Since leaving
Soft Machine,
Robert Wyatt has pursued a restless, delightfully confounding, occasionally maddening exploratory path as solo artist and collaborator. There are no complete compilations of his work. Even his nine-disc box set omitted End of an Ear and both
Matching Mole albums.
Different Every Time was assembled to accompany Marcus O'Dair's fantastic
Wyatt biography of the same title. It was curated by
Wyatt, his collaborator, wife, and artist
Alfreda Benge,
Andy Childs, and the author. The first disc, subtitled "Ex Machina," is chronologically compiled from tracks by
Soft Machine (a nearly 20-minute "Moon in June"), two with
Matching Mole, and his Rough Trade, Gramavision, and Domino catalogs. It's "ruthlessly selective." There are no tracks from End of an Ear or
Rock Bottom, save for a live version of the latter's "A Last Straw." Even his cover of "I'm a Believer" has been omitted--though it does contain his wonderful version of Chris Andrews' "Yesterday Man" with
John Greaves,
Mongezi Feza, and
Gary Windo. "Team Spirit" from
Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard is here, with
Brian Eno on "direct inject jazz ray gun," as is his killer reinvention of
Chic's "At Last I Am Free," from the Rough Trade years. The rest of the material on disc one includes "Cuckoo Madame" and "Free Will and Testament." It's a bit provocative in its choices, but excellent. Disc two is the real ear opener. Subtitled "Benign Dictatorships," it contains only one of his own recordings, "Shipbuilding," which was written specially for him by
Elvis Costello and
Clive Langer. Essentially, though,
Different Every Time focuses on
Wyatt's contributions to the recordings of others. Sequenced aesthetically rather than chronologically, these 17 tunes are reason enough to purchase this set. There are no highlights: everything here is essential. Contents include vocals on Swedish jazz artist
Jeanette Lindström's "River" (from
Attitude & Orbit Control),
Anja Garbarek's "The Diver" from her
Smiling & Waving (produced by
Mark Hollis), and "We're Looking for a Lot of Love," with
Hot Chip. There are two selections from jazz trumpeter/composer
Michael Mantler: "A L'Abbatoire" from 1987's
Many Have No Speech (which also featured
Jack Bruce), and "Sinking Spell" from The Hapless Child (based on the stories of Edward Gorey). "Siam," from
Nick Mason's
Fictitious Sports, is here, as is the 12" jazz dance mix of
Working Week's "Venceremos (We Will Win)" -- the other two vocalists are Claudia Figueroa and
Tracey Thorn. Also included is "Frontera" from
Phil Manzanera's
Diamond Head, and tracks with
Steve Nieve,
Cristina Donà,
Epic Soundtracks, and
Björk. The closer is
John Cage's "Experiences No. 2" from a split release with Jan Steele on
Eno's Obscure label in 1975, and in it
Wyatt sings an
e.e. cummings' poem. Despite inevitable fan discussion about what might have been included ("Kingdoms" from Ultramarine maybe? ),
Different Every Time goes much further than previous comps in communicating the vast range of
Wyatt's musical persona and is a brilliant introduction for newcomers. ~ Thom Jurek