Name: I Am A Bird Now
Brand: Antony and The Johnsons

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

rtradcd223

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Discs

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2007-07-20

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

PIAS

Tax rate GB

UPC / Barcode

5050159822324

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

rtradlp223

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black

2010-11-30

5050159822317

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1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

Artist

Antony and The Johnsons

Genre GB

Alternative / Modern

Label GB

Rough Trade

Essential

Antony and the Johnsons' second full-length recording, (and Mercury Award wiining) is the haunting and affecting I Am a Bird Now - 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 sombre 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 - short, (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.

I Am A Bird Now

Music GB