Robert Wyatt: Classic or Dud?

Well, I'll weigh in. I thought his cover of "Shipbuilding" incredibly moving... he swam into the song's core and found a very vulnerable kernel that for me makes the protesty lyrics even more poignant. (i love that about covers, when the artist finds some buried or hinted-at aspect of the original -- it could be anything from a bassline to a subtext to a half-suppressed emotion -- and delivers it to/rescues it for the listener).

Then I think of the record 'Shleep', the 3rd track, Maryan, with its eastern mode and meandering, searching melody -- what a gorgeous cut. That trumpet. And when the strings tremolo in around 1:50.

What moves me about him is the beauty of his vulnerability... and also the production details in his best songs, the sumptuous instrumentation. Though I find him middling to boring on peppier numbers; he just doesn't muster any urgency and strength.

Rock Bottom, however, bored the fuck out of me.

Really cool droney, crazy ol' man EZ listening prog or something....it's DEFINITELY something...that's for sure....Sea Song is just a heartbreaking love song...."Your madness fits in nicely with my own" is such a sweet like....I love the big droney songs called Little Red Robin Hood....

Great organ sounds....bewitching record.

-- M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 02:01 (2 years ago) Bookmark Link

^^^^^^^^I agree with this.

I like how he sings "Joking apart when you're drunk, You're terrific when you're drunk" but then I don't like the next lyric "I like you mostly late at night, you're quite all right"

He had it right there...but then he lost it. ya kno?

Night/alright isn't the best, but then it goes into that little falsetto (I'm doing this from memory here): "But I can't understand the different you in the morning, when it's time to play at being human for a while."

Heartbreaking (to me) little observation of a couple who have drink and sex in common and not much else. I've been there.

Bear in mind that "when you're drunk" the singer is probly drunk too. And that he's already spoken about his own madness. I don't think the couple have little in common, I think the singer is talking about a distance forced between them by negotiating the mundanities of the day. But they're both only "playing" at being human.

It does feel like a song about a failing relationship, but isn't the whole album about his long term partner Alfie(?) (In fact I think they may still be married).

90 minutes or so of talking about his new album and old stuff and influences on freakzone yesterday:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/freakzone/tracklisting_20070923.shtml

Guest: Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt - Stay Tuned
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Ooo Baby Baby
Max Roach - There Will Never Be Another You
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Fire
Robert Wyatt - On The Town Square
Soft Machine - Moon In June
Matching Mole - God Song
Matching Mole - Righteous Rhumba
Robert Wyatt - I'm A Believer
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset - Sea Song
Brian Eno - Excerpt From 1/1
Robert Wyatt - Awol
Robert Wyatt - A Beautiful Peace
Robert Wyatt - Cancion De Julieta
Robert Wyatt - Hasta Siempre Comandante

Balls, missed this. His (and Alfie's) interview in Wire with David Toop is v. interesting... for all you Wyattheads out there

Listen Again link is on the right...

Can't listen to that

The new album's pretty good!

I only listened once but I was quite taken with it. Two things I like about a new Robert Wyatt album: 1, there's always hot solos, and 2, there's always a song or two that's killer on a mixtape

I just listened to the new Robert Wyatt - Comicopera

i like the music on rock bottom a lot but his voice is going to take some getting used to.

So has Ned heard more Robert Wyatt since this thread was started? -- amateurist (amateurist), Saturday, 5 July 2003

This's a good question indeed, hah.

On a somewhat (un)related track I'd also like to kno' - so has the verbose'ssimist Otis Wheeler chewed off his own poisonauseous tongue yet?

I bought Phil Manzanera's Diamond Head last weekend and was intrigued by the voice on the first track. Turned out it's Wyatt, on a cover/version of one of his own songs. I also liked the interview in Wire earlier this year. Where's a good place to start in his own discography? Straight to Rock Bottom?

yeah sure, it's great. As I recall the other ones most recommended above are Shleep and Cuckooland, I am also really digging the new one a lot.

(expost)

Willem -- Yup, you could as well go through this entire thread again, to make up your mind! :)
Well why not start with the new one, Comicopera, even?
Or with Old Rottenhat?

As per Manzanera-Wyatt links, Wyatt plays and sings on quite a few Manzanera solo platters. I have 50 Minutes Later and 6pm, which are from 2005 & 2004, and he sure's on there too.

thx sleeve & t**t, read the thread - what a wealth of info and feelings about the man and his music. have started downloading.

Comicopera may be my album of the year. It's the first thing I've heard by him too.

It's the album of 2007 in The Wire magazine.

Since this thread is dominated by a fight over Wyatt's politics and Tom mentioned "Alliance" long ago, it's interesting to have come across this interesting point about the song courtesy of Marcello's CoM (excellent) entry on Cuckooland:

(Although Wyatt doesn’t mention it on the sleeve, his 1985 album Old Rottenhat begins with a deceptively bitter song called “Alliance,” essentially an attack on his former Matching Mole colleague and former fellow CP member, bassist Bill McCormick, for crossing over to the SDP. “It’s hard to talk to enemies/And we are enemies/What we had in common/Makes it even worse.” One wonders if this still rankles with him. McCormick is also, incidentally, the brother of the late Ian MacDonald)

Said lyrics:

There is a kind of compromise you are master of
Your endless gentle nudging left us polarised
It's hard to talk to enemies, we are enemies
What we had in common makes it even worse
You're proud of being middle class (meaning upper class)
You say you're self sufficient (but you don't dig your own coal)
I think that what you're frightened of more than anything
is knowing you need workers more than they need you
"A herd of independent minds" Chomsky got it right
Jogging into battle waving old school ties

These are some of the most bitter lyrics I've ever read -- and Marcello's right when he says "deceptively" so, b/c the melody is so languid and airy I'd just assumed that this was about some public figure, not a friend. My impression of Bill MacCormick was that he'd given up music to fight the good fight running for elected office. My my.

"Heaps Of Sheeps" really hitting the spot

one of his very best

That album's pretty agreeable as a whole, but HOS and "Alien" are the ones for me. Also "Was A Friend".

"heaps of sheeps" always reminds me of cities blanketed by snow

The wordless vocal bit is juuuuust heavenly

haha history repeating

i really need to get more wyatt in my life. that one album with 'little red riding hood' on it is Kid A 20-or-so years before the fact.

nah, it's way better than that :D

"beer as in braindeer" from the first matching mole album sounds a whole lot like damo-era can. never much considered a canterbury-kraut synergy before, but even robert's drumming's really similar to jaki liebezeit's tribal thump thump

new album with strings, violin, and sax....standards + originals...

http://www.dominorecordco.com/uk/news/07-07-10/album-for-the-ghosts-within-out-11th-october/

! didn't know about this!

love RW's happy beardy face

me too! this songs is real pretty...making me happy

!!!

Sounds very interesting - but I can't imagine him bettering his original cover of "At last I am Free"

The Chic version is better. Why some old communist would bore us to death with a useless cover of Chic is beyond me. Wouldn't the suffering masses prefer a box set?

His version is not that different really. The song was tailor made for him imo.

"mmmwow mmmwow mmmwow mmmwow mmmwow
mmmwow dbdbdbdbdeblelebelelelle Deep!"

―
Sorry to Ivor Cutler! Sorry to the Welsh people...but somehow welsh sounds like an English dude doing a bad Carribean accident to me at first listen!

there are actually 2 Cork accents 1 of which sounds a lot like this welsh/Jamaican thing. Would assume the Jamaican accent actually derived from an accent like this in a form from a couple of centuries back.

Wish I'd been walking around London with lists at Xmas, they had loads of Wyatt cds in for 5quid a pop in fopp. I think they sold from the display pretty rapidly & I forgot about them. Did pick up a couple though Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard and Old Rottenhat.

Was just thinking of going back to bed for a while and trying to find my Rock Bottom since I haven't listened to it in ages. Not sure where it is though. Must institute some kind of order in my cd storage.

Pretty sure Ivor Cutler is putting on a Caribbean (or possibly) accent on that track, by the way!

http://pitchfork.com/features/5-10-15-20/8776-robert-wyatt/

:)

<3 RW

yes that was a lovely read. i'll be missing the salon thing with him at cafe oto (when songkick sent me its email announcing "new concert for robert wyatt" i almost had a heart attack) because i'm a dumbass who always forgets to buy advance tickets these days, but i'm sure it'll be great.

that otis is being a big meanie upthread >:(

<3 RW

― dollar eye twinkling (admrl), Monday, February 27, 2012 4:43 PM (13 minutes ago)

There was a great little programme about RW on Radio 4 this week. "The Voices of Robert Wyatt", mid-morning, Tuesday. Listen to it this weekend before it drops of the i-Player.

Wyatt interviewed by Richie Unterberger, Richard Cook, Ian MacDonald ('74), and Ben Thompson, who also reviews Shleep--all currently in the Free section of Rock's Back Pages (click on a link and they send you a password)
http://www.rocksbackpages.com/free.html#W

There was a great little programme about RW on Radio 4 this week. "The Voices of Robert Wyatt", mid-morning, Tuesday. Listen to it this weekend before it drops of the i-Player.

this was very nice alright. seems a lovely guy.

Thanks for the heads up, this is a lovely documentary.