I Am a Bird Now
| I Am a Bird Now | ||||
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| Studio album by Antony and the Johnsons | ||||
| Released | February 1, 2005 | |||
| Genre | Baroque pop | |||
| Length | 35:29 | |||
| Label | Secretly Canadian | |||
| Producer | Antony Hegarty | |||
| Antony and the Johnsons chronology | ||||
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| Singles from I Am a Bird Now | ||||
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I Am a Bird Now is the second album by New York City band Antony and the Johnsons. It won the Mercury Music Prize on September 6, 2005. After winning the prize, the album shot up the UK albums chart from #135 to #16 in one week, the biggest jump in the history of the Mercury Music Prize.[1] It had originally peaked at #78.[citation needed] As of September 2011, UK sales stand at 220,000 copies.[2]
The album features guest appearances by Rufus Wainwright ("What Can I Do?"), Devendra Banhart, Joan Wasser and by lead singer Antony Hegarty's childhood heroes Boy George and Lou Reed.[3] The cover is a photograph by Peter Hujar of Warhol Superstar Candy Darling on her deathbed (aptly titled "Candy Darling on Her Deathbed").[4]
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
All songs written and composed by Antony Hegarty.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hope There's Someone" | 4:21 |
| 2. | "My Lady Story" | 3:33 |
| 3. | "For Today I Am a Bouy" | 2:36 |
| 4. | "Man Is the Baby" | 4:09 |
| 5. | "You Are My Sister" | 3:59 |
| 6. | "What Can I Do?" | 1:40 |
| 7. | "Fistful of Love" | 5:52 |
| 8. | "Spiralling" | 4:25 |
| 9. | "Free at Last" | 1:36 |
| 10. | "Bird Gerhl" | 3:14 |
[edit] Personnel
The following people contributed to I Am a Bird Now:[3][4]
[edit] Antony and the Johnsons
- Antony Hegarty – organ, piano, vocals
- Julia Kent – cello
- Parker Kindred - drums (Track 7)
- Jeff Longston – bass
- Maxim Moston – violin
- Doug Wieselman – saxophone
[edit] Additional personnel
- Devendra Banhart – guitar (Track 5), vocals (Track 8)
- Steve Bernstein – horn
- John Bollinger - drums (Track 5)
- Keith Bonner - flute
- Boy George – vocals (Track 5)
- Todd Cohen – drums
- Danielle Farina - viola (Tracks 2,9)
- Jason Hart – piano (Track 6)
- Rainy Orteca - bass (Track 7)
- Lou Reed – guitar and vocals (Track 7)
- Paul Shapiro – horn
- Rufus Wainwright – vocals (Track 6)
- Joan Wasser – viola
- Julia Yasuda - Morse Code, vocals (Track 9)
- Emery Dobyns - Engineer and mixer.
[edit] Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
| The Guardian | 2005 |
| Pitchfork Media | (8.6/10) 2005 |
| Robert Christgau | (B-) link |
| Rolling Stone | 2005 |
| Stylus Magazine | (A-) link |
| Q | April 2005 |
| Drowned In Sound |  2005 |
| Tiny Mix Tapes | 2005 |
I Am a Bird Now received very positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a score of 88 out of 100, indicating "Universal acclaim."[5]
Drowned in Sound's Anthony Gibbons gave the album a score of 10/10, writing "It’s not an exaggeration. This isn’t hype. I Am A Bird Now is a beautiful, emotive, glorious, and sometimes sinister album that will top many a critic's list come the end-of-year polls, and justifiably so."[6] Tiny Mix Tapes also gave the album a perfect score, writing "This music grabs a hold of you and doesn't let go. It feels timeless and gorgeous and bigger than life. It may not be 'soul' in the strict, music appreciation 101 sense, but it could make even the most jaded atheist approach a metaphysical regard... I'd put on my critic's cap and dive into scrutiny, but I am too enraptured by this artist's music."[7] Pitchfork Media's Brandon Stosuy praised the vocals, writing "The ultimate draw is Antony's voice, and within the first two seconds of the album, it should be very clear to even the most unaware newbies that Antony has an amazing Nina Simone/Brian Ferry/Jimmy Scott vibrato, a multi-octave siren that would sound painfully lovely no matter what he was saying."[8]
Robert Christgau, on the other hand, gave the album a "Dud of the Month" designation. Christgau wrote: "Not only is his [Hegarty] willingness to express emotion commoner than indie denizens imagine, his failure to undercut that emotion with irony or humor is a spiritual weakness."[9]
The album has appeared on several end of year lists. Mojo named I Am a Bird Now the best album of 2005.[10] Pitchfork Media ranked the album #5 on its list of the top 50 albums of 2005.[11] On the same website, the track "Hope There's Someone" was ranked #28 on their list of the Top 500 Songs of the 2000's and was selected as 2005's best single.[12][13]
[edit] Charts
[edit] Album
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart | 16[14] |
| Austrian Album Charts | 71[15] |
| Belgium Album Charts | 16[15] |
| Danish Album Charts | 38[15] |
| French Album Charts | 45[15] |
| Netherland Album Charts | 58[15] |
| Norwegian VG-lista | 4[15] |
| Swedish Album Charts | 22[15] |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | Peak positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [14] |
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| 2005 | "Hope There's Someone" | 44 | |||||
| 2005 | "You Are My Sister" | 39 | |||||
[edit] References
- ^ Antony & The Johnsons album sales soar. NME. 13 September 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ "Mercury Prize Winners - The Guardian Google spreadsheet". https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AiXOITXusTjadHltV3hDN3c0Z1NYckFaeVZVR2dKZ0E. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
- ^ a b Antony And The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now. Discogs. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ a b I Am a Bird Now - Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Critic Reviews for I Am A Bird Now. Metacritic. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Gibbons, Anthony. Antony And The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now. Drowned in Sound. 30 May 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Antony & The Johnsons - I Am a Bird Now. Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Stosuy, Brandon. Album Reviews: Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now. 10 February 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. Extraordinary Machines. The Village Voice. 27 December 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Mojo End Of year Lists. Rocklist.net. Retrieved 3 July 2011
- ^ Pitchfork: Staff. Top 50 Albums of 2005. Pitchfork Media. 31 December 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Pitchfork Staff. The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 50-21. Pitchfork Media. 20 August 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Pitchfork Staff. Top 50 Singles of 2005. Pitchfork Media. 30 December 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2011
- ^ a b "ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS - The Official Charts Company". The Official Charts Company. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/antony%20%26%20the%20johnsons/. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Antony And the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now - australiancharts.com". australian-charts.com. http://www.australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Antony+And+The+Johnsons&titel=I+Am+A+Bird+Now&cat=a. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
[edit] External links
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