This Week's Obsession: Antony and the Johnsons, "Aeon"

To be honest, my only real obsession right now is my new baby boy, Ike (born 2/17/09, which explains why Scratched Into Our Souls was quiet last week). But while my wife and I were in the hospital, we caught Antony and the Johnsons on Late Night With David Letterman. Their performance of "Aeon" was altogether remarkable, an absolute show-stopper. In the dark of the  hospital room, baby Ike in our arms, we were surely suckers for anything even remotely emotional, and both the song and the image—it ain't often that a pudgy, pasty guy in yellow eye shadow haunts my waking dreams—have been rattling around my head for the last week. The version on the band's new album, The Crying Light, is lovely, but doesn't come close to capturing the desperate intensity of the performance on Letterman. Amazing.