Album Notes

"The best concept album this side of Lift to Experience's The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads, Johnson's existential tale unfolds over thirteen expansive tracks that intermittently evoke Mark Kozelek, Sparklehorse and Radiohead."
One of the top local Albums of 2004
-Dave Hererra, Westword Magazine

"Lyrically beautiful, mind blowing...A masterpiece of a tale. Nathan Johnson has achieved in one release what many musicians spend their whole life trying to achieve."
-Chad Mitchell, PastePunk

"If Coldplay's last album was an innocent underage beer, this is heroin."
Ian Mathers, Stylus Magazine

"Annasthesia is a postmodern epic. It has the pathos, and even the structure - note the chorus of workers on 'Carparks & Cubicles' - of Greek tragedy. The depth of insight and breadth of beauty expressed here is very rare. I strain to think of another narrative presentation as intriguing as this - on the visual, lyrical and musical levels. It excels as a short work of literary fiction, as a dramatic play, as a musical composition of the highest quality, and as a series of beautiful visual works of art. This is a tremendous feat as a work of art in general, and as a concept album in particular."
-Jeremy Bryan, Figureheads

Included with Annasthesia:
1) 24-page Graphic Novella-as-Liner Notes, useful for reading while listening to the entire album if you're the kind of person who has that sort of time and dedication. If not, it is still fairly useful as a beautiful picturebooklet featuring the haunting full color reproductions of Zachary Johnson's original artwork (roughly 30 pen/ink/watercolor pieces layed out in comic book format with the complete lyrics to the story).

1) Jewel Box, useful for throwing away after you import the album into iTunes, or perhaps after you transfer the disc and liner notes into your 200-cd carrier. Could also be useful for the visual hints it provides to understanding the structural form of the album and, thus, the theme, if that is not already uncomfortably apparent.

1) High-quality-laser-etched plastic disc, useful for conveying the sounds that were recorded over a 6 month period using minimal means (mostly in a bedroom) and mixed with loving care by the creators in a loft in the city.

It should be noted that by clicking the blue text on the upper-left side of your screen, you can hear samples of the album's 13 tracks. I recommend starting with The Evening News.

It should also be noted that by clicking the shopping trolley icon prominently displayed at the top of this page, you may securely enter your credit card details in exchange for your very own copy of Annasthesia, which will be swiftly mailed to you by the lovely people at CD Baby.

Enjoy,
Nathan Johnson
& The Cinematic Underground