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Soft Machine — H​ø​vikodden 1971
(Cuneiform Rune 530/531/532/533, 1971/2024, 4CD / 4LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-07-27

H​ø​vikodden 1971 Cover art

Glancing through my records, I’d say I have more than a dozen live releases by Soft Machine covering every phase of their long and varied history. As I’ve noted before, as long as the technical fidelity of the recording is decent, every one of them is a valuable document of an extraordinary band. To my mind, no other band has ever captured such a perfect balance between the improvisational spirit of jazz and the electric energy of rock quite as successfully as Soft Machine, and that quality was in full force from the very beginning of the band through to today (barring the Land of Cockayne album, which I contend does not really exist, at least not as a Soft Machine album). H​ø​vikodden 1971 documents two nights at the end of February of that year, and captures that edition of the group with exceptional audio quality. Half of the set has been previously available as Live at Henie Onstad Art Centre 1971, but the other night had never been released before now. At this point, Soft Machine consisted of Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals), Hugh Hopper (bass), Mike Ratledge (keyboards), and Elton Dean (saxophones, keyboards), and they approach their compositions as mere jumping-off points for improvisation and experimentation. Each night featured two sets, and while they used the same setlist each night, there are considerable differences between the interpretations. (It’s also the same as the Virtually set from a month later.) “Facelift” is shorter on the second night, but “Fletcher’s Blemish” is longer — every title exhibits similar variation. The material is drawn from Third and Fourth along with a couple of tracks that wouldn’t surface until Five. There’s also “Neo-Caliban Grides,” a Dean piece that was a frequent part of their live sets but never got a studio release, and “Eamonn Andrews,” a Ratledge composition that also never showed up on a studio album and serves as a brief lead-in to “All White.” Whether they’re wailing away with fuzz bass, overdriven organ, and screaming sax or drifting off into dreamy free-form realms, this band is figuratively on fire, firing on all cylinders, taking no prisoners, laying it on the line, and any other metaphor you can think of for performing at the highest level. H​ø​vikodden 1971 is a sure winner for any fan of the band, and would be a great introduction to a novice listener into the ever-expanding world of Soft Machine live recordings. It also presents proof that the early 70s were extraordinary years for jazz, and that Americans weren’t the only ones at the forefront of innovation. And even more importantly, this music stands the test of time, still sounding amazing more than 50 years after it was played.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases, 1971 recordings

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

More info
http://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/h-vikodden-1971

 

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