I urge you all to buy Antony and The Johnsons new album, ' I Am A Bird Now' whoch won the Mercury Music Prize.
I'm hoping to see Antony this year. .....Remarkable talent is all I have left to say.

Antony is very original; gentle giant is right.
You'd almost worry about him.

Any more ideas about what other bands/artists will be included in this album? It sounds very promising.

Check Antony and the Johnson's out...simply one of the best voices of our time. He is currently touring the US and playing in San Diego tonight. If you get a chance, see him live...you will be blown away.

when i heard him perform after he won the mercury music prize, he's so avantgarde, well worth a listen
oh btw for those who have vh2, on tuesday 27th at 12pm they're showing "The Smtihs: From The Begining"

Superb voice. but I'm not sure he has the tunes - yet. I bought the album expecting to be blown away but instead found a collection of moderately tuneful piano ballads. I've only played it a few times - just didn't grab me. Whereas someone like Randy Newman or Warren Zevon hooked me in straight away ( I make the comparison as all three are into piano ballads, Zevon less so maybe, but listen to his solo piano renidition of 'The French Inhaler' in awe! ).

Nowt against Ant, but, while his voice isn't overrated, I think his songs probably are.

He just sounds like a bad Stars in their Eyes impression of Nina Simone to me. There's nothing remotely new in the music side of things at all. It's actually very MOR.

And how is someone being compared to the Smiths news? The NME has been doing that every other week for the past 20 years.

I think R. Smith of the Cure would be a better comparison.. though i doubt Robert Smith was aiming for cross dressing... he is goth... or was?

Wow, though I'm not surprised by people's lack of intelligence when posting in these forums. I reckon the only way to try to remedy the problem is to suggest people re-read the aforementioned excerpt very slowly. After, take a moment to understand HOW James Jam is comparing Antony to Morrissey.

It has nothing to do with cross-dressing (that's clearly irrelevant, especially since several of Morrissey's hero's were cross-dressers), but rather about being "the first great pop hero" since Morrissey and the Smiths. I think it's clear, and like it or not very, very true.

As far as the Anonymous post claiming Antony's music to be MOR- do you know what MOR is? I didn't think so, cause if you did you wouldn't use that abbreviation. Furthermore, you wouldn't use it in reference to the music of Antony & the Johnsons. Also, you have to remember there is no such thing as original music. Original music is a fallacy. It can be highly artistic but never original. There was/is nothing original about the music of Morrissey and the Smiths. The pretense, delivery, an emotional triggers of that music is highly original and I think Anotny is the first to acheive that level of orignality since. ANtony really is the only "other option" in pop music today.

The music is simple in a way that gives weight to the old adage 'less is more'. Having said that, if Antony was inclined to put an album out a cappella, the strength of his voice would bully your emotions to a point where you might actually combust. His voice is that powerful, pure and simple.

...but I went to Sunderland University when this James Jam bloke was doing his thang locally, and the guy is frankly too young to have been "hanging onto Morrissey's every wry utterance in the mid-80's."

I know it's a small, pedantic point. But it kinda sums up the NME's habit of making themselves out to be something they're not.

Antony and the Johnsons played last night and there are simply no words to describe the range of emotions his voice evokes. And the songs! He has no peers. None.

Grown men weep when he sings.

i took a cursory scan of the posts and didn't see this mentioned, but...shouldn't the excerpt say that Antony's victory was a welcome 'vindication' rather than 'vilification' for individuality? small point, but a rather large difference in meaning

I notice the Anthony-o-philes are somewhat contemptuous of those who "don't get" his music, but I don't see why anyone has to. Yes, the voice of Anthony is remarkable, but the songs are not. They simply lack sparkle. I would rather hear Morrissey's voice any day, or Johnny Cash's, or Randy Newman's. None of them have a voice to technically challenge Ant - if you're going on that score, Anthony wins hands down. But song-wise, all three have better tunes than Anthony and all three voices resonate with me more than his - and that's what counts. Besides, if you want such a voice, Nina Simone is the real mccoy, and her songs at their best are much, much better than those of Anthony. For those who want to explore the avant-garde aspect, Diamanda Galas is far, far more interesting than Anthony. I'm afraid I just can't see the fuss - beyond the voice, that is - and I don't see that I have to.

Thanks a lot Lou Reed for hitching your wagon to this pretentious prog idiot.

You suck.

As an amateur musicologist I must admit that for the first time I really do not get it. I listened to a ton of songs by Antony and the Johnsons and was left uninspired, unimpressed and as a final result, uninterested. It sounds like a really bad impression of late career Roxy Music. Actually it really reminded me of the Tindersticks which are another band I have not been able to find value or joy in. I know both of these bands have their following but I am perplexed at what would make anyone think this is listenable or inventive in any way. Perhaps if you are into cabaret jazz or 40's vocalists I could see finding a kinship here but to win the Mercury prize only degrades that award in my eyes. Any comparison to the Smiths is laughable whether it be style, sound or critical weight.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I am trashing Antony &TJ it's just that like most of the music press coming out of the UK right now it seems to me to be all about hype over substance. I sat listening for hours hoping to hear what some people have in their music and was left with the impression of a morose swim through a sea of molasses.
With so many great things finally happening in music gain and so many true originals finding their public voice why would they get so much respect as the Mercury prize? Erasure's Nightbird shames their effort as well as recent offerings by Bloc Party, Bright Eyes, The Arcade Fire, Interpol and the Killers (if they count for this year), The Tears, Franz Ferdinand, Peter Murphy, even the Rolling Stones who I have disliked for 20 years have put forth their strongest effort to date.
Well if you like perhaps the Tindersticks, Sigur Ros and Goldfrapp and have a yearning for slow cabaret jazz I would run to the local indie record store to buy this album...everyone else should run in the opposite direction and hope this does not become a trend.

Now just to provide a nugget I hope everyone has gone to depechemode.com and watched the video for their new single Precious. Finally they are back in their form as true masters after their not-too-fulfilling Exciter album. Looks like the boys are heading back to their Black Celebration days which is blissful to me. Pure genius.

...and half way through the set I was yawning. Yes he might be something new and out of the ordinary but I got very bored for the following reasons: OK it's debateable whether the guy has a good voice. However he sings EVERY SINGLE tune with exactly the same voice and resonance - there is no variation. Also all the songs are very samey: slow-tempo "beautiful" ballads which gets very boring after a while. Also the stage presence gets very boring after a while: a big fat whale by the piano and the mike.
Lyrics? Well they might be the best thing about him. But then again, I'm sorry to say, they are very samey - no variation.
There is nothing capturing about their concert apart from the Quite "twee" songs which are repeated and repeated.
Not me thanks. Go on Mozzer!

It sounds like a this mortal coil album without all the distortion and weird instrumentals...
That being said it is very original... A change from the new folk movement or the "new" new wave
Refreshing, somber, and heartfelt
Much more emotional than anything Connor Oberst has every heard