CD Reviews

Robert Wyatt

Comicopera | Domino

By TED DROZDOWSKI | November 6, 2007

3.5 Stars

It’s a testament to this reclusive English art-rock legend’s credibility and creativity that his latest home recordings make up a 16-song “opera” that features such stellar friends as Brian Eno on keyboards and guitarists Paul Weller and Phil Manzanera. And it’s a testament to his sensitivity that its knotty, complex subject matter — the trials and joys of human life and how the spirit can be shattered by anger and pain caused by the actions of men (in this case, a bombing) and governments (the bullshit war on terror) — sounds warm, gentle, and welcoming. But Wyatt, a founder of Soft Machine and the composer of the anti-war ode “Shipbuilding,” has been an emotionally attuned poet of the human condition for 30 years. Comicopia repays attentive listening with dark humor, pathos, and an organic blend of horns, percussion, strings, guitars, and dollops of noise. The sweetest instrument, however, is Wyatt’s voice, whose fragile, high, quavering tone is honest to the core.

Topics: CD Reviews , Phil Manzanera, Robert Wyatt, Brian Eno, More

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