Drop

For those not already intimately familiar with the work of prog-rock pioneers The Soft Machine, this latter-day discovery is a wildly inappropriate place to start. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the band was their near-constant revolving-door personnel lineup (their Wikipedia page lists 21 unique configurations and an exhaustive timeline chart). However, one could make the (oversimplified) case that the group underwent three basic phases, each underscored by the central creative force in the group. The frontman of the first wave of The Soft Machine was undoubtedly Robert Wyatt, distinguishing himself with a simultaneously inimitable percussive and vocal style. Though an active contributor from the start, keyboardist Mike Ratledge would gradually impose his penchant for long-form instrumental suites to establish the group's identity throughout the second phase, marginalizing Wyatt's role to the background and eventually purging him from the band altogether. Karma would soon manifest itself with the inclusion of multi-instrumentalist Karl Jenkins, who would ultimately oust Ratledge from the band, officially divesting the Soft Machine of its last remaining element of continuity.After Robert Wyatt's unceremonious departure, Australian drummer Phil Howard was brought in at the insistence of saxophonist Elton Dean. This short-lived lineup left a legacy of one three-track session with John Peel and half the band's fifth album. Before the release of "Drop", these six tracks represented the only glimpse into what this version of the group sounded like. Now, Machineheads have an idea of what they sounded like in concert.It is not difficult to understand, hearing this album, why promoters dropped shows at the time and why the group succinctly changed course after a few months. Howard's unique contribution to the Soft Machine sound is his cacophonous wail of cymbal crashes and fills. During passages that are supposed to be free-form, he excels in this regard. However, across the more structured pieces in their repertoire, Howard's aimless noodling adds nothing to the effort. Whereas Keith Moon-style percussive anarchy can be seductive to many aspiring drummers, it only works when it retains some degree of responsiveness to what the rest of the band is playing. Howard's thunderous double-bass attacks and flailing cymbals have no sense of purpose, nor do they align to any debatable degree with what the group is trying to do throughout the majority of the show. Though there are moments where the rhythm actually lines up with the song (particularly during "Pigling Bland"), these are few and far between, and the listener is left with the impression that Howard must have turned off his monitor. Hugh Hopper's bass playing most overtly reflects this frustration; one can almost picture the sullen expression on his face as he listlessly plucks away a two-note line on "Slightly All The Time." The title track, which appears to have been written by Ratledge to accommodate this new sound, is where the approach of this version of The Soft Machine works best, though the potential of this stylistic direction would seem quite obviously finite.Nonetheless, "Drop" is a fascinating relic for the devoted Machinehead. Those like myself who enjoy hearing all the newly-unearthed recordings of each of the band's incarnations get to witness a musical collective whose technique and compositions evolved on a seemingly near-weekly basis. However, to casual listeners, the band's already inaccessible complexity would likely be strained beyond the bounds of patience listening to this floundering mess of a performance.

"Dark Swing" is the title of Phil Howard's 2-minute drum solo on this live set and would have been a better title for the album, for the liner notes are all about his short-lived contribution to the ever-changing band. Thanks to his propulsive, explosive drumming, this is the Machine in overdrive: I've never heard them so driven, so intense, so nerve-wracked. (They must have dropped from exhaustion after each set.) Even the usually placid "Slightly All the Time" sounds like Keith Moon arranged it. I prefer the sensitivity and dynamics Robert Wyatt brought to the drum stool, but here's one more live concert to savor (or to endure, for neophytes) in soundboard-plus quality from a seemingly inexhaustible supply of tapes.

This is a reasonable sounding soundboard recording of the short-lived "Soft Machine" line-up which recorded the "Side One" material of "Fifth"(I.E. keyboardist Mike Ratledge, bassist Hugh Hopper, Saxophonist Elton Dean & drummer Phil Howard).Howard, an Australian was a member of Dean's side project/group "Just Us", who recorded Dean's first solo album(other Soft machine members guested on that album and some of those selections found their way into Soft Machine's set)Howard & Dean were of the "Free Blowing"(almost totally improvised) school of jazz. Dean had limited interest in adhering to composed structures and Howard had no interest whatsoever. Undoubtedly technically skillful, Howard's playing is often cacophanous and harsh. This "Free Blowing" put Dean & Howard at odds with Hugh Hopper and(especially) the classically trained Ratledge.This group was not well received by audiences and club owners found them to be too avant-garde. After a club owner dropped them(from a support slot for Weather Report) after one gig, Howard was forced out(though he kept his gig with "Just Us") and Dean quit 3 months later. Their replacements,John Marshall & Karl Jenkins took the group in a more mainstream Jazz-Rock Fusion direction. Phil Howard moved to New York in the mid-1970's and he never played again. No one knows his whereabouts, or if he is still alive. Presumably, his recording royalties are held in escrow.This disc is useful because it gives you an idea of how the "Side Two" material of "Fifth" would have sounded with Phil Howard on drums. As such, it is an essential document for Soft Machine fans.

Mixed sound quality - a few shades of mud at times - but fascinating musical interplay. A different dynamic than the studio Fifth side A.

Some review I read referred to this album as their 'Holy Grail' I most definitely fell that way about this album. The Drummer Phil Howard is one of the very few completely 'Free Jazz' drummers. Some drummers play 'free or Avant guard from time to time and others, like Ed Blackwell (considered by many to be the greatest free jazz drummer) play free pretty much all the time. I've heard a lot of Ed Blackwell, and I think Howard is even better. Free drumming is often heard in duos and trios and without keyboards. It often doesn't work with larger ensembles. However, Howard's playing here pushed the Softs music into a direction where, in my opinion their truest sound was captured. Apparently this was difficult for Mike Ratlege and Hugh Hopper to play around (and it was hard for them to open for rock acts, whose audiences did not appreciate this music), so Howard was dismissed after only four months. These performances are incendiary, stunning and unlike anything they played before or after. This takes what they started on albums like Three and Four to the next level of intensity. What a gift to Jazz fans this is.

Drop, das ist eine ganz besondere Platte im Katalog der Band Soft Machine. Keine leichte Kost zwar, aber umso interessanter, und zwar m.E. vor allem aus zwei Gründen.An erster Stelle fällt die nach der Veröffentlichung von Fourth noch deutlichere Hinwendung zum Jazz und Free Jazz auf.An zweiter Stelle ist damit einhergehend der Einfluss des genialen Schlagzeugers Phil Howard im Verbund mit dem ebenso freigeistigen Saxofonisten Elton Dean hervorzuheben.Drop ist ein Live-Album. Die Aufnahmen stammen aus dem Herbst / Winter 1971 und fanden in Deutschland statt, etwa ein halbes Jahr vor der Veröffentlichung von Fifth. Leider ist dem dünnen, aber ansonsten sehr informativen Booklet nicht zu entnehmen, an welchem Ort genau die Aufnahmen gemacht wurden.Es handelt sich durchweg um bereits bekannte Stücke, die sich zum einen auf Third (1970) und zum anderen auf Fifth (1972) befinden, die hier aber sehr dynamisch und daher neuartig klingen. Erst am Ende des zweiten Stückes ist zum ersten Mal Beifallklatschen und somit der Live-Charakter auch äußerlich feststellbar. Alle Stücke gehen fast nahtlos ineinander über. Man hat daher insgesamt den Eindruck, einen einzigen langen Track zu hören, der immer wieder vom treibenden Schlagzeug nach vorne gepeitscht wird. Das ist schlichtweg genial, kurzum ein sehr intensives Hörerlebnis.Ein wenig sperrig hingegen scheint mir für ungeübte Ohren der Anfang der Platte mit dem sehr in Richtung Free Jazz gehenden Neo Caliban Grides. Man muss schon auf freie Formen des Jazz stehen und dissonante Saxofonklänge mögen, um dieses Eingangsstück, das vor allem von Elton Dean und Phil Howard geprägt wird, mit Freude und Genuss zu hören. Ist das nicht der Fall, so wendet man sich wahrscheinlich schon an dieser Stelle gerne ab und versäumt somit gelungene Versionen von Klassikern wie All White, Slightly All The Time oder As If, um nur einige Beispiele zu nennen.Alles also eine Frage der Hörgewohnheit. Dennoch lässt sich insgesamt feststellen, dass es sich um eine Platte handelt, auf der ein hohes Maß an Spielfreude, Intensität und Drive hör- und spürbar wird.Schade, dass Phil Howard nur ein sehr kurzes Intermezzo bei Soft Machine zukommt. Genau genommen hören wir ihn außer auf Drop nur noch auf der A-Seite der Platte Fifth. Es ist zu vermuten, dass sein sehr freies, dynamisches Schlagzeugspiel mit dem Hang zu klaren Strukturen auf Seiten von Mike Ratledge und Hugh Hopper schlecht vereinbar war. Wir müssen uns damit abfinden, nicht ohne uns darüber zu wundern, dass der Name Phil Howard danach aus der Musiklandschaft verschwunden ist. In Vergessenheit gerät er auch, weil mit John Marshall ein nicht minder brillanter Nachfolger an seine Stelle tritt.Volle Punktzahl für ein fesselndes Tondokument in sehr guter Klangqualität.

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以前MoonjuneからCDで出ていたLive音源が独Sireenaからアナログ盤（Red Vinyl)で発売された。 1971年秋の独公演のLiveであり、クレジットに誤りがなければRobert Wyatt(ds)の脱退でPhil Howardが参加した直後であり、Soft Machine "5"のA面の録音（'71年11～12月）より前の録音という事になる。P.Howardは’72年初頭に脱退してJohn Marshallに交代するので在籍期間が短く、彼の参加したLiveは少ないのでその意味では貴重な録音。　またS.MachineのLiveは数多く出ているが、その多くは活動が停止した’90年代以降に出ているのでほとんどがCDのみのリリースでLPが出たのは僅かなのでその意味でも価値あるアナログ再発だ。CDは約60分の収録で、このＬＰは曲をカットせずA,B面とも約30分ずつの収録となっているが、元の録音が当時のLive音源なので長時間収録だがCDと比べても音の劣化はほとんど感じられない。　内容は当然S.Machine "5"に近いが,Elton Deanのファースト（サソリのジャケットでP.Howard参加）にも共通項が多い。特にM.RatledgeのオルガンとE.Deanのエレピがからむ部分などはこの時期ならではのもの。

ＣＤでは昨年の夏にすでに発売されてるけど、今回のアナログ盤はビートルズのようなレッド・カラー・ビニール。しかも限定盤なのでマシーンのファンは必携。内容は言わずもがな素晴らしい。わずか５ヶ月しか在籍しなかったフィル・ハワードのドラムが最大の聴きどころ。

Soft machineの５時代(71年）の発掘音源です。こんな音源まだ残っていたのですね。音質は良好で、演奏ももちろん満足できる内容です。ソフツといえばドラムはワイアットでしたが、71年９月にワイアットが抜け、このハワードが参加した。72年にはハワードはバンドを離れてしまい、2月にジョン・マーシャルが加入。６月に「５」が発売というから、ハワードの頃のライヴとは貴重であります。「５」といえば地味なジャズィなイメージが強いので比べてみると面白いと思いますよ。どのようにって、それは買って聞いてみればわかります。音の広がりを感じます。