IMMORTAL BIRD / CRIPPLE AND THE STARFISH (WITH ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS)

Here is a very nice split single featuring Tibet's project Current 93 on the A side along with the equally talented and engaging band Antony and the Johnsons. For newcomers to both of these bands, you will hear one song each that really show the best of what these projects have to offer. Antony has also guested on several Current 93 albums and has one of the most memorable voices ever, a very expressive and full mid-range.

Immortal Bird - A nicely accompanied track with guitar, orchestral keys and percussion accompanying David Tibet's usual spoken/sung vocals. This track comes from the Current 93 album "Sleep Has His House" which features Michael Cashmore doing most of the instrumentation, Steven Stapleton on drums and mixing and, of course, Tibet on vocals and composition. It is quite a lovely track, one of the projects more accessible ones even with Tibet's vocal delivery style. But a lot of it is instrumental.

Cripple and the Starfish - The B-side is from Antony & the Johnsons with whom Tibet has worked with on many Current 93 albums. If you haven't heard Antony's voice, just know that he is a lot more melodic than Tibet, though his vocal is definitely unique, if you really listen, you can hear how beautiful and expressive his voice is. Several traditional instruments accompany the vocals, these performers and The Johnson. Their instrumentals always perfectly backup Antony's vocals. There is not percussion, but the music is quite beautiful using cello, sax, clarinet, violin, harp and piano with only a little percussion in this instance. It's also quite a lovely song.

It might be a difficult split single to find, but it is definitely worth your while to look it up as both songs are excellent and should probably appeal to lovers of both bands and even to people that have never heard them before. It's only just over 10 minutes total, but if it appeals to you, then you should explore the music of both bands.