Robert Wyatt EPS

Audio Remixers: Nigel Butler; Angie Dial.
Liner Note Author: Robert Wyatt.
This is a five-CD set, with each disc running approximately twenty minutes. Gorgeously packaged, it includes commentaries by Robert Wyatt as well as the video for "Shipbuilding." The discs are divided into different phases of his work, and it's a testament to the value of this man's artistry that the label produced the package in such a manner. While the material would have fit on two discs, such a release would have lacked the focus and beauty that is allowed to blossom here.
The earliest songs are from Wyatt's brief moment of UK pop stardom when he had a hit with "I'm A Believer" in 1974. The final disc features re-mixes of four songs from his 1997 album, SHLEEP. These tracks hit the listener with the force of a revelation. Wyatt's sturdy tunesmanship and penetrating singing are given radical re-workings, but tellingly, the essential character that he gave to each song remains undiminished. These serve as elaborations or alternate vantage points--the studio approaches sound at once foreign to the Wyatt canon, yet completely natural. For those unfamiliar with Wyatt, this set is an ideal place to get aquatinted with the range and impact of his work.

• Format: CD
• Genre: Rock