There was no way that
Wyatt's follow-up to
Rock Bottom could be as personal and searching, but this album that came barely a year later instead collects some earlier material to be revamped for this release. "Soup Song," for instance, is a rewrite of "Slow Walkin' Talk," written before the forming of
Soft Machine. "Team Spirit," written with
Phil Manzanera and
Bill MacCormick of
Quiet Sun, would turn up the same year as "Frontera" on Manzanera's Diamond Head. While some of the songs tend to plod along, the dirge-like "Five Black Notes and One White Notes," a lethargic cover of Offenbach's "Baccarole,"
Charlie Haden's "Song for Che," and
Fred Frith's piano team-up with
Wyatt on "Muddy Mouth" are magical. As usual, the assembled band, including the underrated
Gary Windo on sax and
Mongezi Feza on trumpet, never dissapoint. ~ Ted Mills