The renowned member of Soft Machine, and massively inventive solo artist, Robert Wyatt recently announced the release of his career-spanning compilation on vinyl for the very first time, released October 9th. This will coincide with the release of a book, Side by Side, which Wyatt has authored alongside wife Alfie Benge, herself a visual artist and songwriter.
With an array of tracks ranging from 1975’s Solar Flares to 2003’s Mister E, this newly reissued compilation is a remarkable demonstration of the sheer breadth and distinction of Wyatt’s 40 year plus sonngwriting career. Originally released as a Japanese edition, His Greatest Misses promises to give fans and non-fans alike a non-linear exploration into a musical great, as the tracklist is entirely non-chronological. Besides an abundance of his own material, the compilation displays Wyatt’s accomplished ability to cover others’ music. The compilation includes his version of The Monkees’ I’m A Believer and Chic’s At Last I Am Free. Numerous selections also show the inimitable songwriter’s gift in applying his ability to other languages than English, shrewdly revealing a musician with a certain Englishness to be quite an Internationalist. These include Cuckooland‘s Foreign Accents and Violeta Parra’s Arauco, originally in the Chilean Parra’s native Spanish.
His Greatest Misses is available to pre-order on Dom Mart/independent exclusives on double green vinyl, standard double vinyl and CD. Pre-order here. Prior to it’s October 9th release on Domino, 1974’s Sea Song has been given a visualiser which revels in the same endearingly childlike art of the compilation’s cover. Enjoy below.
