members, sings from the perspective of her dead friends, and laments our dying planet, all intertwined with both literal and metaphorical images of violence, aching joints and broken bones.

As grim as it all sounds, the overall tone of the album is confronting rather than bleak, and rather than only inspiring hopelessness it functions as a call-to-arms. One example is the massive riff that bursts into the last minute of “Scapegoat” like a sunbeam through a storm – it is an epic, awe-inspiring moment that unshackles you from the onslaught of dark themes, even if just for a moment.

And then, in the final moment of the album, ANOHNI leaves us with the message “For me / You be free for me”. She has allowed the listener to feel the pain that she feels, but ultimately grants us permission to break through that emotion and push forward with progressive change for both ourselves and our planet.

Favourite track: “Can’t”

Rating: 8.5 out of 10