Soft (but powerful) Machine

Soft Machine is one of the iconic bands of British rock music. They are among the founders of the legendary Canterbury progressive rock scene. Named after the book “The Soft Machine” by William S. Burroughs, they were practically an underground phenomenon with very little commercial success. Nevertheless, the interest for them started growing with the development of progressive rock and its breaking into the mainstream, and now they enjoy a cult status among prog rock fans and other rock enthusiasts. Soft Machine was formed in mid-1966 by Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals), Daevid Allen (guitar) and Mike Ratledge (organ.) Throughout their career, they changed lineups, styles, and labels, but the fusion of rock and jazz into a progressive style of music was what they are best remembered for.

My personal favorite is their fourth album, named “Fourth” or “4” in America. (They named their albums with numbers, starting from the second up to the seventh.) This was the group's first all-instrumental album (although their previous album “Third” had announced the band's moving toward free jazz) and a complete abandonment of their initial orientation as a psychedelic pop group, or progressive rock group. It was also the last of their albums to include drummer and founding member Robert Wyatt who left afterward. “Fourth” brought a subtle electro-acoustic blend of experimental jazz, with much fewer rock elements than their previous records and a strong emphasis on the horn section. It’s more evocative of John Coltrane’s music than on any other progressive rock bands, including their own earlier albums.

Their skillful playing abilities, the incredible flow between musicians’ performances and the imaginative sound structures that dominate the record are well explained by critic Ken Taylor wit the following words:

“Obviously there is a lot of skillful playing going on, as the mix of free jazz, straight-ahead jazz, and Gong-like psychedelia coalesces into a skronky plateau. Robert Wyatt's drumming is impeccable -- so perfect that it at times becomes an unnoticeable map upon which the band members take their instinctive direction. Mike Ratledge's keys are warm throughout, maintaining an earthy quality that keeps its eye on the space between the ground and the heavens that Soft Machine attempt to inhabit. Elton Dean's saxophone work screams out the most inventive cadence, and since it's hardly rhythmic, it takes front and center, spitting out a crazy language. Certainly, the band is the preface to a good portion of Chicago's post-rock output, as the Softs undoubtedly give a nod to Miles Davis' Bitches Brew experiments, which were going on in the U.S. at the same time.”