Weird Voice Wednesday.

Antony & the Johnsons - "Hope There's Someone"

My friend Thad has been trying to get me to listen to Antony & Co. for some time now. We have an admittedly dorky, but awesome tradition with each other, where we each buy one record for the other person once per month, something they haven't heard or listened to much. He almost bought me this album last month -- instead Cat Power's You Are Free, which is excellent -- but even without that tangible push, this group has made its way into my head and into my life. This song was in the film The Secret Life of Words, with Tim Robbins, which Jaffrey and I watched the other night. I recognized Antony's voice, fell in love with the song, and bought the record the very next day. His voice may strike you as odd, because honestly, it is. But there is some extra feeling in there, if you just let it show itself to you.

There's a ghost on the horizon
When I go to bed
How can I fall asleep at night
How will I rest my head -- buy

Nico - "I'll Keep It With Mine"

Some of you recognize this voice from her cover of "These Days", written by Jackson Browne (who was dating Nico at one point) and featured in the film The Royal Tennenbaums. Or, you may recognize it from her vocal performances on the first Velvet Underground album. But you may not know (or you may know) that she has a few albums, and this is from her first, Chelsea Girl. This song was written by Bob Dylan, and it's interesting to listen to the way Nico only barely copies his vocal style (listen at 1:42). Her deep, often stlighly out-of-tune singing shouldn't be so enjoyable, but it is.

I'm not loving you for what you are / But for what you're not. -- buy

-Dan