Vols. 1 & 2

Performer: Soft Machine
Producer: Soft Machine; Tom Wilson; Chas Chandler
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: 2 LPs on 1 CD. Liner Note Author: Arnold Shaw. Recording information: ??/1968-03/1969. Arranger: Robert Wyatt. A pairing of Soft Machine's first two albums, an astounding set of music that hasn't been repeated or equaled by anyone else since. Mixing rampant experimentalism with a well-grounded sense of human scale, Hugh Hopper's bass playing and Mike Ratledge's electric piano and organ playing were both freely embellished with sonic innovations. Robert Wyatt's drumming drew more from jazz and Elvin Jones than rock music, not unlike Mitch Mitchell in the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Here Robert Wyatt's distinctive singing voice is a fragile and subtly beautiful instrument that is expressive in an utterly honest, near-conversational way. Kevin Ayers, who was responsible for a wide-eyed folk-rock element in Soft Machine's early songwriting, left after the first album. However, the band's overall sound was so distinctive that this change was easily absorbed.

A pioneering British psychedelic group in the late 1960s, Soft Machine eventually developed a unique, forward-thinking brand of jazz-rock tinged with progressive/experimental touches. As the leading light of the "Canterbury scene" (a loosely knit collection of like-minded Canterbury, Kent, England-based bands which also included Caravan and Gong), the combo came to define the jazz-rock genre and was hugely influential to the burgeoning jazz fusion and experimental rock scenes. Soft Machine is also notable as a springboard for the successful later careers of several of its members, including Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Allen Holdsworth, Andy Summers. Originally based around surreal, heady, rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic deconstructions of conventional pop song structures, Soft Machine's music eventually morphed into a much looser, more improvisational style that found favor with fans of American acts such as Weather Report and Return to Forever. After the departure of prime mover Wyatt, Soft Machine continued on in various incarnations for several decades, but to much less acclaim.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25