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Avg: 4.0 (369 ratings)
- Date Released: February 1, 2005
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Label: Secretly Canadian / SC Dist.
Mercury Prize-winning songs of pain and power drawn from a palette of gender identity.
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We Say...
You could say artist/musician/androgyne Antony has a certain flair for drama. Spirited by the tranny cabarets and gender-fucking performance artists that lured him to New York from California in the early '90s, Antony torches his piano with poignant songs of pain and power, alienation and acceptance, love and sorrow, all drawn from a palette of gender identity, the desire to be female never far from his thoughts. "One day I'll grow up/I'll be a beautiful woman," he promises on "For Today I Am a Boy" — and if that doesn't work, there's always surgery ("My Lady"). His melancholia is underscored by his swanlike, womanish tenor, which flutters, warbles and floats out in grand curlicues of vibrato, lifted high on a pedestal of piano and a small string section (which includes Joan As Policewoman violinist Joan Wasser). He also posses up the man-sopranos for guest spots, reminding us he's not the first pop singer flaunting his divaness; for "You are My Sister," he's joined by O.G. gender-queer pop star Boy George, while the loping "What Can I Do?" features Rufus Wainwright's clear croon; and neo-hippie hipster Devendra Banhart contributes on "Spiralling." I Am a Bird Now's real life longing is cradled in bouts of bittersweet fantasy and cushioned by hope; as such, Antony's theatricality never overpowers his humanity. "I am a bird-girl," he wails sadly on the closing track, "and bird-girls can fly!"
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They Say...
Antony and the Johnsons' second full-length recording, the haunting and affecting I Am a Bird Now, is a far more intimate affair than their debut. Antony's bluesy parlor room cadence is more upfront here, resulting in a listening experience that's both exhilarating and disquieting. "Hope There's Someone" is a somber opener, and its plea for companionship, augmented by a sparse piano/vocal arrangement that rises into the air by song's end in a swirl of multi-tracked harmonies, is ultimately uplifting. This formula is applied to much of the record and never ceases to elicit honest emotion from either Antony or his numerous guests. Rufus Wainwright takes the lead on "What Can I Do?," a languid meditation on death that conjures up images of rainy streets, lonely lampposts, and cigar smoke -- it's brief (under two minutes) but alluring like the cover of a Raymond Chandler novel. Boy George joins Antony for a duet on the soulful and empowering "You Are My Sister," Devendra Banhart lends his warbly tenor to the lush "Spiraling," and Lou Reed plays noodly guitar and recites an anonymous poem on the mischievous "Fistful of Love." It's a testament to Antony's skill as a writer and arranger that these guest appearances are completely devoid of pretense, and while each artist is reverent to the source material, it's still Antony's show, as the most powerful moments on I Am a Bird Now are his.
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| 01. |  |
Hope There's Someone |
4:21 |
|
| 02. | |
My Lady Story |
3:33 |
|
| 03. | |
For Today I Am A Boy |
2:36 |
|
| 04. | |
Man Is The Baby |
4:09 |
|
| 05. | |
You Are My Sister |
3:59 |
|
| 06. | |
What Can I Do? |
1:40 |
|
| 07. | |
Fistful Of Love |
5:51 |
|
| 08. | |
Spiralling |
4:25 |
|
| 09. | |
Free At Last |
1:36 |
|
| 10. | |
Bird Girl |
3:14 |
|
10 Total Tracks, 35:24 Total Length
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Credits
- Boy George - Voices // Lou Reed - Guitar // Lou Reed - Voices // Doug Henderson - Mastering // Doug Henderson - Mixing // Julia Kent - Cello // Julia Kent - String Arrangements // Doug Wieselman - Saxophone // Doug Wieselman - Horn Arrangements // John Bollinger - Drums // Rufus Wainwright - Voices // Josef Astor - Photography // Peter Hujar - Photography // Parker Kindred - Drums // Jason Hart - Piano // Steven Bernstein - Horn // Steven Bernstein - Horn // Antony - Organ // Antony - Piano // Antony - Voices // Antony - Producer // Antony - Drawing // Dick Kondas - Tracking // Paul Shapiro - Horn // Antony and the Johnsons - Main Performer // Devendra Banhart - Guitar // Devendra Banhart - Voices // Emery Dobyns - Tracking // Rainy Orteca - Bass // Maxim Moston - Violin // Maxim Moston - String Arrangements // Jeff Langston - Bass // Danielle Farina - Viola // Keith Bonnen - Flute // Don Felix Cervantes - Photography // Emily Dobyns - Mixing // Matthew Marks Galleny - Photography // Joan Wassen - Viola // Julia Yasuda - Voices // Julia Yasuda - ? // Todd Cohen - Drums
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