THE END OF AN EAR

Look at the date of original release and you realise this has to be an influential album, especially on the RIO movement. It was a real and unexpected surprise at that time if you consider the work done then by Wyatt largely within the confines of Soft Machine. Appararently, Wyatt was being marginalised with Soft Machine prior to being fired. So is this album a riposte, to show he could be as free as Machine intended going (although on record you'll only really hear Machine in free mode, on the recent Soft Machine "BBC 1971-74") or something contrary to the brilliant but seemingly out-of-place avante rock of "Moon In June" (on "Third"). "End of An Ear" is experimental and musically new, although to be progressed with Matching Mole. Its use of percussion, tape loops with friends dropping by to add their parts was innovative in the rock world - many of the tune tiles acknowledging friends in the Canterbury Scene. I find it great that Hugh Hopper has return to this method of recording on his most recent 'Jazzloops' and 'In a Dubious Manner' releases, as well as with Wyatt for a couple of tracks on "Solar Flares Burn For You" - and rumours have it Hopper is collaborating with Gary Lucas with similar experiments.