Thursday, June 11, 2009

Soft Machine- Third

Before beginning the meat of this article, I’d like to take some time to note the loss of Hugh Hopper, bassist with Canterbury Scene giants Soft Machine, as well as lesser known but equally good bands like Gilgamesh, Isotope, and Soft Heap (a band now completely passed on). He died on June 7th of Leukemia. Hopper was a truly great bassist, contributing greatly to the development of the rhythmic bass sound of Canterbury prog. Additionally, Hopper was well respected and always kind and generous to the fans who loved him back.

In honor of Hugh, my first Album feature will be Soft Machine’s Third, released in 1970. This album is really jazz, and barely rock at all. The lineup for Soft Machine at the time of Third consisted of Hopper, Robert Wyatt on drums and vocals, Mike Ratledge on Keyboards, and Elton Dean on Sax (Third features some guests on trombone, clarinet, flute, and violin). Third is, well, the third album by the group. Forming out of the remnants of the Wilde Flowers in 1966, Soft Machine initially played psychedelic pop on their eponymous debut (1968). Ratledge was a big jazz fan, however, and on Second (1969) had begun to implement jazz into the Soft’s sounds, creating what could be considered the first Canterbury album. By now, the Soft Machine was almost purely jazz, and this is the last album that could be considered prog. Only 4 tracks are on this Double album, each a side long Jazz fest lasting 17 to 19 minutes.

The first track, “Facelift”, written by Hopper, starts out with literally 3 minutes of amp dissonance. Don’t fear, for soon Dean and Ratledge take you away on a spacey sax and synth workout. At 6:40, the sound suddenly crashes into a heavier, aggressive onslaught, led by power drumming from Wyatt. Later, after 5 minutes, this dies down into guitar-like fuzz, on which flute plays melody on top of. Later Hooper and Ratledge join back in, leading to a disorganized yet beautiful finish, with reversed keyboard effects. This song was actually pasted together from various concert performances. Trippy.

Side B contains “Slightly All the Time”, a much more conventional Jazz piece. Hooper’s humming bass defines the rhythm of this track, and he starts us off. 45 seconds later, Dean comes in with a fantastic sax performance. The song moves through many varied sax movements, and is slow paced but rich in sound. The track’s bass is the most redeeming feature, and Hugh Hopper certainly stars. There are some nice keyboards and flute here also, and the last three minutes start a speed up for a grand finale. Overall, a nice Jazz Fusion piece.

“Moon in June” is the least Jazz and most prog song. This makes sense, as Robert Wyatt was the writer, and he was disinterested in the extremely jazz direction the others were heading, preferring prog. This is the only cut to feature vocals on the album. Wyatt’s fantastic tenor and drums lead the song in. Since the other members did not want to record this song, they only jump in at various parts. Robert carries himself very well. This song is most typical of what would become the Canterbury scene. Since Wyatt plays many of the instruments, I’m not really sure who did what, but the keyboards and the bass make this light ballad-like jazz song go down very easy. Some shrieking violin helps to close the song.

Last but not least, there is “Out-Bloody-Rageous”, which fades in with five minutes worth of lots of electronic noises, into another jazz fusion track like “Slightly All the Time”. This one features all four members prominently, especially the entrapping sax from Dean. The piano’s usage achieves much, as does the rhythm sections’ diligent and strong backing. This one also flows through sax led moments. Probably the most minimalistic and passive of Third’s tracks, it nonetheless is just as strong as what came before.

Third is hailed as the high water mark of Soft Machine’s career, and an essential Canterbury album for all prog fans. The Jazz metamorphosis continued onward, and after Fourth the next year, Wyatt left the group. due to this direction. He would found Matching Mole, a more rock-oriented band. In 1973, he fell out of a third story window while drunk, paralyzing him from the waist down. Despite no longer being able to drum, he continued to sing as a solo artist, and to this day he continues to produce strong and well-received music. After Fifth (1972), Dean would leave (he passed away in 2006), and Hooper would follow suit after Six (1973). By 1976, Ratledge was also gone, though the group continued with no original members under Karl Jenkins until 1984.

In short, an innovative, interesting, and great addition to any Prog or Jazz collection, I give Third a Grade of A-.

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