As I have got older, my listening tastes have got even broader so that as well as searching out genres such as progressive rock, I am educating myself in the joys of other luminaries such as Frank Zappa, John McLaughin and Soft Machine. What has that to do with this review I hear you murmur? Well, this album is a tribute to the last of those three – with ‘Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening’ containing three improvised numbers that have been been inspired by the Softs (particularly Hugh Hopper – how guests with them on one of his own compositions), and the rest being their versions of numbers recorded by the band between 1969 and 1976.
I have to confess that I hadn’t heard of DSQ before being sent this release (it came out in 2007), but they were formed in 1984, and even though they have bee through some personnel changes it is therefore no surprise that these guys know what they are doing. The very best tribute albums are those that can musically stand in their own right, and add something new to the music – as opposed to just being clones of the original (which in my opinion is totally worthless), and this is definitely one of these.
I can listen to this album all night – the interplay of the saxophones is stunning, and when it is all over then I can go back and revisit the originals and see what the inspiration was for it all. If you enjoy jazz, or music that is different, or are just an old Softs fan at heart then this is indispensible. For more information visit www.moonjune.com.
