The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony and the Johnsons

Reception

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". 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". 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". 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".

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'." 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."

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".

Track listing

Antony and the Johnsons

1. "Bird Guhl" (Antony Hegarty) from I Am a Bird Now (3:57)
2. "Man is the Baby" (Antony Hegarty) from I Am a Bird Now (5:43)
3. "You Are My Sister" (Antony Hegarty) from the EP You Are My Sister (5:56)
4. "For Today I Am a Boy" (Antony Hegarty) from I Am a Bird Now (4:06)
5. "Paddy's Gone" (Antony Hegarty) from I Am a Bird Now (4:13)
6. "Spiralling" (Antony Hegarty) from I Am a Bird Now (4:41)

Robert Wyatt

1. "Stay Tuned" (Anja Garbarek) from Comicopera (4:43)
2. "Dondestan" (Robert Wyatt) from Dondestan (Revisited) (3:18)
3. "Lullaby for Hamza" (Robert Wyatt/Alfreda Benge) from Cuckooland (3:44)
4. "Lisp Service" (Hugh Hopper/Robert Wyatt) from Dondestan (Revisited) (3:11)
5. "Free Will and Testament" (Wyatt/Kramer) from Shleep (5:03)
6. "Out of the Blue" (Wyatt/Elfriede Ellidge) from Comicopera (4:11)
7. "Cuckoo Madame" (Wyatt/Benge) from Cuckooland (5:13)
8. "Sea Song" (Wyatt) from Rock Bottom (6:59)
9. "Forest" (excerpt) (Wyatt/Benge) from Cuckooland (2:51)

Total album length = 1:07:44

Personnel

Arrangements

Production and design

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.

The tri-fold album cover, designed by Steven Wainwright, incorporates illustrations by Becky Unthank and photographs by Mark Winpenny.