Third

by Soft Machine

Overview

Soft Machine plunged deeper into jazz and contemporary electronic music on this pivotal release, which incited The Village Voice to call it a milestone achievement when it was released. It's a double album of stunning music, with each side devoted to one composition -- two by Mike Ratledge, and one each by Hopper and Wyatt, with substantial help from a number of backup musicians, including Canterbury mainstays Elton Dean and Jimmy Hastings. The Ratledge songs come closest to fusion jazz, although this is fusion laced with tape loop effects and hypnotic, repetitive keyboard patterns. Hugh Hopper's "Facelift" recalls "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson, although it's more complex, with several quite dissimilar sections. The pulsing rhythms, chaotic horn and keyboard sounds, and dark drones on "Facelift" predate some of what Hopper did as a solo artist later (this song was actually culled from two live performances in 1970). On his capricious composition "Moon in June," Robert Wyatt draws on musical ideas from early 1967 demos done with producer Giorgio Gomelsky. Lyrically, it's a satirical alternative to the pretension displayed by a lot of rock writing of the era, and combined with the Softs' exotic instrumentation, it makes for quite a listen (the compilation Triple Echo includes a BBC broadcast recording of "Moon in June" with different albeit equally fanciful lyrics, and the Robert Wyatt archival collection '68, released by Cuneiform in 2013, features a remastered version of Wyatt's original demo of the song, recorded in the U.S. following the Softs' tour opening for the Jimi Hendrix Experience). Not exactly rock, Third nonetheless pushed the boundaries of rock into areas previously unexplored, and it managed to do so without sounding self-indulgent. A better introduction to the group is either of the first two records, but once introduced, this is the place to go. ~ Peter Kurtz

Product Details

Release Date:	04/26/2011
Label:	Music On Vinyl
UPC:	8713748981570
Rank:	50691

Tracks

1. Facelift
2. Slightly All the Time
3. The Moon in June
4. Out-Bloody-Rageous

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Soft Machine   Primary Artist
Lyn Dobson   Horn,Flute,Sax (Soprano)
Hugh Hopper   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Robert Wyatt   Drums,Vocals
Jimmy Hastings   Wind,Flute,Clarinet (Bass)
Mike Ratledge   Organ,Piano,Keyboards
Elton Dean   Saxello,Saxophone,Sax (Alto)
Nick Evans   Trombone
Rab Spall   Violin

Technical Credits

Andy Knight   Engineer
Bob Woolford   Engineer
Hugh Hopper   Composer
Robert Wyatt   Composer
Mike Ratledge   Composer
Soft Machine   Producer
Jurgen D. Ensthaler   Photography
John Hays   Cover Design