SOFT MACHINE

Description

Soft Machine is a British rock band, a pioneer of psychedelia. Its name is inspired by the book by William S. Burroughs. Formed in 1966 in Canterbury, England by Robert Wyatt (drums and vocals), Mike Ratledge (organ, piano), Daevid Allen (guitar) and Kevin Ayers (guitar, bass and vocals), Soft Machine, whose name is the title of a work by William Burroughs: The Soft Machine (Olympia Press-1961), would become a flagship band of progressive rock and of what would later be called the Canterbury Scene. They recorded their first album in April 1968 in New York (without Daevid Allen, who would create the band Gong two years later). In early 1969, Hugh Hopper replaced Kevin Ayers on bass. The second album was recorded in April, then alto saxophonist Elton Dean joined the band, which would record the double album Third in the first months of 1970. It was with the lineup Wyatt, Ratledge, Hopper and Dean that the fourth album was made. Wyatt left the band in July 1971 to form Matching Mole, which means the near-sighted mole (the mole is always wearing glasses on the covers of the four available albums) but which is above all the English pronunciation of Machine molle, the literal French translation of Soft Machine. Artistically, Soft Machine stands at the crossroads of several genres: pioneers of psychedelia, they quickly turned to jazz; increasingly oriented toward complex rhythms, they came close to jazz-rock. The influence of pataphysics and Dadaism on their early productions (volume Two is a patchwork of Dada-inspired references, to which tributes to the creators of serial music are added) would gradually give way to a musical volubility, sometimes poorly received. This evolution is felt with the departure of the original musicians: Daevid Allen, then Kevin Ayers and finally Robert Wyatt, the last representative of the psychedelic branch, who left after the album Fourth. The magnificent Moon in June on Third is Robert Wyatt’s last songwriting contribution and testament in Soft Machine. The band continued to exist in various forms after the departure of its founders, notably under the direction of Karl Jenkins. Between 1966 and 1984 (the end of its actual activity under this name), the band released 18 albums. But 30 other albums have been released since then and up to today! The band continues to play and release albums to this day but under the name SOFT MACHINE LEGACY. The latest album was released this year. The concert presented here was recorded in 1969 but was not released until 1995. It is enhanced by 6 bonus tracks (demos).