2005年NPR美国国家公共电台三月-Antony and the Johnsons: 'I Am a Bird Now

Antony of the band "Antony and the Johnsons" cut his teeth in New York's after hours cabarets and backing up rocker Lou Reed.His current group has a new album called "I Am a Bird Now".Music critic Jerry Dannemiller has a review.

OK,right up front.The first thing anyone within earshot notices about Antony.Well,let's just listen and take a wild guess.

"Hope it someone would take care of me when I die.Will I go? Hope it someone will save my love for you when they tire you."

Wait.Is this my junior high drama club tryout? Is this person male,female,white ,black? I mean, who cares? Listen to that voice.

"There is a ghost on the eyes of...we will now go to bed..."

I have to admit the first time I heard Antony's voice,I got a serious Freddie Mercury vine,followed by Nina Simone ，* and *(*为歌手名）.But after that initial cross check we all do in our heads is complete and really like Antony's voice soak in.That's when it hits you down deep.

Not know it's a love.That fills you every night....don't love...

"I Am a Bird Now" is an intense ten-song collection,sparse string arrangements and playing piano are the general rule from a shifting pan of collaborators known collectively as "the Johnsons".Wisely they never get in the way the true star of the show.

"If my cool life got poisoned,I was born...Not a girl then know...I.."


Antony ,whose last name is Hegarty,was born in England and grew up in San Jose California.He moved to New York City in 1990.Soon he began staging after hours cabaret shows in which he was mixture of Drag Queen and Punk Rocker.The shows developed an underground following with mouth spread and Antony released his first record in 2000.So for this ,his second foray,he recruited some well known admirers including Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright, Devendra Banhart. Flamboyant¹ 80s' pop star Boy George even makes an appearance on a track called " You are my sister".

"You are my sister and I love you.We all love you,all love your dreams come true."
"We felt so differently there."

Now most of the celebrity² contributions, especially Lou Reed are little more than window dressing³.It's also a brief CD,only 35 minutes long and Antony doesn't even sing on two cuts.But that aside this is a fantastic record.It's thoroughly⁴ modern but it feels lived in.It's got an old soul.And honestly, for as often as the term soulful gets tossed around like salt on so many flavorless records.For once with the Antony and the Johnsons,the term definitely applies.

"One day I will grow up a beau-beautiful woman."

The album is " I Am a Bird Now" by Antony and the Johnsons.Our reviewer Jerry Dannemiller writes for the Colombus Dispatch.

"One day I will grow up a beau and beautiful woman.One day I grow up a beau and beautiful girl.But for today, I am a child .For today,I am a child"

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1 flamboyant   

adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的

参考例句：

• His clothes were rather flamboyant for such a serious occasion.他的衣着在这种严肃场合太浮夸了。
• The King's flamboyant lifestyle is well known.国王的奢华生活方式是人尽皆知的。

2 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

3 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

4 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。