snobb
These sessions for John Peel on BBC were recorded in 1974, soon after Rock Bottom was released. Wyatt plays alone and sings his three most known compositions from above album and one (I'm A Believer) from the single will be released soon.
Music is minimalist there, Wyatt sings at his best though. Compositions are all well known now and it is difficult to compare the sound with full-orchestrated recordings from studio releases.Opener "Soup Song" sounds brave and energetic,if not on the level of studio recordings. Still time is great for Wyatt and "Alifib" sounds unbelievably intimate! Different from studio version, but same great!"Sea Song" version is really good as well,but somewhere in the middle of the song Robert makes playing mistake and the result composition became longer with some continued keyboards voice-less improve.
Biggest disappointment on this release is "I'm A Believer" - played as straight ahead pop/rock song with just keyboards on accompaniment it sounds too flat.
In all, this release is a bit controversial with some good moments and some not so good. For sure, not the recordings for casual listener (studio/album versions are better in all cases), but it have its interesting (and even some great) moments for Wyatt's fans.