Diversions Vol 1: The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The JohnsonsCadiz Music ****
Last year those most English of musical roses, Rachel and Becky Unthank, along with their band, took the stage at the Union Chapel in London. Their aim was to celebrate the music of two British mavericks – Antony Hegarty and the more seasoned Robert Wyatt – as part of a series of musical adventures separate from their traditional music core. It wasn't exactly a shock. The Unthanks revel in eclecticism because their proud Northern voices read everything through filters of honesty and truth. It's a remarkable performance, evocative, thoughtful, funny, but mostly unforgettably moving. The versions of Antony's Man Is the Babyand Wyatt's Lullaby for Hamzasuspend time in their spell, while For Today I Am a Boyand Sea Songaren't far behind. The Unthanks play these songs in Cork and Dublin next month. It promises to be some show. See the-unthanks.com
Download tracks: Man Is the Baby, Sea Song
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