Soft Machine - Virtually
# Audio CD (January 27, 1998)
# Original Release Date: August 17, 1998
# Number of Discs: 1
# Format: Live
# Label: Cuneiform
# ASIN: B000008TTX
Another of Cuneiform's excellent archival Soft Machine releases, Virtually features the "classic" Soft Machine lineup of Robert Wyatt, Mike Ratledge, Hugh Hopper and Elton Dean for a March 23, 1971 performance that was broadcast by Radio Bremen. The quartet's spring, 1971 European tour (in support of their new album, Fourth) ended up being their last as a unit, as drummer Robert Wyatt left the band shortly after the tour's conclusion.
What distinguishes Virtually from the several other supplemental Soft Machine releases out there that document the classic quartet? Well, by 1971, Elton Dean had exerted a strong influence over the band and was pushing the group into experimental jazz territory; the early 1971 release, Fourth, was evidence of this. All of the Fourth tracks are included on Virtually, although "Virtually" itself is less than half the length of the 20-minute version that appeared on Fourth. The more fluid, more abstract aesthetic carried over to the band's interpretations of their older material, too, and despite excellent readings of the Fourth pieces, it's the band's treatment of their immortal tunes from Third ("Facelift," "Out-Bloody-Rageous," "Slightly All The Time") that provide this album's finest moments, at least for me.
With their songs on Third, Soft Machine seemed to have hit upon an elusive balance insofar as writing appealing composed themes in odd time signatures, yet within a context that nevertheless offered a wide berth for improvisation and creative rearrangement. Thus, while each piece from Third is quite recognizable, they're also noticeably re-worked from how the band played them a year earlier. The album BBC Radio One: Live in Concert (now sold as Soft Machine and Heavy Friends in Concert: 1971) offered a taste of how the band was treating their older songs in the spring of 1971, but that concert was a one-off where the regular quartet was joined by various guests. Virtually, however, gives a much more accurate representation of how the band actually sounded any given night that spring. Much of the more abstract, more experimental feel of the performances is the result of Robert Wyatt's drumming. Listeners who are familiar with the way Wyatt played these tracks in 1970 might be surprised at how significantly his approach to this material had changed. His drumming here is less dependent on the rest of band — only loosely associated with it at times — and it provides a very different feel.
Another important difference is Elton Dean's activity on the electric piano. An underrated aspect of Dean's value to Soft Machine was his ability to provide compelling harmonic counterpoint to Mike Ratledge during Ratledge's lengthy organ solos. Earlier on, Dean performed this function with his saxes and saxello, but toward the end of 1970 he started playing the electric piano onstage. By 1971 Dean and Ratledge had developed a fine chemistry in this regard and the dual keyboard passages create a sonorous web of interplay that might not be expected, considering Dean's more infamous interests in abrasive textures and dissonance ("Neo-Caliban Grides," "Fletcher's Blemish").
In short, I think this is an excellent album that every Soft Machine fan should own. If I had any complaint at all, it would be that the sound isn't as crisp as some of Cuneiform's other Soft Machine recordings (an unavoidable characteristic of the source tape, I'm sure). This lack of clarity prevents the impact of Robert Wyatt's drumming from being all that it could be, which is unfortunate, considering how interesting Wyatt's contributions are here. This is a small issue, though, since the overall sound quality is nevertheless pretty good.
Review by Richie Unterberger
Recorded on March 23, 1971 for Radio Bremen, during the band's final European tour with Robert Wyatt in the lineup, this is a good (and very well-recorded) document of their early-'70s sound. At this point the band, having doubled in size around the Third era, had contracted to a quartet with Wyatt, Mike Ratledge, Hugh Hopper, and saxophonist Elton Dean. Over the course of the 77-minute disc, they run through all of the material from Fourth, and much of Third: the music that found them tilting toward jazz, rather than rock. Those who are attracted to the band because of Wyatt may thus be disappointed; his drumming is here in force, but he contributes no original compositions, and his vocals are limited to a few processed scats. It's challenging, at times demanding listening, especially when Dean goes off into improv territory; numbers highlighting Ratledge's Lowery organ hit grooves that are more accessible to rock listeners, but not much. It's certainly better, from both audio and performance aspects, than the Live at the Proms 1970 release, which features the same personnel.
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