Search - Soft Machine :: Noisette

Vintage Soft Machine

hj | London | 11/24/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Soft Machine catalogue used to be a simple & straightforward affair: 7 albums imaginatively entitled Volume One through Seven - only the completely inumerate could go wrong. The flood of archive releases on a variety of labels over the last few years has muddied the waters considerably. There's a lot of lo-fi recordings & recycling going on that reeks of exploitation. Fortunately there is a reliable rule of thumb: if it is on the Cuneiform label get it, if it is on any other label (especially Voiceprint) approach with caution. "Noisette" is the third from Cuneiform & up to the standard of its predecessor "Virtually" in terms of sound quality & performance. Being from 1970 it features the 'classic' quartet of Wyatt, Ratledge, Hopper & Dean but with some striking additional reeds & flute from Lyn Dobson. And Wyatt gets to sing in his inimitable fashion. The set list is quite interesting: "Esthers Nose Job" as expected, but everything else is relatively rare, looking back to "Volume Two" or back even further in the case of the wild "We Did It Again" encore. Overall the show has a slightly edgy, 'you are there' real time sense of tension & spontaneity. Nice presentation on this release too. For those interested in archive Softs releases I'd recommend this alongside Peel Sessions, Live At Proms, BBC In Concert 1 & 2, & Virtually."

Good, old Soft Machine

Darek Kuczyñski | Warsaw, Poland | 08/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an extraordinary concert of this non comercial enterprise as I call Soft Machine. The material is mostly from the "Third" era ("Moon in June", "Mause Trap", "12/8 Theme") but there are also some older numbers like "Esther's Nose Job" and my favourite "We Did It Again" with Wyatt's drum solo and his specyfic moaning. Great connection of jazz and progressive music, excelent performance from the best Soft Machine's period.If you liked other early seventies live albums ("BBC Peel Sessions", "Live at the Proms 1970") you won't be dissapointed. They are all the same high - Soft Machine standard."

Best of the Cuneiform lot

J. Powers | Basehor, KS United States | 08/29/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Of the three Cuneiform Soft Machine archival releases, this is my favorite. It would serve as a good intro to the band, it has a bit more "life" than the studio albums. The encore of "We Did It Again" is wonderful."