Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Soft Machine
Label: CBS
Released: 1970
Length: 75:15
Rating: 5/5
The classic Soft Machine was born with »Third«, when drummer/vocalist Robert Wyatt, bassist Hugh Hopper and keyboardist Mike Ratledge were joined by the outstanding saxophonist Elton Dean, who had previously worked with the versatile singer Julie Driscoll and jazz pianist/composer Keith Tippett. With his arrival, Soft Machine’s transformation from rowdy psychedelic experimentalists into shrewd, instrumental jazz fusion improvisers was complete. The four of them were listening to a lot of the jazz fusion experiments coming out of the legendary Miles Davis camp, who had just released »Bitches Brew« (1970), and you can hear it on nearly every track of »Third«, even though not one of them features a trumpet. The big thing about this jazz fusion classic was that it came out in 1970 as a double LP with four long, wildly complex compositions, which, with the exception of »Moon in June« (more a mark of Wyatt’s solo career), set the classic Soft Machine sound in stone for years to come.
That means they’d long since forgotten what Frank Zappa had advised them two years earlier: that they’d do well to write as many shorter pieces as possible if they wanted to claw their way even slightly into the black as songwriters. Ever since Kevin Ayers left in 1968, they’d stopped worrying about singles and commercial success altogether and given themselves over completely to compositional and sonic spontaneity. Some of the tracks feature guest horn arrangements, with contributions from longtime Caravan flautist Jimmy Hastings and trombonist Nick Evans, who was also an official member of Soft Machine for a short while, though he’s best known for his work with King Crimson.
»Third« opens with the classic »Facelift«, which kicks off with a dark intro of brazenly distorted sounds from Ratledge’s keyboards and Hopper’s deranged bass lines. Wild sax arrangements and murderous drum fills are cut through every so often by clever yet obscure improvisations, with a flute solo standing out until a really interesting motif takes shape. Something is happening the whole time, and every second is packed with the incredible spontaneity and improvisational daring of four great sonic innovators. »Slightly All the Time« has loads of wonderfully mischievous arrangements and free-form passages typical of free jazz, with Wyatt’s lavish cymbal work, Dean’s playful sax runs, Hopper’s turbulent bass lines and Ratledge’s keyboard wizardry. The peak comes in the closing minutes, when a dreamy motif emerges out of subtle keyboard textures and romantic sax arrangements. As a whole, this piece is a bit more accessible and melodic than the better-known »Facelift«, and it already reflects some of the subtler sonic trends that would come to dominate Soft Machine’s music in the following years.
»Moon in June«, Wyatt’s piece, is the only composition on the album that isn’t instrumental, which means it features Robert’s trademark, ‘resonant’ vocals, and it’s also stylistically the closest to their earlier approach, with the important difference that everything is far more sophisticated and complex. The track is defined above all by the velvety sound of Hammond organs, melodic passages and the vocal drama Wyatt would bring to his solo career. It also yields a few uncharacteristic, epic moments, so stylistically it’s a completely different beast from the other three »Third« compositions. In the closing section, strange, extremely obscure improvisations take over, with added violin and grotesque ‘yowling,’ so the melodic moments don’t last long. Wyatt wasn’t thrilled with his bandmates’ decision to turn Soft Machine into a fully instrumental outfit, so he’d already decided to go solo, and a year later he struck out on his own entirely and founded his own group, Matching Mole. The wild ride through the jazz fusion maze ends with the combative masterpiece »Out-Bloody-Rageous«, where Ratledge and Dean really shine. The opening section is marked by Ratledge’s keyboard improvisations until a rowdy sax passage barges in, helping build a playful, driving motif backed by a snappy piano, mighty drum fills and thickened bass lines. Later on, especially in the second half of the piece, a much more relaxed and dreamy mood sets in, with the occasional wildness supplied mainly by untamed sax arrangements, which by then had become one of the key elements of Soft Machine’s music.
»Third«, a jazz fusion and Canterbury scene classic that defined the classic Soft Machine sound, is the pivotal record in this cult band’s incredibly colorful discography, and they’d go on to live through a few more interesting, vividly colorful sonic transformations in the years that followed. Alongside the Nucleus debut, it was also one of the first real jazz fusion albums on the British prog rock scene, which, as already mentioned, was completely captivated by Miles Davis’s exploits at the time. Every fan of quality progressive rock and experimental music in general, even if they’re not exactly a die-hard Soft Machine devotee, should have at least »Third« in their collection. The classic Soft Machine lineup held together for one more album, called »Fourth« (1971), which wiped out the last psychedelic elements in their music entirely.
Lineup
Mike Ratledge – keyboards
Hugh Hopper – bass guitar
Robert Wyatt – drums, vocals (3), Hammond organ (3), mellotron (3), piano (3), bass guitar (3)
Elton Dean – alto saxophone, saxello
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Lyn Dobson – soprano saxophone, flute (1)
Jimmy Hastings – flute, bass clarinet (2,4)
Rab Spall – violin (3)
Nick Evans – trombone (2,4)
Production
Soft Machine
Track List
1. Facelift (18:45)
2. Slightly All the Time (18:12)
3. Moon in June (19:08)
4. Out-Bloody-Rageous (19:10)
