I Am A Bird Now - Antony & The Johnsons

'I Am a Bird Now' was the second full-length album by Antony and the Johnsons. It received critical acclaim upon release and won the Mercury Prize for the best album of 2005. This caused some controversy over the fact that Antony, although born in the UK, had lived most his life in the USA. In many ways Antony and the Johnsons are a New York based band. This album was on my list to buy for some time after I'd heard the opening track - 'Hope There's Someone' - on a compilation CD received free with a national newspaper. This was one song that I never tired of hearing; a completely original composition with a dramatic soaring vocal. But apart form the haunting opening ...  Read the complete review

(This review can also be found on UK.BEST-PRICE.COM) How I came across this CD: When I spent some time in Spain a friend of mine used to listen to Antony and The Johnsons. I fell in love with this voice within a second. And later on I forgot about the singer's name. A few years later I visited another good friend in Madrid and suddenly there it was again...this voice I'd never forget. My friends then gave me the CD as a present. The first few weeks afterwards I didn't listen to anything else. There was just me and Antony, so to say ;) And I still play it once in a while when I need some time for myself, while having a hot bath, for example, or in ...  Read the complete review

Earlier in 2005 I was travelling down the bypass with the radio on. Everything was fine and then Jo Whiley played a song that apparently had been getting a few requests. I remember hearing it and being affected by its simplicity, it was beautiful but I never picked up on the name of the artist. Months later I caught the end of the Mercury Music Prize ceremony on TV and found the same song being played live. It was then I discovered Anthony & The Johnsons, the next day I went and bought the cd. I Am A Bird Now featured in many of the top album lists of 2005 and won the previously mentioned Mercury prize ahead of acts such as The Kaiser Chiefs and ...  Read the complete review