Soft Machine - Live at the Paradiso 1969

Live at the Paradiso 1969, an archival release from the Voiceprint Records released in 1996 is the closest thing to indicate how the pre-jazz fusion Soft Machine sounded live. There's not a single wind instrument in here, this is pure organ-bass-drums power trio sound. The material from their second album is treated with vengeance by the trio of Mike Ratledge, Hugh Hopper - cranking high-decibel walls of sound from fuzz-fed organ and bass - and Robert Wyatt who was a real hooligan on drums. Vocals-wise he sounds more like a tortured soul singer contrasting the jazzy subtleties of his vocal work on Volume Two. The music is played as a continuous 40 minute set, without a single break. The numbers with vocals come first, the medley from "Hulloder" to "As Long as he Lies perfectly Still" would soon be dropped from the band's set-list as both Ratledge and Hopper had more intricate compositions in mind than Wyatt's Dadaist rock leanings. The band sounds very heavy and rocking, without sounding like a clichéd rock outfit, especially given the lack of guitar. After some self-indulgent noodling of "Fire Engine Passing With Bells Clanging" mid-way into the set, the band takes on "Hibou Anemone and Bear", offering a lean, mean, rushed and distorted version of it, with Ratledge flashing his vicious chops to a great effect and Wyatt's voice towards the end struggling to be heard. The 20 minute medley, known as "Esther's Nosejob" (comprising the final pieces on Vol2) follows, and while not as elaborate as the original versions nor as academically jazzy as later live versions, they play with great energy although it's obvious that the trio line-up was limiting: "Pig" lacks the main melody as there is no saxophone to play it and any drummer who can also sing would be hard-pressed to carry out both obligations simultaneously. But the more rock-oriented and mean version of "A Door Opens and Closes" has some magic that makes the later live versions seem somewhat anemic. Wyatt gives us an interesting drum solo in the finale that is "10:30 Returns to the Bedroom" before the band states the final main theme and sizzles out. Even if it isn't musically as polished as Volume Two or as tight as the band's BBC recordings from the same era, it's a valuable testament to the live energy of Soft Machine's unique power trio formation.