Idolator

There are days (especially when it's drizzly) when I think British art-rock godfather Robert Wyatt's version of Elvis Costello's "Shipbuilding," where a shipyard laborer reassesses his livelihood in the face of his hard work being used for wartime purposes, at least according to loose talk around town, first released as a single on Rough Trade in 1982 and later collected on the essential Nothing Can Stop Us, is the most haunting song ever recorded. On a musical level, Wyatt's mournful reading of Costello's last truly great song is pure comfort food, as near a traditional (if tweaked) "beautiful" ballad as he got, from the wracked cocktail bridge to his sprained-heart performance. But the songs comes with an uncomfortable socio-political aftertaste, thanks to its core moral ambiguity. (Despite its rep as a readily acknowledged anti-war song, it doesn't offer many hard-and-fast answers to the still-relevant, underlying question of how much one should/can ignore the wider social/political/environmental effects of their daily grind in order to stay financially afloat, whether there's a war on or not.) The ingratiating sonics of "Shipbuilding" offer a certain kind of solace; listen past the surface pleasures of Wyatt's voice, however, and you may walk away feeling gently indicted 26 years later. [YouTube]

Brit experimental institution The Wire has just dropped its weighty year-end issue, which features Brit experimental (pop) institution Robert Wyatt at No. 1 on its list of the top 50 albums of 2007. As for the rest of the mag's rundown, it may prominently big up LCD Soundsystem and M.I.A., but hey, it's also got saxophone records that you can barely hear!

THE GOOD: The Wire is always reliable for a dose of hair-straightening hairshirt noise, serious sound art, and/or free improv. Like Sightings' brutalist Through at no. 37, Throbbing Gristle's unexpectedly excellent reunion record at No. 32, or the ramshackle brilliance of drummer Chris Corsano and guitarist Mick Flower's duo LP at No. 27.
THE BAD: Rough and tough experimentalists beware: bloggers and message board denizens are already grumbling that The Wire's Top 10 features many of the same records that appeared on all sorts of square lists this year. On the other hand, those who feel the magazine has lost the connection to (avant) pop music that marked its '90s heyday may find this development heartening.
THE WHAAAA? In Rainbows? Even down at No. 34? You're The Wire! You don't have to play these mainstream reindeer games!

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