Shleep

Shleep Artist: Robert Wyatt
Label: Hannibal
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Format: Original recording remastered
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 031257141826
EAN: 0031257141826
ASIN: B000024U24


Release Date: 2005-03-15

Shleep


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General General
Categories | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
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Categories | Rock | Styles | Music
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Categories | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music
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Hannibal Records Hannibal Records
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Tracks:

  1. Heaps Of Sheeps
  2. The Duchess
  3. Maryan
  4. Was A Friend
  5. Free Will And Testament
  6. September The Ninth
  7. Alien
  8. Out Of Season
  9. A Sunday In Madrid
  10. Blues In Bob Minor
  11. The Whole Point Of No Return

Similar Items:

  1. Cuckooland
  2. Rock Bottom
  3. Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
  4. Nothing Can Stop Us
  5. Old Rottenhat

Amazon.com's Best of 1998

Robert Wyatt described the recording of Shleep, his first album in six years, as a "beavering away" process; you'd be hard pressed to find a more accurate term. It is a painstakingly assembled, lovingly executed album of warm, delicate beauty. Like the deep sleep that inspires this work, and eludes its creator (Wyatt suffers from "fevered insomnia"), Shleep soothes like few records can. --Matt Hanks

Amazon.com

Wyatt has a long history of really weird music in his blood. With this in mind, <I>Shleep</I> shouldn't surprise anyone, not its inclusion of Brian Eno for ambient depth, or Evan Parker for saxophonic extended reach, or Paul Weller's or Phil Manzanera's guitar work, or even Wyatt's own array of fiddles, trumpets, keyboards, Moog-y synth drip-drops, or sing-songy vocals. But <I>Shleep</I> will still probably surprise a lot of folks. First, it recalls a lot of great Soft Machine moments, as well as loopier early Eno. Somewhere between psychedelic pop and psychedelic jazz, Wyatt's <I>Shleep</I> is infused with grand lyrical gestures, gently comprehensive washes of words that captivate the listener while mixes of odd instruments carry songs with muted time signatures, and shady structures from casual openings to happenstance endings. --Andrew Bartlett

Album Description

Founding member of art rock group Soft Machine, Robert Wyatt, helped set the tone of the sixties psychedelic scene in the UK. With his distinctive drumming and vocals, Wyatt attracted a massive following across Europe. An accident in 1973 left the drummer paralyzed forcing him to shift efforts on solo recordings. His distinct style of mixing simple and effective keyboard melody lines with poignant lyrics, often filled with personal and political references, have proved both haunting and reflective. Rykodisc is proud to introduce you to 4 re-mastered Wyatt classics - Old Rottenhat, Nothing Can Stop Us, Dondestan (Revisited), Shleep.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Unforgettable........2006-05-04

It is hard to come up with words for "Shleep." It may be Wyatt's most accessible record, yet is dually unfamiliar and alien to my ears. "Maryan" is breathtaking, as is "September the Ninth." My favorite Wyatt album and is probably in my top ten of all time. Moving, cerebral, noisy at times, and gorgeous. Simply unreal and surreal.

5 out of 5 stars Music for Body AND Mind.......2003-11-14

For an album that's as cerebral as it is emotional, Shleep is amazingly enjoyable the first time you hear it, unlike the brittle dreck of self-avowed alternative music that must be listened to countless times to be appreciated. Yet unlike pleasant pop, Shleep reveals new meanings and perspectives each time you listen to it.

Two examples of Wyatt's lyrical brilliance:
(1) In "Was a Friend," the speaker dreams about meeting a former friend. "I almost forgot where we buried the hatchet." As the meeting becomes increasingly uncomfortable, he wonders "Where WAS the hatchet?"
(2)The post-Cartesian musings of "Free Will and Testament," including "So when I say that I know me, how can I know that? / What kind of spider understands arachnophobia?" end not with self-congratulation at asking such questions but with the plea "Let me off please, I am so tired. Let me off please, I am so very tired."

Wyatt's always shone as a collaborative musician, bringing out the best on other brilliant players who in turn bring out the best in Wyatt. EVERYTHING works together here. And Wyatt even seems to bring out the best in reviewers, as the perceptive comments from Amazon and customers here attest. But you don't have to be a Soft Machine junkie or an old school proggie to be moved by Shleep.

Money where mouth is: If you buy Shleep based on anyone's comments here and don't like it after just one listening, e-mail me and I'll arrange to buy your copy for what you paid plus shipping. This offer limited to the first three takers (there are a lot of people who lack discernment).

Let's get Shleep out of the 5-digit Sales Rank.

5 out of 5 stars Tripping without acid.......2003-10-17

Shleep is one of those mind altering albums that is so subtle, yet powerful, that it changes your entire mental/emotional/spiritual reality without the rational mind even being aware of what's happening. Listen to it straight, all the way through, and I can almost guarantee that by the end you will have entered into a state of very pleasant mind altered conciousness. Who needs drugs when you can listen to music like this?

3 out of 5 stars Sure, why not.......2002-07-19

This is a solid buy. All the themes are there but it falls short of Rock Bottom and Ruth is Stranger. A bit too slick leaving little room for goofing, Wyatt style. Still, satisfying.

5 out of 5 stars

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