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Soft Machine — Backwards
(Cuneiform Rune 170, 1970/2002, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2002-09-01

Backwards Cover art

Woo-hoo! More genuine artifacts from the Soft Machine vaults, and what a treat this one is. Six tracks, and most of what we have here is Third era, either by the four-piece of Wyatt, Hopper, Ratledge and Dean, or the “expanded” lineup which also included Lyn Dobson (saxes), Nick Evans (trombone), and Mark Charig (trumpet). The disc opens with a full-length definitive four-piece version of “Facelift” from May 1970, a little stripped down arrangement-wise compared to the version we all know from Third, but every bit as potent. This segues directly into the second half of “Moon in June” (the instrumental section), followed later by Wyatt’s improvised vocal section, and then onto an expanded version of “Esther’s Nosejob,” all taken from the same show. Then we move backward in time slightly, to another version (shorter) of “Facelift” and “Hibou Anemone & Bear” from the seven-piece band in November ’69, one of the few recorded performances by this historic lineup. All taken together, these are some of the most energetic and engaging performances of these pieces that this writer has heard. Moving backwards in time again, the disc closes with an early 21-minute demo version of “Moon in June,” the first (vocal) part taken from an acetate cut solo by Wyatt at the end of the 1968 US Tour in New York, and the second part recorded by the three-piece lineup in England after regrouping a few months later. Simply put, this disc is a must-have.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 25, 2002 releases, 1970 recordings

Related artist(s): Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, Soft Machine, Robert Wyatt

More info
http://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/backwards

 

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