Soft Machine

The Soft Machine

Label: Water Country: USA

Associated with London's UFO Club, The Soft Machine played alongside Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix in the early era of British psychedelic pop. Soft Machine took in jazz, psychedelic rock and avant outlook, merging them into an amazing pop force that was remarkably hip and knowledgeable while still maintaining a tough anti-establishment attitude. Drummer Robert Wyatt handled most of the vocals, becoming for a time the figurehead for the band, and a source of inspiration for the music through a broad knowledge of music and literature. Soft Machine's 1968 debut release came as the original band was disassembling, with pre-Gong Daevid Allen gone and Kevin Ayers on the verge of leaving for his own solo career. Still they recorded a phenomenal album with classic songs like "Hope for Happiness", "Lullaby Letter" and "Why Are We Sleeping", all of which have taken on a life of their own. However, the real appeal to this pre-prog album is the dovetailed sequencing of all songs, with only one real break in the entire record. It's hard to praise this album too much, one of the real gems of the 60's, and an influential record to this day.