Shleep

Wyatt has a long history of really weird music in his blood. With this in mind, Shleep 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 Shleep 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 Shleep 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