Robert Wyatt is a living legend who, after making his name as drummer and vocalist of progressive rock band Soft Machine, launched a solo career and went on to collaborate with artists such as Brian Eno, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Björk. This title was released in 2004 as a Japan-only special edition CD compiled and supervised by Strange Days magazine, gathering tracks selected from 30 years of solo work with the focus squarely on his singing.
Also issued in the UK in 2010, the album now gets its first vinyl release via 〈Domino〉. Spanning from "Rock Bottom" (1974) to "Cuckooland" (2003), the selection highlights Wyatt's appeal as a vocalist across three decades of solo work, and includes his celebrated cover of Chic's "At Last I Am Free" (C2, track 9) (sample3) and, needless to say, his definitive reading of Elvis Costello's "Shipbuilding" (D2, track 13)—two covers whose presence arguably surpasses the originals and which have come to symbolize him—among 17 timeless tracks in all. The artwork uses an illustration he drew at the age of six.