Genre: progressive
Rating: 2 stars **
Title: Soft Heap
Company: Charly
Catalog: CRL
5014
Year: 1979
Country/State: UK
Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+
Comments: UK pressing; still in shrink wrap
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5622
Price: $40.00
True story ... I bought this LP at a yard sale thinking it was some kind of Britpop release (clearly I didn't look at the performance credits). The album went into my 'to listen to' pile where it sat for about two years. Fast forward to a period where I'd been listening to a bunch of Canterbury progressive bands like Caravan, Soft Machine, and Robert Wyatt solo stuff. I'm one of those folks that can only take so much progressive stuff before I need a dose of commercial fluff and when I reached that point I started looking through my pile of unheard LPs and pulled this baby out. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Soft Heap was another band with Canterbury roots.
Sax player Elton Dean and bassist Hugh Hopper had both been members of Soft Machine, while Alan Gowen and Pip Pyle had been in National Health. The four came together in 1978 forming Soft Heap (part tribute to Soft Machine, while Heap reflected their first names Hugh - Elton - Alan - Pip. The quartet began touring, but scheduling conflicts saw Pyle replaced by Dave Sheen. (The band briefly changed their name to Soft Head.) With Hopper back in the fold the group went into the studio to record their self-titled debut. Released by the English Charly label, 1979's "Soft Heap" the set is occasionally billed as being Canterbury-styled psychedelia. Don't believe that tag for a minute. With three of the four members contributing material, these six extended instrumentals featured nothing but jazz rock fusion and improvisational moves. Technically the set was quite impressive with each of the members showcasing their extensive talents - sax player Dean comes up wtih some amazing performances throughout the set (check out side two's 'Terra Nova'). On occasion the material actually reflected a recognizable musical structure ('A.W.O.L.' and 'Fara'), but if you weren't into the jazz mode, this was going to make for some really tough slogging. To be honest, even if you were into jazz, tracks like 'Petit 3's' were going to be trying.
"Soft
Heap" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Circle Line (instrumental) (Hugh Hopper) -
2.) A.W.O.L. (instrumental) (Alan Gowen - Pip Pyle - Elton Dean - Hugh Hopper) -
3.) Petit 3's (instrumental) (Alan Gowen) -
(side
2)
1.) Terra Nova (instrumental) (Elton Dean) -
2.) Fara (instrumental) (Elton Dean) -
3.) Short Hand (instrumental) (Alan Gowen) -
Shortly after the album was released Hopper quit and was replaced by former National Health bassist John Greaves. The revamped lineup continued to tour through 1981. Gowen died of leukemia in May 1981 at which point guitarist Mark Hewins joined the lineup. The band continued to undertake occasional performances throughout the 1980s, but never released another studio set, though there are a pair of archival concert releases (I never heard either).
Released in 1995 by the Impetus label, "A Veritable Centaur" (catalog number 8219) was a live set recorded at a 1982 French concert, with an added track from a BBC radio performance. Released in 2008 by the Reel label "Al Dente" (Reel catalog number 008) captured the original line up during a 1978 performance at London's Phoenix Club.
After a long illness, Dean died in February 2006.
Hopper has a nice website at: