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Rating: Robert Wyatt. Yes, who really is Robert Wyatt? A question that many may have asked themselves on this planet, without a doubt.
Anyone who knows him certainly perceives him and his music in a way that's different from others. Because Wyatt is a character difficult to fully understand. Even his music is sometimes hard to grasp immediately, even though one might be enchanted by it from the first listen. Albums such as "Rock Bottom", "The End Of An Ear" or the underrated "Old Rottenhat" are certainly pieces of music history not fully known to all, music that we always need. For joy, for melancholy, for comfort, to relax. But also music that none of us would have imagined from someone like Wyatt, especially after his well-known accident.
Between 1997 and 1998, here in Italy, the Consorzio Produttori Indipendenti had an interesting idea to develop thoroughly. That of paying tribute to Wyatt and rereading certain pages of his career through new arrangements made by different artists.
And so "Gharbzadegi" takes on a whole new form thanks to Marco Parente and La Crus, "Amber And The Amberines" ends up in the hands of Mauro Pagani, becoming a track with a trip hop vibe, "Maryan" becomes the soundscape for the angelic and singer-songwriter voices of Cristina Donà and Ginevra Di Marco (the latter returns to give another wonderful vocal interpretation of "Chairman Mao" with C.S.I.), "Sea Song" transforms into a skewed, Beatles-like piece but with the addition of heavy guitars, "O Caroline" sung by Max Gazzè takes on the form of a pop ballad that has nothing to envy compared to the original by Matching Mole, just like "Last Straw", almost noise rock thanks to Marlene Kuntz, Peter Hamilton, Miho Nikaido, and Here by Teho Teardo, the mantra of "Alifib" turns into crazy rock, in the hands of Franco Battiato, Saro Cosentino, and Morgan, "Re-Born Again Cretin" is pure dub thanks to Almamegretta, Dub Colossus, and vocalist Julianna. And, hear hear, there's even an unexpected Jovanotti who makes "Yolanda" his own, perhaps making it a bit more minimalist, but without ruining the song's atmosphere, even if it is known that Lorenzo never had a great voice, but at the time he certainly had more grit and coherence.
The Emilian airs of "Free Will And Testament" don't joke either (for the record sung by Mara Redeghieri of Ustmamò and Andrea Chimenti), the electronic frenzy of "Little Red Riding Hood Hit The Road" (Estasia), the new wave intimacy of "Memories" (In Circolo and Mira Spinosa), the melancholic and almost western-style riffs in "Left On Man" (Madaski and Giancarlo Onorato), and even more noise rock present in "Dondestan" and seasoned with mad trumpets (the unleashed Giorgio Canali, Ulan Bator, and Umberto Palazzo), not to mention the contribution of the last Area (before the departure of Giulio Capiozzo) for "A Sunday In Madrid".
With all these acknowledgments, it will be Wyatt himself reciprocating, with the Ferrettiana "Del Mondo", a dreamlike journey composed in this case of just voice and keyboard, complete with a final spoken part (probably by Ferretti himself).
Closing the curtain are the Dissoi Logoi, who recover memories from "Five Black Notes And White Note", transforming it into an interesting potpourri of pseudo-bagpipes, guitar strumming, and percussion sounds.
Starting from the premise that doing covers is no child's play, it must be said that "The Different You" perfectly demonstrates how to make serious tributes without showing an immeasurable and presumptuous ego.
With the CPI, spirit and nature show themselves in all their forms. Our eyes rejoice.
For all those who thought that in Italy the good Wyatt was unknown.
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