VOLUME TWO

Soft Machine's second album is a delightful flight of whimsy featuring some of the more humorous tracks of the band beginning with a montage of non stop jazzy mayhem "Rivmic Melodies". It begins with a psychobabble intro, the alphabet and then working towards some absolutely incredible jazz infested psych prog. It really takes off on the longest track, 6 minutes worth, called 'Hibou, Anemone and Bear' with huge dollops of keyboards and woodwind. The band were at the height of creativity with the likes of Hugh Hopper on bass, alto sax, Mike Ratledge on keyboards, flute, Robert Wyatt on drums, vocals, and guest Brian Hopper on tenor & soprano sax. It is a sheer delight when Wyatt moves into his trademark singing, surely one of the all time most original vocalists in prog history. I had heard him on solo albums before this and once he started crooning with rollercoaster melodies it was like an old friend entered the room. It is interesting to note that my first Soft Machine experience was "Third", a double album with 4 massive improvisational epics, and it was all too much for me. Sometimes we may dive in too deep before we learn to swim. I am glad I tried other Soft Machine as they are truly masterful on these early albums.

The music changes dramatically and some tracks are only seconds long which is okay because they are snippets of a seamless track that merges together on side one. 'Dada Was Here' is the next decent length track and Wyatt is sensational on echoing vocals and drums. The harmonies are quite endearing too, along with an off beat feel in the music. The cadence is broken often by slight pauses as though band members are waiting for the next instrument to chime in. There is a genuine sense of appeal here because the music has a compelling vivacity.

The way the songs keep up an exuberant non stop verve is a master stroke on behalf of the musicians. One does not have time to think about a specific track as they keep coming at lightning speed, some 10 seconds, or over a minute, and others 2 minutes 30 such as the manic chaotic 'Out Of Tunes'. The band suffer a multiple progressive disorder on this track and it's a thrilling theme park ride, with flutes twisting and turning and drums crashing while Wyatt uses his vocals like a howling wind.

The psychedelic flavour is well and truly ingrained in the album by the end of side one and the only place to go is to a free form jazz piece, and they do on side two beginning with 'As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still'. This one almost feels like a song but still features off kilter musical figures and shapes. The guitar is a phased sound and it is undoubtedly one of the best Soft Machine tracks I have heard.

'Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening' is another SM favourite and is an acoustic dominated Wyatt quasi-ballad. It feels like his solo material to come but the time sig is quirky enough to fit in with the rest of the experimental works. The weirdness returns in earnest with "Esther's Nose Job" which is broken into a series of musical anecdotes. 'Fire Engine Passing With Bells Clanging', which is really a collage of instruments competing for some semblance of recognised notes and failing. This segues straight to 'Pig' slogged over with a prog time sig that misses beats and is over before it has time to develop segueing into a bizarre jazz fusion in 'Orange Skin Food'. In less than two minutes we are over this hurdle lunging headlong into 'A Door Opens And Closes'. This short piece is a fuzz guitar and crackling percussion with brass blasts and Wyatt returns with vocal intonations. The ending is a longer song '10.30 Returns To The Bedroom' and features Wyatt freaking out on a drum solo and the Hammond hammer downs fizz with a fervor that ends this on a high point.

The conclusion can only be that this is one of the great early Soft Machine albums and is the place to start; then perhaps move on to "Third" where the band indulge in endless forays of improvisation with unreasonable running times. The band are stunning virtuosos on any album and are indispensable as progenitors of the emerging progressive scene.

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