BBC Radio 1971-1974

Performer: Soft Machine
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: Recorded between 1971 & 1974. Includes liner notes by John Marshall. Soft Machine: Allan Holdsworth (guitar); Karl Jenkins (oboe, saxophone, keyboards); Elton Dean (saxophone); Mike Ratledge (piano, organ); Roy Babbington (double bass); Hugh Hopper (bass guitar); John Marshall , Phil Howard (drums). Combined with Hux's previous Soft Machine BBC anthology, the two-CD BBC Radio 1967-1971, this set (also two CDs) finishes a complete retrospective of the group's BBC sessions. All but two of the tracks on BBC Radio 1971-1974 ("As If" and "Drop," from a November 1971 session) were previously unreleased, and all are in fidelity equal to that heard on the typical studio album. This compilation is considerably less exciting than BBC Radio 1967-1971, largely because it postdates the lineups including Robert Wyatt and/or Kevin Ayers, which produced the band's best work. Still, it does reflect the completion of their journey from a weird psychedelic pop group (as they were in 1967) to a wholly instrumental jazz-rock one, at times much heavier on the jazz than the rock, in one instance (the synthesizer-drum duet "North Point") going beyond jazz into purely avant-garde experimentalism. Four lineups are heard on these four sessions, keyboardist Mike Ratledge being the only constant, but the sound is actually fairly consistent cerebral fusion with a touch of progressive rock, particularly when Ratledge's idiosyncratically buzzing organ comes to the fore. At times the material actually goes outside of free jazz territory, especially on the 1971 session when Elton Dean was still part of the lineup. Otherwise, it's very much of a piece with the albums from which many of the songs hail (5, 6, 7, and Bundles), the instrumental proficiency and electric jazz-rock verve not wholly compensating for the loss of wit and humor in the post-Wyatt lineups. ~ Richie Unterberger

The Wire (p.63) - "[W]hile there are several points where the performances threaten to fall apart, momentum and sheer grit see them through, and it's good to hear Scott's justly legendary solo on 'Teeth' again."

A pioneering British psychedelic group in the late 1960s, Soft Machine eventually developed a unique, forward-thinking brand of jazz-rock tinged with progressive/experimental touches. As the leading light of the "Canterbury scene" (a loosely knit collection of like-minded Canterbury, Kent, England-based bands which also included Caravan and Gong), the combo came to define the jazz-rock genre and was hugely influential to the burgeoning jazz fusion and experimental rock scenes. Soft Machine is also notable as a springboard for the successful later careers of several of its members, including Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Allen Holdsworth, Andy Summers. Originally based around surreal, heady, rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic deconstructions of conventional pop song structures, Soft Machine's music eventually morphed into a much looser, more improvisational style that found favor with fans of American acts such as Weather Report and Return to Forever. After the departure of prime mover Wyatt, Soft Machine continued on in various incarnations for several decades, but to much less acclaim.

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