ALBUMS: Soft Machine II (1969); Robert Wyatt Old Rottenhat (1985)
MVC Ratings: Soft Machine II 4.0/$$$$; Wyatt 4.0/$$$$
While Pink Floyd began searching the universe in the late 1960s, The Soft Machine was already in another universe. I’m not saying the Soft Machine was better, but the band was certainly an exploratory pioneer with its use of different song structures (suites, e.g.) and odd time signatures. Their first album with it’s longer songs and more traditional presentations was widely praised by critics if not record buyers.
The avant-garde jazz-rock wasn’t for everybody. Just .glance at the cover photo (which is featured in a Ramsey Archibald photo collage on the homepage of my blog myvinylcountdown.com). That, and the names of the songs will tell you this isn’t a teeny-bop band.
Here’s the line-up of songs for the second album, which I have (a WUXTRY 1978 used record purchase):
1. Pataphysical Introduction, Pt. I 2. A Concise British Alphabet, Pt. 1 3. Hibou Anemone And Bear 4. A Concise British Alphabet, Pt. II 5. Hullo der 6. Dada Was Here 7. Thank You Pierrot Lunaire 8. Have You Ever Bean Grean? 9. Pataphysical Introduction, Pt. II 10. Out Of Tunes 11. As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still 12. Dedicated To You But You Weren’t Listening 13. Fire Engine Passing With Bells Clanging 14. Pig 15. Orange Skin Food 16. A Door Opens And Closes 17. 10: 30 Returns To The Bedroom
Wow. Just wow. (That ‘wow’ was me not another song title).
These song titles probably give you a hint on what kind of sonic vibrations this band produced.
Also in my possession is former Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt’s solo album which is easier to listen to in a concentrated listening session or pushed more toward the background. The Wyatt album is a stripped down sound that’s mostly all Wyatt on keyboard and studio wizardry. Wyatt lost use of his legs following a fall from a 4th-floor window of a friend’s house in 1973. That injury motivated him to become a player of multiple instruments.