The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & the Johnsons
| The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & the Johnsons | ||||
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| Live album by the Unthanks | ||||
| 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) |
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| Producer | Adrian McNally | |||
| the Unthanks chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Rolling Stone |   |
| AllMusic |  |
| musicOMH | |
| The Observer | |
| The Guardian | |
| The Independent on Sunday | |
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". 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."
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