I Am a Bird Now

Seriously I don't even understand what this list is anymore, if I did in the first place. Why is this album there, what is it about this that I need to listen to. In terms of music, we'll if you like a bloke gargling white spirit whilst singing about his flip flops being made from paste this is for you. One piano note rolls out every 4 bars to be dramatic, I guess. This album is like being made to cut the lawn with a pair of blunt scissors whilst birds peck at you and the cat can't even be bothered to piss on you, she has such contempt in her eyes.

1001 vibratos to listen to before you die. The vibrato was so distracting I didn't get much else out of this album. The background music was nice but overpowered by VIBRATOOOOOOOOO.

he's got such an annoying voice. i didn't get it the first time round and i still don't get it now. nice music but gets ruined by him warbling over the top.

I don't think you're supposed to call him Antony anymore. Who knew that 'I am a bird now' would take on such significance?

I hate the vibrato. I'm sorry, but the vocal performance here is just not for me, to an extent that it renders most of the album a chore, if not a pain, to listen to. Another example of where instrumentals only would be preferable. It's also a bit too bleak in terms of lyricism for me, but definitely not bad. Some cool guest features I'll concede. 05/04/23

I was NOT expecting this. This music felt so personal, like reading someone's diary. They have a unique viewpoint of a trans life. His voice and style remind me of a mix between Nina Simone and Devendra Banhart. The instrumentals felt expansive and had a live-sounding quality. Beautiful. Unique.

For the record, nothing about this looked appealing to me ahead of time. Couldn’t have been more surprised to hear the beauty woven throughout the album. Anohni’s hauntingly powerful vibrato vocals shine as the music seems to dynamically flow from her singing. Loved nearly every song and noticed how the compositional style remains simple and elegant yet has surprising and unexpected turns whenever you think you have it figured out. Lou Reed sits in as a bonus.

You don't sound like a bird, you sound like a frigging kettle.

Depressing album, but in a good way, we need albums with real emotion. Great vocals, especially the vibrato, the difference between the upper and lower register singing sounded like two different singers. Really interesting.

It has some interesting moments here and there. The last minute of Hope There's Someone and the cameos from Lou Reed and Boy George for instance. Despite the songs being pretty straight forward with little variation musically, it has beautiful piano and strings throughout. It's also has some meaningful lyrics regarding ANHONI's life and transition, plus longing for someone. I can truely understand why this is on the list and how it has touched many hearts, but I just cannot stand the vocals and that alone was too distracting to enjoy this. Mad respect for her creating meaningful art that has touched many, but it's simply not my cup of tea.

The kind of self indulgent warbling that apparently qualifies as music. I initially thought his voice was interesting but by the third track it just grated on me. And the songwriting is really dull. Boring and annoying is not a good combination. At 35 minutes it was 25 minutes too long.

Well, wasn't expecting that. Very sparse but with big performances, especially vocally. I don't think you can miss what the subject matter is, and I think vocally Anohni just nails the right mix of vulerable and strong. It may have not been created for me (as a straight cis guy), but I'm very happy it's here. Favorite tracks: "Bird Gehrl", "You Are My Sister", "Fistful of Love"

Beautiful pain.

I really can't stand this person's voice. The songs are pretty and tender, but the voice ruins it for me.

Absolutely hate the continually forced vibrato vocals which makes the whole thing a chore to listen to. Musically it's very one dimensional too.

Brutal

Listening to this was almost as bad as nails on a chalkboard.

Wow! First album in here, that I didn't know at all, and then got transfixed by! I am (almost) speechless. This album is labelled as baroque/art pop. Well, if this genre is supposed to sound like this, then sign me in! Songs on this album have two layers. The first one, is a usually slow and rather melancholic, but beautiful melody, played on piano with plenty of string instruments. The second one is an incredibly rare and forceful voive of singer, Anhoni. And the song that shows that combinations better than anything else, is 'Hope there's someone'. If the only goal of listening to 1001 albums would be to hear this song for the first time, it is well worth it. Whole album is a very beautiful journey, that has been plaing in the background for the last day, and will be played for a long time since. Bravo!

16 years later and this album still leaves me speechless. I have no speech. I am without speech.

lush - dreamy, yearning, songs of transition

Such a beautifully haunting album.

It seems the artist tried to make some ~deep~ songs, but they turned out really boring.

Really annoying voice with way too much vibrato. The only song I really enjoyed featured a guest artist. Some of the backing stuff is interesting, but I can’t get past the vocals.

If you like warbling this will be right up your alley. I don't.... it's irritating and awful !!

would give it a 0

This was depressing in many ways. The one good thing is I'll never have to listen to it again. I couldn't stand the voice. 1.5/5

Great Misconduct At Home, Just Wrote Saf7a Bark Men 3l Bouheli Mte3 Dostoevsky 3al Album He4a

Deep melancholy and beautifully expressive vocals. Definitely bedroom music. Bird Guhl is a strong closer. This is worth a revisit.

If this guy was in the piano lounge I would definitely wait until the set was finished

I Am A Bird Now I think he is a bird now? I remember all the hype around this when it won the Mercury Prize, and I remember buying it but never really getting into it apart from liking For Today I Am A Boy. Interesting listening again, there are some lovely passages, some moments when the piano, melody and vibrato all come together to create something pretty magical, but it too often seems to pass me by, and I find myself struggling to stay engaged. However it, or at least parts of it, did grow with repeat listens, particularly in the second half. Hope There’s Someone’s crescendoing intimacy is rather lovely, the strings and flute on My Lady’s Story are great. For Today I Am a Boy I still really like, You Are My Sister’s insistent, winning rhythmic momentum revealed itself and I didn’t for one actually mind Rufus Wainwright on What Can I Do. Fistful of Love’s guitar horns and guitar (and Lou Reed) provide a very welcome contrast to the piano and strings elsewhere and is a great track. Despite finding much more in its little corners and moments than I have done previously I’m still not entirely sure about it. While I really like his emotional openness and perspective on his identity, his aspirations and that he has crafted a singular, unique album, I still find myself zoning out, struggling to really connect musically with some of it, it feeling longer than it’s relatively brief 35 minutes. Maybe I need more time with it, but for today a high 3 feels fair, with room to come back and try again. 🕊️🕊️🕊️ Playlist submission: Fistful of Love

quite sad vibes but very interesting

So emotional & melancholy. I like the genre description Baroque Pop.

As you begin to notice how lovely and moving the piano is you can't help but notice it has no effect on you simply because some guy had to do a falsetto for the entire run of the album.

The melodies are nice, but this singing voice is driving me a little crazy. Can vibrato drive a person crazy? I think it can. Three songs in now and damn, seriously, leEeEeEet UuUuUup on the vibratoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo. So then I thought "Well maybe if I see the guy singing, maybe that will help. It'll put the voice in context and it'll make sense to me." NOPE When Wainwright shows up later on, everything feels right. I can't do this much vibrato, I'm sorry. Vibra-no.

A lot of the other reviews have said it as well, but the vibrato was just too much. I like the idea of it in a way, it's at least unique in an age when most pop singers sound identical, but the end result came across as too dramatic and full of itself. 2/5.

One's enjoyment of this i think will live or die based on what they think of the vocals. Musically i really enjoyed what was going on here but that vibrato reaches levels of comical where i had to stop listening cause i couldn't take it seriously. Most notably on the tracks where they layer the vocals so you have double the vibrato making an almost white noise of incomprehensible warbling. That said, the tracks where the vibrato is toned down and especially the ones with guest vocalists are exceptionally pretty and are the only reason i am giving this a 2 instead of a 1.

I tried, I really did. Everyone raves about the voice. It's more grating than interesting.

The music is alright but the singing is just dreadful. The songs could be alright with a new singer.

What a crock of shit- in the first 10 seconds you can tell that’s no woman singing.

Forgot how much I liked this album!

A beautiful bummer. The kind of raw honesty and emotion that makes you go “I hope things worked out for this person”. Loved it

Predivan album

With sheer elegance and never-ending beauty, I Am a Bird Now is the detailing of the former Antony (with the Johnsons) unfurling to become what she was meant to be. Having faced with death (the ailing Candy Darling posing with grace on the hospital bed), we become accustomed to what was seemingly a fleeting series of songs that become tethered upon further listening and a home stretch that knocks everything out of the park towards the end. For those who come across it for the first time, they might not know what will come to them but eventually they'll see that this is a kind of musical experience that doesn't come every now and then; a effortless fusion of soul, classical, folk and anything in between. It will serenade the listener towards submission.

loved this

Pretty tremendous

I don't think I ever truly enjoyed the (main) vocals 100% but I sure as hell could appreciate it. It's quite emotive, and while the vibrato is a bit quicker than I usually prefer, it worked for the music. And the music? Beautiful. It's a very tough call to make because the vocals were still my least favorite part of it all, but I have to give this a 5 because of all the parts coming together perfectly.

Awesome album . No skips . I loved it so much . Especially how the songs just start of nice with an underlying piano instrumental and some vocals and gradually increase the energy and the instrumentalism . Probably one of my favorite records so far from this list

fuck isch da schön hahahaha hope there's someone würdi am liebste brüelle oke klavier nochli am gäse geh alsooo wie gseit huere schön aber wenns so wiitergaht find ichs vlt iwenn chli langwilig :( OHH UND ES CHÖMMED STRIICHER es isch so fucking schön chans gar nöd handle hahahah au you are my sister isch viiill zu schön omg ich bin doch nöd im mentale zuestand zum das chönne handle fuck it da isch e füfi weiss nöd wenn ichs letscht mal vo musig usserhalb vo mim normale musiggschmack so berüehrt worde bin

I think I only knew Hope There's Someone before which is a real stunner!! But 100% untapped love for me in the rest of the album. My GOD the feeling and raw almost diary entry poetry on this album. It made me cry. I'm so so glad this album was written and put together by Anohni because it's a true gift to the world. The vocals and the ochestral sounding expansive instrumentation on tracks like Spiralling... wow. Every piece/part/instrument/vocal adds so much to every track too. A genius piece of work. PS I love the marmite vocals, they portray so much authentic feeling and they're certainly not overdone in my opinion. There are some parts where the vocal is completely pure and straight forward and that contrast is delish. Wonderful stuff! What a journey.

I definitely wasn’t sure I’d come across an album I truly fell in love with on this list but wow. This is totally my taste in music, added to my playlists. The lyrics, the timbre of her voice, the instrumentals. The amazing features. Love

This stunning piece of art came to me upon its release in 2005. Antony’s voice is both delicate and powerful. “Fistful of Love” is easily one of my all time favorite songs. Antony’s wild emotion in the last minute of the song always wrecks me. The emotional “Spiralling” follows and the tears flow hard. The message behind this album is captured powerfully in its cover: Candy Darling, legendary Andy Warhol actress, on her death bed in 1974 from cancer caused by experimental hormone shots to transition physically from male to female. She lived her truth out loud, to death, with grace, dignity and strength. Candy had more courage in her pinky fingernail than most people can muster up over lifetimes. She may have died young, but she won the test of life in every way possible. Every song on this perfect record is about the joys and heartbreak of the queer experience and rising high within that glorious colorful light. It brings tears to my eyes every single time. Easy 5+ stars and definitive top 3 albums of the 2000’s, and top 10 albums of all time for me.

This is what I want from this project. Something I never would have listened to otherwise, but was still beautiful in many ways.

Mágico, el piano envuelve todas las melodías y la voz es magnífica. Romántico en el más amplio sentido de la palabra. Imprescindible. Belleza y paz serían buenas palabra para definirlo.

Haunting; full of pain, pleasure, and beauty. I think Anhoni may have been my first exposure to a trans person. I discovered this album shortly after it came out and was completely captivated by it. Still love it today. I think it has aged very well!

This rules, I’ve been listening to quite a bit of Sufjan Stevens lately and this has a similar emotional heft and haunting sound to it that I really love.

Wow!

Wow, just wow!

Absolutely beautiful. What a find

What a beautiful album. Such strong opening track too. You can feel the rawness and emotions in most of these. I found “For Today I Am A Boy” very powerful, especially after reading up a bit about the band. Saved songs: Hope There’s Someone, For Today I Am A Boy, Spiralling

An unbelievably beautiful album. I've never heard anything like it, and most likely never will again. One of the most enchanting sounds I've heard.

Nice to have at least one truly great album from the 00s.

Such haunting beauty.

🩷

definetely 5 that voice........

There's something about this album that is touching and truly moving. ANOHNI's voice is such a rare and precious thing - and hearing this album for the first time back in 2006, I was enraptured. I find some of the album to be a little strange and fractured, but the whole creates a sense of yearning that I feel is both masterful and necessary. This is the definition of essential listening to me. To top it off, "Hope There's Someone" has stuck with me for almost two decades as one of the most powerful and touching songs I've heard. The fear of being alone, dying alone and unloved, creates such fertile soil for this album to blossom in. It makes putting a score on this album easy - it's a masterpiece.

Fantastic voice! Sounds like if Tiny Tim and Sampha had a love child. Incredible. Did not know what to expect but someone said it sounds like you’re reading someone’s diary and that fits it perfectly. Cover for the album is so sick too (no pun intended).

Never heard of this band or album. Blown away. Great listen that I will return to. Chamber pop.

When this won the Mercury I was horrified. Since then I've grown to realise I was wrong. This is a work of fragile beauty in a brutal uncaring universe.

This album was very interesting, I'm still not exactly sure where I stand on it. However, it felt good to sit through as it comes from the perspective of someone who paints a grief filled picture of what it's like to be transgender. And I think it's a very necessary one to listen to in the current climate. It makes me realize that 2005 wasn't very long ago and we still very much are dealing with the same mindset about some things. You can very clearly hear the pain in Anohi's voice and while it might not be technically perfect, she still gets the point through. I've never heard an album that so blatantly talks about being trans, especially not one from 18 years ago. As sad as it starts, and the heavy topics it deals with, the album does end on a happy note. As our protagonist is no longer dealing with the things tying her down, whether that be the body she was born in or an abusive relationship. It serves as a reminder that there is a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

Haunting, somber, achingly beautiful, and powerful.

Really glad to hear this - I had listened to some Anohni in the past and loved it, but forgot about it. Now have listened to everything from both

I had the most intense experience listening to this album that an album has put me through in a long time. At the beginning I was struggling to find something to latch on to, but by the time it ended I was so into it I immediately played it again, like the kid who survives the roller coaster and after disembarking sprints to get in line to ride again. However, as amazing as it was, I have a funny feeling I may never listen to this album again.

The most stand-out aspect of this album to me is the very unique voice of the singer which enhances the extremely sorrowful and sad tone of the album. There are heavy themes of death, identity, and the want to escape. The soft and sad piano ballads might be boring in another context, but the haunting nature really brings a huge amount of intrigue to the experience.

amazing

Cool cool cool

Surprisingly nice to listen to - amazing piano and string arrangements

Todas las canciones son impresionantes. No sobra nada.

A beautiful voice, recalling the talent of Nina Simone, and a lyrical story rarely heard in popular music. ANOHNI is a very rare talent. It was a nice surprise to hear Lou Reed on this album. Fistful of Love is definitely a highlight.

Very good 4.5+/5

Having never listened to this before, lead singer Anohni's voice was a bit of a shock at first. I wasn't sure I was going to take it. Soon I began to embrace the uniqueness of it as it was sung over such beautiful music and expressing such feelings. And what a collection of interesting guest voices to add to the mix! I don't imagine that I'll listen to this all of the time, but listening to it was indeed quite a special experience.

A great singer. Very sad and emotional but fantastic album

I was not expecting to like this at all - when it started I instantly thought it would be extremely indulgent and pretentious for no reason and I was more than ready to give it up after the first minute. But I quickly realised that there was a story behind it all, a message of uncertainty and transition that I found extremely moving.

Beautiful emotional album love it

Wtf? 5 stars

Such simple but extraordinary concepts expressed so beautifully with such an arresting voice. This album hit me emotionally harder than any before. Anohni is truly amazing.

Haunting

Immediate 5 star album. The best.

Incredible record!! Loved it. The voice and emotions are so powerful! I am not so found of the guest voices as the main voice is so freaking nice. 4.5/5

It is a masterpiece.

Where was I in 2005 that I didn't know about this album or this band? For today, I think this is a little bit exaggerated on the sad environment, but it looks perfect for the 15 years old me.

Pop barroco. Me flipa la voz. Vinilo.

This blew me away. Anohni’s deeply soulful musings on her sexuality is insanely impactful to hear and I am grateful of this website for giving me the opportunity to hear it.

I first heard this a year or so ago when listening to previous Mercury Prize winners and thought it was absolutely gorgeous. Relistening has made me appreciate it even more - it’s just such a tender and affecting record

I'd never heard the music of Anohni and the Johnsons before, but it took approximately 30 seconds to be completely spellbound by this album. Anohni's voice is perhaps the most emotionally affecting I've ever heard. Every second is beautiful and somehow makes you feel feelings. The opening and closing tracks, 'Hope There's Someone' and 'Bird Guhl' (and the opening and closing lines within them) bookend the album perfectly, acting as the start and conclusion of an intensely personal story. In between, 'For Today I Am A Boy' spells out the theme of the album and 'You Are My Sister' had me welling up. Rating: 5/5 Playlist track: Fistful Of Love Date listened: 11/08/23

Fantastic, beautiful, loved it

Quite absurd, like why is there flying burgers, but I love it

GORGEOUS.

I wasn't convinced I was going to like this after the first track, it sounded a bit unfinished, like a demo or something. But as I got into it I realised that this just works, and ended up enjoying it a lot.

5☆/5 07.17.2024

Hope There's Someone is perfect. I remember when it won the Mercury Prize in 2005, and everybody (including the right) all thought "Oh that's nice, a trans person* has written a beautiful album of ballads about not feeling like he belongs, that seems like the sort of thing that can and should win this prize". If it happened today they'd all lose their minds and scream woke. It's all manufactured outrage and is silly and hurtful as fuck. Very annoying and sad. *Okay... They wouldn't have said trans person. I wouldn't have said trans. It was 2005 and I wasn't educated enough+. But you know what I mean. +Which ironically is the source of the word 'woke'. I think it came from the Nation of Islam - IE they would ask if a young black man was 'woke', meaning 'are you aware and educated about the structures white men have put in place to hold you back from realising your potential.