Soft Machine - Spaced 1969 (1996)


Ten nietypowy album Soft Machine zawiera wybór z półtoragodzinnej oprawy muzycznej do spektaklu multimedialnego pt. Spaced, stworzonego i wyreżyserowanego przez awangardowego reżysera teatralnego Petera Dockleya. Spektakl ten wykonywany był m.in. przez tancerzy baletowych i gimnastyków (byłych żołnierzy). Ubrani byli w gumowe kostiumy z ramionami ośmiornicy. Scenografię tworzyły rusztowania. Wystawienie tego awangardowego wówczas widowiska odbyło się w klubie "Roundhouse", który następnie po przebudowie stał się znany jako "UFO".

Muzyka miała być ponura i zdezorganizowana.

Grupa nagrywała ją na terenie byłych doków w magazynie, który służył jej jako miejsce prób. W weekendy dochodził Brian Hopper i dogrywał partie saksofonowe. Następnie taśmy były opracowywane w mieszkaniu inżyniera dźwiękowca Boba Woolforda, który ciął, montował i sklejał taśmy, posługując się m.in. pierwszym brytyjskim magnetofonem – ferrografem. Taśmy te nie były przygotowywane z myślą o wydaniu ich na płycie analogowej (LP) czy też nośniku cyfrowym (CD).

Spektakl był wykonywany przez tydzień, ale nie odniósł sukcesu.

Program BBC poświęcony sztuce wyemitował zmontowane fragmenty spektaklu, jednak muzyka Soft Machine była zbyt awangardowa, więc telewizja posłużyła się nagraniami grupy Pink Floyd. (wikipedia)


A returning item in Soft Machine’s music is the use of tape loops and/or repeated patterns. Tape loops were often used by electronic music composers in the Fifties and Sixties. One or more sounds were recorded; the tape was spliced and taped together at a certain point, whereby the tape could have length for over one meter or even more. Sometimes tapes were used which ran through a room from one wall to the other. Halfway a heavy bottle was used to guide it. Longer tapes meant less repeated patterns; how shorter the tape, the more repetitions. Terry Riley used this way of creating his early minimal music, or repeated music as it was named in the beginning. He visited Paris and worked there as well. Daevid Allen caught up with him and that’s how the repeated music was introduced in Soft Machine’s music. In the early days of the group most musicians visited Allen on his houseboat in Paris and created lots of loops; it’s fun after all. As you can read on the left Peter Dockley asked the group if they could create a backing tape for his multi-media happening ‘Spaced’, which would be performed at the Roundhouse. Mike, Hugh and Robert started recording; Hugh’s brother Brian came over and played some saxophone parts. Bob Woolford (from Middle Earth Masters fame) helped out with his tape recorders. Space was made in his apartment in London, with tapes running around milk bottles and up the stairs and fear of his cat which could have destroyed the constructions. The project wasn’t that successful; the audience expected the real band, the critics described at as ‘clanking noises’ and after all just a small part was used for television but not with Soft Machine’s tapes, but with a track from Pink Floyd! The cd doesn’t contain all tracks, some were lost, some were boring after all. Spaced One is a track with very soft sounds, you can hear the bass and sometimes organ, but there are also lots of other noises to be heard. Spaced Two sounds very familiar now; the tune was used before! Spaced Three is a tape played backwards, creating an unearthly atmosphere. The very long Spaced Four sounds real Soft Machine like with a long organ solo by Mike. Sometimes that sounds real creepy. Spaced Five is almost late night jazz with a beautiful saxophone part in it. Speed Six could have been a Frank Zappa composition, using all the kinds of percussion and electronic sounds. Space Seven is a typical Soft Machine record-ending sound, soft and sliding. Spaced is not a ‘normal’ Soft Machine album; if you like electronic music and experimental music this is one for you, otherwise it could be disappointing; not everyone likes those ‘clanking sounds’ after all. (Paul Lemmens)

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