Soft Machine - Seven (1973)

Year: October 1973 (CD 2007)
Label: Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Europe), 82876872922
Style: Jazz Rock, Progressive Rock, Canterbury Scene
Country: Canterbury, England
Time: 43:15
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 263 Mb

This was the first Soft Machine album I bought and nearly the last. Not that it isn’t soothing in a sleepy sort of way, but it wasn’t at all the madcap sonic adventure I was expecting. With time, of course, I understood that the original quest changed after the departures of Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt, with Mike Ratledge leading the band into jazzier terrain much as Gong did under the stewardship of Pierre Moerlen. From the perspective of Six, little had changed—or needed to, really. The mesmerizing keyboard patterns, mutated saxophone/oboe solos, superlative drumming and steady bass shift every few minutes like an audio kaleidoscope, which is pleasant enough. It’s generally a calmer and more peaceful record than most jazz fusion albums from the period, and there’s little difference between the songs written by Ratledge and Karl Jenkins, giving Seven a consistent feel from beginning to end. Is it the first Soft Machine album you need to own? In my experience, obviously not (they did number these for a reason). If you’re going to buy seven Soft Machine albums, however, here you are. Highlights (to my ears) include Tarabos, Down the Road and the combination of Snodland and Penny Hitch (the songs tend to merge into one another). Carol Ann is also very pretty. That said, the album doesn’t really have standout sections; it’s conceived as an organic whole that flows from the shared musical sensibilities of its four members. It’s not their best album, but it might be their softest so far.
(progrography.com/soft-machine/review-soft-machine-seven-1973/)

01. Nettle Bed (04:51)
02. Carol Ann (03:45)
03. Day's Eye (05:03)
04. Bone Fire (00:35)
05. Tarabos (04:27)
06. D.I.S. (03:04)
07. Snodland (01:51)
08. Penny Hitch (06:38)
09. Block (04:18)
10. Down The Road (05:44)
11. The German Lesson (01:51)
12. The French Lesson (01:03)

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