Michael Draine's Twisted Vista
Robert Wyatt
Solar Flares Burn for You
(Cuneiform)
A founder of the Soft Machine and Matching
Mole, Robert Wyatt’s career as one of
England’s preeminent jazz/rock drummers
was suddenly derailed by a fourth-floor
fall in 1972. Wyatt’s next album, Rock
Bottom, demonstrated his gifts as
vocalist, songwriter, and multi-
instrumentalist. Solar Flares Burn
for You calls for a re-examination of
Robert Wyatt’s career arc.
While convention interpreted the
aquatic lyricism of Rock Bottom as
Wyatt’s response to the alcohol-		Music Review Index
related accident that left him
paralyzed from the waist down, an
early 1972 BBC broadcast finds Rock
Bottom’s “Sea Song” and “Alife” fully
developed prior to Wyatt’s accident.
More than historic footnotes, the BBC
studio performances are snapshots of
staggering beauty, showcasing the
ethereal scat-singing Wyatt pared
back in later years. With only piano
accompaniment, Wyatt’s renditions of
“I’m a Believer” and “God Song” display
clarity, sincerity, and emotional depth
lost in the bustling studio versions.
Sparce arrangements of form an ideal
backdrop for a voice overflowing with
emotion.
A new song, “The Verb,” is difficult
not to read as a sequel to Matching
Mole “God Song,” evincing a personal
spirituality that transcends Wyatt’s
Marxism. Loop pieces recorded via
correspondence with bassist Hugh Hopper
flow seamlessly into the score for the
short film, “Solar Flares Burn for You”
and “The Verb.” The cohesion of this
decades-spanning anthology dovetails
elegantly with the sense of suspended
time Wyatt’s drone-music induces.
The titular film is included as a
QuickTime video to spin in your
computer.
www.cuneiformrecords.com