Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Robert Wyatt's voice is as distinctive and subtle an instrument as Tom Waits's or Bessie Smith's. He stretches his vocal chords through alien alto registers with grace, into notes few male singers are comfortable with past puberty. It's not stretching things to compare his work on Ruth to that of the greatest jazz-influenced singers. Wyatt knows how to throw a band together, too, choosing musicians who'll do their respective things complementarily, subtly. If you have trouble with the jazz comparison, dig his group's take on Charlie Haden's "Song for Che." This disc brims with woozy, lush underwater-sounding, underground pop, augmented by chaps like Fred Frith and Brian Eno. It's clever, playful music, ahead of its time because it's timeless and filled with a profound, infectious, children's book-type humor. --Mike McGonigal
Spin
"Solar Flares" is a mesmerizing, watercolor take on the metronomic pulse of Krautrock, and the awesome "Team Spirit" builds from a mellifluous opening to a wailing, electronically enhanced, free-form crescendo.
Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard,Robert Wyatt,Thirsty Ear,Canterbury Scene,Pop,Popular Music,Prog-Rock/Art Rock,Rock,Rock/Pop
Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
Average customer rating:
- There was a time when bacon sandwiches were everyone's favorite snack
- Robert Wyatt is the one who started it all!
- Sadly underrated
- Another Fine Wyatt Disc
- 3 1/2 stars
|
Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
Robert Wyatt
Manufacturer: Thirsty Ear
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
 General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Progressive Rock
| Progressive
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
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Progressive
| Rock
| Indie Music
| Stores
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Similar Items:
- Rock Bottom
- Shleep
- Cuckooland
- Dondestan (Revisited)
- Old Rottenhat
ASIN: B000006AXR
Release Date: 1998-05-05 |
Tracks:
- Muddy Mouse (A)
- Solar Flares
- Muddy Mouse (B)
- 5 Black Notes And 1 White Note
- Muddy Mouse (C) Which In Turn Leads To Muddy Mouth
- Soup Song
- Sonia
- Team Spirit
- Song For Che
Amazon.com
Robert Wyatt's voice is as distinctive and subtle an instrument as Tom Waits's or Bessie Smith's. He stretches his vocal chords through alien alto registers with grace, into notes few male singers are comfortable with past puberty. It's not stretching things to compare his work on Ruth to that of the greatest jazz-influenced singers. Wyatt knows how to throw a band together, too, choosing musicians who'll do their respective things complementarily, subtly. If you have trouble with the jazz comparison, dig his group's take on Charlie Haden's "Song for Che." This disc brims with woozy, lush underwater-sounding, underground pop, augmented by chaps like Fred Frith and Brian Eno. It's clever, playful music, ahead of its time because it's timeless and filled with a profound, infectious, children's book-type humor. --Mike McGonigal
Customer Reviews:
There was a time when bacon sandwiches were everyone's favorite snack.......2007-02-27
Rock Bottom it ain't, but Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard is an excellent album and is prized because it's one of only 3 full-length Wyatt albums from the 70's. Although it lacks the gravity, cohesion and transcendent songwriting of the aforementioned Rock Bottom, this album has some really great moments and is a wonderful, worthwhile portrait of Wyatt's abilities.
At its heart, Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard is an active listening album. What I mean is, if you don't pay attention when you listen to it, you probably won't enjoy it very much. On songs like "Solar Flares" and "Sonia," most of the song is a vamp of the same riff or chord progression and the beauty and innovation lies in the texture and interplay between the individual instruments (chief among them is Wyatt's extraordinary voice). On "Solar Flares" Wyatt's repeated line "they burn for you" weaves in and out of spare bass, piano, and sax, creating a really spacey feel. The "Muddy Mouse" tunes might not sound so great if you're only casually listening, but if you pay attention you may be amazed at Wyatt's ridiculous vocal range and his knack for clever, quirky lyrics.
One of my favorites is "Muddy Mouth," the second part of "Muddy Mouse C" which finds Wyatt using his breathtaking voice like a brass instrument in a scat section. Honestly, I think it stands up to some of his finest vocal work--the timbre of his voice, the control, and creativity are extraordinary, and it's pretty reminiscent of "Last Straw" from Rock Bottom, if not an even better scat. Also excellent is the moody "5 Black Notes and 1 White Note," which combines a plaintive organ/synth line with a horn chorus, which eventually devolves into noise. "Soup Song" is probably the most straight-ahead jazz tune on a jazz-influenced album, with some squealing sax and a hilarious lyric. "Team Spirit" is great also, with really classic Wyatt lyrics and an almost Spanish-sounding breakdown; it's one of the more prog tracks on the album.
If you're not already a Robert Wyatt fan, I'm not sure if Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard is the best or most accessible place to start--that honor might go to Rock Bottom or even the two-fer of Soft Machine's first two albums, which are excellent. Once you're hooked, though, this album has a ton of great qualities and is a sound investment worth paying attention to. Hope you enjoy!
Robert Wyatt is the one who started it all!.......2002-10-06
Not too much to say. In my mind, this is the best recording Robert ever did. There are tunes that are lighter than the songs on Rock Bottom, though this album is not as conceptually well thoughht out. The center peice is Solar Flares, which features some excellent guitar space work. It is this song that I feel is the best thing Robert has ever done. Astounding!
You wouldn't have had much of your european progressive rock in the seventies if it were not for this man and his legacy. He still influences your on-the-edge players today! Almost perfect, eclectic spin!
Sadly underrated.......2002-09-16
After Rock Bottom, Wyatt followed up with this less well-balanced, but more eclectic follow-up. The caliber of songqriting is extraordinary, and the line-up (Gary Windo, Mongezi Fesa, Fred Frith, Brian Eno, the amazing Laurie Allen) reads like a who's who of the avant garde of the time. I alway enjoyed this somewhat more than "Rock Bottom" because its attitude was more fun. Wyatt had seemed to come to grips with his paralysis and was realizing more of what he could do by the time this album came out.
It has the same dreamy, shimmering atmosphere as "Rock Bottom" but is no less brilliant. This was one of the few times that I have heard jazz, avant garde, and pop sensibilities blended so seamlessly. A great work!
Gary Gomes
Another Fine Wyatt Disc.......2000-05-27
The oft-overlooked companion to "Rock Bottom", "Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard" lacks its predecessor's spiritual flow but checks in with a number of highlights, most notably the long cut "Team Spirit", which sounds like a pretend-pop song gone wrong thanks to the singer's inimitable vocal style. Wyatt's brand of avant-jazz-prog instrumental is in fine form throughout, although all of the little bits and pieces of "Muddy Mouse" which take up side one can get on one's nerves a bit. It doesn't feel as essential as "Rock Bottom" from either a lyrical or musical standpoint, but that kind of album comes only once in an artist's career anyway--and "Ruth" offers up strange delights of its own.
3 1/2 stars.......1999-07-21
This is a good album, not a great one. When compared to some of Wyatt's later works such as Dondestan or Old Rottenhat this recording sounds like an artist maturing, evolving, but not yet at the height of his creative abilities. This disc presents an artist of considerable talent in the midst of transition from the complexities of Soft Machine and Matching Mole to the minimalist brilliance that he was to assume in later works. The accompanying musicians are solid but not quite capable of assuming a voice equal to that of the composer's. This is a more jazz influenced recording than much of his other solo work. Still worth purchasing but not essential...Simon.
Average customer rating:
- There was a time when bacon sandwiches were everyone's favorite snack
- Robert Wyatt is the one who started it all!
- Sadly underrated
- Another Fine Wyatt Disc
- 3 1/2 stars
|
Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
Robert Wyatt
Manufacturer: Hannibal
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Progressive Rock
| Progressive
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Hannibal Records
| Amazon.com Label Stores
| Stores
| Music
Similar Items:
- Rock Bottom
- Shleep
- Cuckooland
- Dondestan (Revisited)
- Old Rottenhat
ASIN: B000024C8L
Release Date: 2004-06-08 |
Tracks:
- Muddy Mouse (A)
- Solar Flares
- Muddy Mouse (B)
- 5 Black Notes And 1 White Note
- Muddy Mouse (C) / Muddy Mouth
- Soup Song
- Sonia
- Team Spirit
- Song For Che
Amazon.com
Robert Wyatt's voice is as distinctive and subtle an instrument as Tom Waits's or Bessie Smith's. He stretches his vocal chords through alien alto registers with grace, into notes few male singers are comfortable with past puberty. It's not stretching things to compare his work on Ruth to that of the greatest jazz-influenced singers. Wyatt knows how to throw a band together, too, choosing musicians who'll do their respective things complementarily, subtly. If you have trouble with the jazz comparison, dig his group's take on Charlie Haden's "Song for Che." This disc brims with woozy, lush underwater-sounding, underground pop, augmented by chaps like Fred Frith and Brian Eno. It's clever, playful music, ahead of its time because it's timeless and filled with a profound, infectious, children's book-type humor. --Mike McGonigal
Customer Reviews:
There was a time when bacon sandwiches were everyone's favorite snack.......2007-02-27
Rock Bottom it ain't, but Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard is an excellent album and is prized because it's one of only 3 full-length Wyatt albums from the 70's. Although it lacks the gravity, cohesion and transcendent songwriting of the aforementioned Rock Bottom, this album has some really great moments and is a wonderful, worthwhile portrait of Wyatt's abilities.
At its heart, Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard is an active listening album. What I mean is, if you don't pay attention when you listen to it, you probably won't enjoy it very much. On songs like "Solar Flares" and "Sonia," most of the song is a vamp of the same riff or chord progression and the beauty and innovation lies in the texture and interplay between the individual instruments (chief among them is Wyatt's extraordinary voice). On "Solar Flares" Wyatt's repeated line "they burn for you" weaves in and out of spare bass, piano, and sax, creating a really spacey feel. The "Muddy Mouse" tunes might not sound so great if you're only casually listening, but if you pay attention you may be amazed at Wyatt's ridiculous vocal range and his knack for clever, quirky lyrics.
One of my favorites is "Muddy Mouth," the second part of "Muddy Mouse C" which finds Wyatt using his breathtaking voice like a brass instrument in a scat section. Honestly, I think it stands up to some of his finest vocal work--the timbre of his voice, the control, and creativity are extraordinary, and it's pretty reminiscent of "Last Straw" from Rock Bottom, if not an even better scat. Also excellent is the moody "5 Black Notes and 1 White Note," which combines a plaintive organ/synth line with a horn chorus, which eventually devolves into noise. "Soup Song" is probably the most straight-ahead jazz tune on a jazz-influenced album, with some squealing sax and a hilarious lyric. "Team Spirit" is great also, with really classic Wyatt lyrics and an almost Spanish-sounding breakdown; it's one of the more prog tracks on the album.
If you're not already a Robert Wyatt fan, I'm not sure if Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard is the best or most accessible place to start--that honor might go to Rock Bottom or even the two-fer of Soft Machine's first two albums, which are excellent. Once you're hooked, though, this album has a ton of great qualities and is a sound investment worth paying attention to. Hope you enjoy!
Robert Wyatt is the one who started it all!.......2002-10-06
Not too much to say. In my mind, this is the best recording Robert ever did. There are tunes that are lighter than the songs on Rock Bottom, though this album is not as conceptually well thoughht out. The center peice is Solar Flares, which features some excellent guitar space work. It is this song that I feel is the best thing Robert has ever done. Astounding!
You wouldn't have had much of your european progressive rock in the seventies if it were not for this man and his legacy. He still influences your on-the-edge players today! Almost perfect, eclectic spin!
Sadly underrated.......2002-09-16
After Rock Bottom, Wyatt followed up with this less well-balanced, but more eclectic follow-up. The caliber of songqriting is extraordinary, and the line-up (Gary Windo, Mongezi Fesa, Fred Frith, Brian Eno, the amazing Laurie Allen) reads like a who's who of the avant garde of the time. I alway enjoyed this somewhat more than "Rock Bottom" because its attitude was more fun. Wyatt had seemed to come to grips with his paralysis and was realizing more of what he could do by the time this album came out.
It has the same dreamy, shimmering atmosphere as "Rock Bottom" but is no less brilliant. This was one of the few times that I have heard jazz, avant garde, and pop sensibilities blended so seamlessly. A great work!
Gary Gomes
Another Fine Wyatt Disc.......2000-05-27
The oft-overlooked companion to "Rock Bottom", "Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard" lacks its predecessor's spiritual flow but checks in with a number of highlights, most notably the long cut "Team Spirit", which sounds like a pretend-pop song gone wrong thanks to the singer's inimitable vocal style. Wyatt's brand of avant-jazz-prog instrumental is in fine form throughout, although all of the little bits and pieces of "Muddy Mouse" which take up side one can get on one's nerves a bit. It doesn't feel as essential as "Rock Bottom" from either a lyrical or musical standpoint, but that kind of album comes only once in an artist's career anyway--and "Ruth" offers up strange delights of its own.
3 1/2 stars.......1999-07-21
This is a good album, not a great one. When compared to some of Wyatt's later works such as Dondestan or Old Rottenhat this recording sounds like an artist maturing, evolving, but not yet at the height of his creative abilities. This disc presents an artist of considerable talent in the midst of transition from the complexities of Soft Machine and Matching Mole to the minimalist brilliance that he was to assume in later works. The accompanying musicians are solid but not quite capable of assuming a voice equal to that of the composer's. This is a more jazz influenced recording than much of his other solo work. Still worth purchasing but not essential...Simon.
Average customer rating:
|
Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
Robert Wyatt
Manufacturer: Japanese Import
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Progressive Rock
| Progressive
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Rock
| Imports
| Stores
| Music
ASIN: B00005V2OW
Release Date: 2002-05-07 |
Tracks:
- Muddy Mouse (A)
- Solar Flares
- Muddy Mouse (B)
- 5 Black Notes and 1 White Note
- Muddy Mouse (C)/Muddy Mouth
- Soup Song
- Sonia
- Team Spirit
- Song for Che
Album Description
Japanese reissue of 1975 album, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve.
Album Details
Japanese Limited Edition in an LP-STYLE Slipcase. Limited Pressing of 2000 Pcs.
Average customer rating:
- There was a time when bacon sandwiches were everyone's favorite snack
- Robert Wyatt is the one who started it all!
- Sadly underrated
- Another Fine Wyatt Disc
- 3 1/2 stars
|
Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
Robert Wyatt
Manufacturer: Caroline
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Progressive Rock
| Progressive
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Similar Items:
- Rock Bottom
- Shleep
- Cuckooland
- Dondestan (Revisited)
- Old Rottenhat
ASIN: B000000HTI
Release Date: 1992-09-23 |
Tracks:
- Muddy Mouse (A)
- Solar Flares
- Muddy Mouse (B)
- 5 Black Notes and 1 White Note
- Muddy Mouse (C)/Muddy Mouth
- Soup Song
- Sonia
- Team Spirit
- Song for Che
Amazon.com
Robert Wyatt's voice is as distinctive and subtle an instrument as Tom Waits's or Bessie Smith's. He stretches his vocal chords through alien alto registers with grace, into notes few male singers are comfortable with past puberty. It's not stretching things to compare his work on Ruth to that of the greatest jazz-influenced singers. Wyatt knows how to throw a band together, too, choosing musicians who'll do their respective things complementarily, subtly. If you have trouble with the jazz comparison, dig his group's take on Charlie Haden's "Song for Che." This disc brims with woozy, lush underwater-sounding, underground pop, augmented by chaps like Fred Frith and Brian Eno. It's clever, playful music, ahead of its time because it's timeless and filled with a profound, infectious, children's book-type humor. --Mike McGonigal
Customer Reviews:
There was a time when bacon sandwiches were everyone's favorite snack.......2007-02-27
Rock Bottom it ain't, but Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard is an excellent album and is prized because it's one of only 3 full-length Wyatt albums from the 70's. Although it lacks the gravity, cohesion and transcendent songwriting of the aforementioned Rock Bottom, this album has some really great moments and is a wonderful, worthwhile portrait of Wyatt's abilities.
At its heart, Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard is an active listening album. What I mean is, if you don't pay attention when you listen to it, you probably won't enjoy it very much. On songs like "Solar Flares" and "Sonia," most of the song is a vamp of the same riff or chord progression and the beauty and innovation lies in the texture and interplay between the individual instruments (chief among them is Wyatt's extraordinary voice). On "Solar Flares" Wyatt's repeated line "they burn for you" weaves in and out of spare bass, piano, and sax, creating a really spacey feel. The "Muddy Mouse" tunes might not sound so great if you're only casually listening, but if you pay attention you may be amazed at Wyatt's ridiculous vocal range and his knack for clever, quirky lyrics.
One of my favorites is "Muddy Mouth," the second part of "Muddy Mouse C" which finds Wyatt using his breathtaking voice like a brass instrument in a scat section. Honestly, I think it stands up to some of his finest vocal work--the timbre of his voice, the control, and creativity are extraordinary, and it's pretty reminiscent of "Last Straw" from Rock Bottom, if not an even better scat. Also excellent is the moody "5 Black Notes and 1 White Note," which combines a plaintive organ/synth line with a horn chorus, which eventually devolves into noise. "Soup Song" is probably the most straight-ahead jazz tune on a jazz-influenced album, with some squealing sax and a hilarious lyric. "Team Spirit" is great also, with really classic Wyatt lyrics and an almost Spanish-sounding breakdown; it's one of the more prog tracks on the album.
If you're not already a Robert Wyatt fan, I'm not sure if Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard is the best or most accessible place to start--that honor might go to Rock Bottom or even the two-fer of Soft Machine's first two albums, which are excellent. Once you're hooked, though, this album has a ton of great qualities and is a sound investment worth paying attention to. Hope you enjoy!
Robert Wyatt is the one who started it all!.......2002-10-06
Not too much to say. In my mind, this is the best recording Robert ever did. There are tunes that are lighter than the songs on Rock Bottom, though this album is not as conceptually well thoughht out. The center peice is Solar Flares, which features some excellent guitar space work. It is this song that I feel is the best thing Robert has ever done. Astounding!
You wouldn't have had much of your european progressive rock in the seventies if it were not for this man and his legacy. He still influences your on-the-edge players today! Almost perfect, eclectic spin!
Sadly underrated.......2002-09-16
After Rock Bottom, Wyatt followed up with this less well-balanced, but more eclectic follow-up. The caliber of songqriting is extraordinary, and the line-up (Gary Windo, Mongezi Fesa, Fred Frith, Brian Eno, the amazing Laurie Allen) reads like a who's who of the avant garde of the time. I alway enjoyed this somewhat more than "Rock Bottom" because its attitude was more fun. Wyatt had seemed to come to grips with his paralysis and was realizing more of what he could do by the time this album came out.
It has the same dreamy, shimmering atmosphere as "Rock Bottom" but is no less brilliant. This was one of the few times that I have heard jazz, avant garde, and pop sensibilities blended so seamlessly. A great work!
Gary Gomes
Another Fine Wyatt Disc.......2000-05-27
The oft-overlooked companion to "Rock Bottom", "Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard" lacks its predecessor's spiritual flow but checks in with a number of highlights, most notably the long cut "Team Spirit", which sounds like a pretend-pop song gone wrong thanks to the singer's inimitable vocal style. Wyatt's brand of avant-jazz-prog instrumental is in fine form throughout, although all of the little bits and pieces of "Muddy Mouse" which take up side one can get on one's nerves a bit. It doesn't feel as essential as "Rock Bottom" from either a lyrical or musical standpoint, but that kind of album comes only once in an artist's career anyway--and "Ruth" offers up strange delights of its own.
3 1/2 stars.......1999-07-21
This is a good album, not a great one. When compared to some of Wyatt's later works such as Dondestan or Old Rottenhat this recording sounds like an artist maturing, evolving, but not yet at the height of his creative abilities. This disc presents an artist of considerable talent in the midst of transition from the complexities of Soft Machine and Matching Mole to the minimalist brilliance that he was to assume in later works. The accompanying musicians are solid but not quite capable of assuming a voice equal to that of the composer's. This is a more jazz influenced recording than much of his other solo work. Still worth purchasing but not essential...Simon.
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