The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & the Johnsons | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 28 November 2011 (UK) | |||
Recorded | 8 and 9 December 2010 at the Union Chapel, Islington, London | |||
Length | 1:07:44 | |||
Label | Rabble Rouser RRM009 (UK) Rough Trade Records RTRADCD636 (UK/USA) High Note Records HN925CD (Taiwan) [1] | |||
Producer | Adrian McNally | |||
The Unthanks chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Rolling Stone | [2] |
AllMusic | [3] |
musicOMH | [4] |
The Observer | [5] |
The Guardian | [6] |
Pop Matters | [7] |
The Independent on Sunday | [8] |
The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & the Johnsons, the fifth album by English folk group the Unthanks and the first to be recorded live, was released on 28 November 2011. Its extended title is: Diversions Vol. 1: The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & the Johnsons: Live from the Union Chapel, London.
The album, which consists entirely of songs by Robert Wyatt and by Antony Hegarty (now known as Anohni) of Antony and the Johnsons, was recorded at the Union Chapel, Islington, London, on 8 and 9 December 2010. It received a 4.5-starred review in Rolling Stone, four-starred reviews in The Guardian and The Observer and four-starred ratings from AllMusic and musicOMH.
David Fricke, in a 4.5-starred review for Rolling Stone magazine, said there is "a silvery deceptive spine running through the sisters' Earth-angel voices". [2] In a four-starred review, Neil Spencer of The Observer called the album "[a] triumphant excursion", adding that "...the Unthanks' intertwining voices – cadent, mournful, tender – never falter and the between-songs banter ('There will be clog dancing!') grounds an ethereal atmosphere". [5] Robin Denselow, in a four-starred review for The Guardian , described the album as "a thoughtful, delicate and bravely original tribute to two fine contemporary songwriters". [6] Reviewing the album for BBC Music, Martin Aston was struck by "hearing You Are My Sister sung to each other by sisters in blood as well as spirit, the arrangement and tone touching rather than cloying". [9]
Writing in The Independent on Sunday , Nick Coleman said that "The Hegarty songs respond slightly better to the treatment than do Wyatt's, with the exception of 'Sea Song'." [8] In a four-starred review for musicOMH , Chris White said: "In a largely flawless set, the Antony & The Johnsons songs in particular are luminously beautiful, perfectly suited to the sisters’ passionate, breathy vocals and McNally's elegant arrangements" but felt that the Unthanks are "at their best when providing a mixed palette of the centuries-old music of their native county and their own unique takes on the work of some of today’s most interesting performers. Just focusing on the latter, they’re marginally less interesting." [4]
In a four-starred review for AllMusic, James Christopher Monger described it as "one of the more riveting and idiosyncratic tribute albums of the past ten years". [3] Alex Young, reviewing the album for Consequence of Sound, said: "Rachel and Becky Unthank convey the intensity of Antony and the Johnsons, as well as Wyatt’s weariness. This kind of tribute doesn’t come about often enough, and they’ve nailed it, letting the lyricism and emotionality ring out". [10]
Antony and the Johnsons songs
Robert Wyatt songs
Total album length = 1:07:44
The album, which was recorded live at the Union Chapel, Islington, London on 8 and 9 December 2010, was mixed and produced by Adrian McNally. It was mastered by Denis Blackham. [11] The tri-fold album cover, designed by Steven Wainwright, incorporates illustrations by Becky Unthank and photographs by Mark Winpenny. [11]
Robert Wyatt is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming paraplegic following an accidental fall from a window in 1973, which led him to abandon band work, explore other instruments, and begin a forty-year solo career.
Anohni and the Johnsons is a music ensemble originally based in New York City that presents the work of English singer-songwriter Anohni and her collaborators. The band released their self-titled debut album in 2000. Their second album, 2005's I Am a Bird Now, was certified Gold in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland; it also was awarded that year's UK Mercury Prize.
Anohni Hegarty, styled as ANOHNI, is an English-born singer, songwriter, and visual artist. She has presented solo work and as the lead singer of the band Anohni and the Johnsons, formerly known as Antony and the Johnsons.
Cuckooland is the eighth studio album by jazz rock artist Robert Wyatt. It was released in 2003 on Hannibal Records. The artwork is by Alfreda Benge. The Wire named Cuckooland the record of the year in its annual critics' poll.
Nothing Can Stop Us is a compilation album by Robert Wyatt released in 1982.
Comicopera is the final album by Robert Wyatt, released on 8 October 2007 and available on both CD and double vinyl formats. The vinyl's fourth side contains no music and has a poem etched into its surface. It is Wyatt's first release on the Domino Records label. It features many other musicians, including Brian Eno, Paul Weller, Gilad Atzmon and Phil Manzanera, and was recorded in Wyatt's house and Manzanera's recording studio. The song "Del Mondo" is a cover from Ko de mondo, the second album of Italian post-punk band Consorzio Suonatori Indipendenti.
The Unthanks are an English folk group known for their eclectic approach in combining traditional English folk, particularly Northumbrian folk music, with other musical genres. Their debut album, Cruel Sister, was Mojo magazine's Folk Album of the Year in 2005. Of their subsequent albums, nine have received four or five-starred reviews in the British national press. Their album Mount the Air, released in 2015, won in the best album category in the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. In 2017 they released two albums featuring the songs and poems of Molly Drake, mother of singer-songwriter and musician Nick Drake.
"Cripple and the Starfish" is a song written by Anohni and performed by Antony and the Johnsons, a Mercury Prize-winning music act from New York City. It was initially released on the compilation CD God Shave the Queen! in 1996. A different recording subsequently appeared on Antony and the Johnsons, the self-titled first album recorded in 1998. In 2003, a live version of this song appeared on the split album Live at St. Olave's.
The Bairns was the second album by Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, which then comprised Rachel Unthank, her younger sister Becky, pianist Belinda O'Hooley and fiddle player Niopha Keegan. Produced by Adrian McNally and released by Rabble Rouser on 20 August 2007, it was nominated for the Best Album award at the 2008 BBC Folk Awards and was also nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize. It received a four-starred review in The Guardian.
Thank You for Your Love is an EP by Antony and the Johnsons released on August 30, 2010 via Rough Trade Records (UK) and Secretly Canadian (US). It also serves as the lead single of the band's 2010 album Swanlights.
Last, the fourth album by English folk group the Unthanks, was released on 14 March 2011. It reached number 40 in the UK Albums Chart and was well received by the critics, receiving a five-starred review in the Sunday Express and four-starred reviews in The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph.
Here's the Tender Coming, the third album by English folk group the Unthanks, and the first under The Unthanks moniker, was released in the United Kingdom on 14 September 2009 and in North America on 23 March 2010. It was Folk Album of the Year for Mojo and received four-starred reviews from The Observer and The Guardian. In the sleeve notes for the album, Rachel Unthank said that although the Tender in the album's title track refers to the boat that is on its way to press men to sea, "the title of this song seemed to encapsulate for us the feeling of our new album, which is perhaps calmer and a little warmer in contrast to the stark bleakness of The Bairns".
The Unthanks with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, the sixth album by English folk group the Unthanks, was released on 30 July 2012. Its extended title is: Diversions, Vol. 2: The Unthanks with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. Recorded at Salford's The Lowry, at Leeds Town Hall, at Derby Assembly Rooms and St George's Bristol, it was the Unthanks' second live album. It was acclaimed by the critics, receiving a five-starred review in the Daily Express and a four-starred review in The Guardian.
Songs from the Shipyards, the seventh album by English folk group The Unthanks, was released on 5 November 2012. The album is designated Vol. 3 in The Unthanks' Diversions series and follows on from Vol. 1, released in November 2011 and Vol. 2, released in July 2012.
I Am the Last of All the Field That Fell: A Channel is an album by British experimental music group, Current 93. It was released on 4 March 2014 through The Spheres record label. The album, which was premiered live on 12 February 2014 at Union Chapel in Islington, features contributions from various artists, including James Blackshaw, Andrew Liles, Ossian Brown, Antony Hegarty, Nick Cave, John Zorn and These New Puritans member Jack Barnett.
Mount the Air, the eighth album by English folk group the Unthanks, was released on 9 February 2015. It received five-starred reviews in The Daily Telegraph and The Irish Times and four-starred reviews in the Financial Times and The Guardian. It was the winner in the best album category in the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Adrian McNally is a record producer, a composer/songwriter and a musician with English folk group the Unthanks, which he also manages. As well as producing all of the Unthanks' albums he has produced the compilation album Harbour of Songs for which he was commissioned by The Stables in Milton Keynes as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, an album for Belinda O'Hooley and albums for Jonny Kearney & Lucy Farrell.
The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake is an album by English folk group the Unthanks. It was pre-released on the band's website in April 2017, prior to its official release on 26 May 2017, and received a five-starred review in The Independent. It contains recordings of songs and poems written by Molly Drake, the mother of Nick Drake, and recitations of Molly's poems by her daughter Gabrielle Drake. An album of further poems and songs, The Songs and Poems of Molly Drake: Extras, was released simultaneously.
Lines , a trilogy of albums with a poetic theme by English folk group the Unthanks, was pre-released on the band's website in November 2018, on 10" vinyl, CD and download, prior to their official release on 22 February 2019. They were made available as three separate albums and also packaged together in a slipcase.
Live and Unaccompanied is an a cappella album by English folk group the Unthanks, recorded live at various venues in the UK and Ireland in April and May 2019 and released in March 2020. It consists of 13 songs, sung by Rachel and Becky Unthank and Niopha Keegan without the accompaniment of other members of the Unthanks band. The audio CD is also packaged in a "Special film edition" which includes a film on DVD, As We Go, by Ainslie Henderson, about the Unthanks' life on the road.