Has anyone heard of this guy yet? He sung on Lou Reed's The Raven and did some collaborations with darkfolk outfit Current 93 (about which there's some info in the thread about that band in the avant/garde section)...
His new album I Am a Bird Now is now out and what I've heard from it sounds really good... and weird too... I saw him opening for CoCoRosie last Autumn and well, it was something really special... He's a rather fat guy with a very high pitched, feminine-like voice, nearing Nina Simone sometimes... He's gay and his lyrics are often about gay love ("I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy", probably a playful reference to the White Stripes' "I Fell in Love with a Girl"), about wanting to be a woman... or yes, a bird... The music is also quite ethereal and baroque and consists more or less of his own piano playing, strings and some guest appearances, from Lou Reed himself amongst others...
I guess it won't be for everyone, but I really like it at least...

you can listen to some samples here

nina simone has a high pitched feminine voice? i always thought otherwise...

i downloaded one of his cds a while ago, i didn't like it at all, but i'm gonna give it another listen now that you say he's good

mmm okay, so maybe his voicer is higher than hers, but high pitched for a man is still somewhat different than high pitched for a woman...

and well I can see why many people wouldn't like this kind of music, because it's really something special, I guess...

which album did you download btw?

I just got the album "I Am A Bird Now" and it's a great listen. His voice is very intersting, reminds me of a folky Mandy Patinkin. His style is similar to Rufus Wainwright's (who actually has a cameo on "I Am A Bird Now"). Highly recommended for alternative folk music fans.

brilliant album, first time i heard 'hope there's someone' i cried.

This whole album can bring on a lot of emotional responses. I like when an artist can do this.

he's live very impressive as well... and I hope he'll record some songs with the girls from CocoRosie, 'cause their voices go really well together...

although I haven't record completely yet (can't find it here), I'm already quite sure it will make my final top 20 of 2005

are you into the whole freakfolk scene? because there are due to be some interesting collaborations from its forerunning artists, vashti bunyan and animal collective are due to release a collaborative ep in may, which is a taster for vashti's full-length, and considering she has been the greatest influence for this scene i'm guessing it'll be an album full of collaborations with artists such as devendra, joanna and cocorosie among others.

yes I guess I'm quite into it and so that ep seems very interesting indeed!

I just heard the 'I am a Bird' album, really great stuff.

A cross between tim buckley, morrisey, marc almond and a really famous lady jazz pianist who i forgotten the name of?

Certainly a decent buy. The single released, 'Hope there's Someone' and 'For today I am a bouy' are musts.