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viewing 1 To 14 of 14 items
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LP
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DBQP 015LP
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Live In London In The Early Sixties features the early mythical Soft Machine in the trio line-up of Kevin Ayers, Mike Ratledge, and Robert Wyatt, captured live in the full swinging London atmosphere. These were the band's psychedelic days, when their original magic potion was composed of unconventional songs and freaky organ, bass and drums improvisations. The group was exploding throughout the London club scene, delivering one of the most innovative and influential sounds of that musically and culturally fertile era.
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LP
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RGM 517LP
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"Soft Machine was one of the first prog-rock bands, but if your vision of prog-rock consists of musicians wreathed in pot smoke airily singing of fairies and wizards, it will be summarily dispelled by this fantastic 'authorized bootleg,' which captures the band in March 1969 at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, playing material that was to be released six months later on Soft Machine: Volume Two. The trio of Robert Wyatt on drums and vocals, Mike Ratledge on organ, and Hugh Hopper on bass launch what can only be called a high-decibel, jazz-rock sonic assault; 'Like vindaloo for the ears' is how Hopper puts it on the accompanying notes on the inner sleeve, adding, 'I do remember playing incredibly loud, Mike on fuzz organ and me on fuzz bass, both through hundred-watt Marshall stacks.' Some of the frenzied instrumental passages might recall Miles Davis' Agharta-era band, but remember, this is a trio making all this racket (in 1969, no less); Soft Machine at this point in time were on a journey all their own. This is the first-ever vinyl release of this notorious concert, and it comes on 'soft' purple vinyl limited to 1000 copies. Anybody interested in just how far out rock got in the late '60s will want to give this repeated listens."
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LP
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SEC 117LP
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"Limited edition LP (500 copies) of Soft Machine tracks from 1967, featuring Mike Ratledge, Kevin Ayers, Robert Wyatt and Daevid Allen on side one, and from 1969/70 featuring Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper and Elton Dean on side two. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl."
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LP
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B 159LP
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Technically "proto-Soft Machine", recorded live in London in the early sixties. "The very earliest known recordings by the men who would unwittingly go on to found the influential Canterbury scene and its premiere band, Soft Machine! Culled mostly from sax player Brian Hopper's personal vault of early rehearsal tapes and live performances circa 1962-63 - over 3 years prior to Soft Machine's official formation. In 1962, Brian's younger brother Hugh was still attending the Simon Langton Grammar School For Boys near Canterbury, as was classmate, Robert Wyatt. Mike Ratledge, had been a classmate of Brian's and Daevid Allen was just a freewheeling Australian music lover who was renting a room at Wyatt's parent's house. The Hopper brothers, Wyatt and Ratledge were drawn in by Allen (who was older) with his Sun Ra records, beat poetry, and tales of the bohemian life in Paris, all of which soon led to talk of starting a band together... as these things often do. The very earliest line-up was Wyatt on drums, Allen on guitar, and Hugh on bass. They called themselves the Daevid Allen Trio. 'Dear Olde Benny Green Is A-Turning In His Grave' is a tune that comes from one of their first live performances at London's Marquee club in 1963." 140 gram LP. Clear vinyl in PVC sleeve with blue lettering and red label. Limited edition 500 copies.
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2LP
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VL 901226LP
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"Recorded in April of 1970, just a few months before the release of Third (soon destined to become their most successful album), this memorable performance marks a significant turning point in the band's history, when Soft Machine had begun exploring in earnest a type of music that would soon become simply known as 'fusion'. As rock artists began incorporating traditional jazz instruments (like saxophones) into their groups, jazz artists (most famously, Miles Davis on albums like Bitches Brew) began bringing in electric guitars and wah wah pedals. It seemed for a moment that music had managed to transcend genre. Here the band, which now was made up of Hugh Hopper on bass and Elton Dean on keys (in addition to Wyatt and Ratledge), focuses on tunes culled primarily from the upcoming Third as well as their most recent album, Volume Two." On 180 gram vinyl.
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LP
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CRP 111LP
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2011 release. "Cherry Red Phonograph is proud to present a fully re-mastered edition of the classic 1976 album Softs, by one of the most influential exponents of the British underground, Soft Machine. This album was the band's second for the Harvest label (Pink Floyd and later Wire) and featured a new line-up of Karl Jenkins (piano, synthesizers), John Marshall (drums), Roy Babbington (bass), John Etheridge (guitar), and Alan Wakeman (sax). Seven of the album's eleven tracks were composed by Jenkins, who had taken over keyboard duties from Mike Ratledge (who makes his last appearance here on 'Song Of Aeolus' and 'Ban-Ban Caliban'), so the band at this stage was largely a vehicle for Jenkins' own vision. Also, taking Alan Holdsworth's place on guitar is John Etheridge, whose jaw-dropping speed and prowess made it quite obvious that he was no second fiddle. This is an album of exquisitely executed instrumental jazz fusion that has unfortunately often been overlooked over the years (leaving it un-issued on vinyl for over two decades)! Re-mastered from the original tapes and featuring the original artwork."
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LP
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CPLP 4500HLP
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Gatefold 180 gram reissue, licensed to Universal. "The Soft Machine deftly combine '60s psych-pop, jazz, and rock into a unique sound that stands up to repeated listenings more than most music today. The instrumentals are awesome -- interplay between organ, drums, bass and vocals make for intricate rockers with priceless moments. Wyatt's lispy voice is off-putting at first, but endearing on more listens, aided by his clever and often witty lyrics. Songs like 'A Certain Kind,' 'Save Yourself,' 'Lullabye Letter,' and 'Why Are We Sleeping' are great '60s psych-pop, with good hooks, but still original sounding."
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LP
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CPLP 4505LP
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Exact repro reissue of Soft Machine's legendary second album, originally released in 1969, bridging the gap between avant-rock, psych, jazz and stream-of-consciousness weirdo absurdism. "The Soft Machine plays music for the mind. In its strictest sense, it may impose some cerebral responsibility on the listener, because you can't really hum along or have the tune pass through head as you walk in the streets. But the ultimate good feeling that the Machine generates will always remain with you, and the final emotional benefit is well worth the thinking toll."
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CD
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WATER 195CD
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"Their classic 1968 debut. Emerging from London's UFO Club scene at the same time as Pink Floyd, the Soft Machine was a near perfect merging of psychedelic rock, jazz, pop and avant-garde stylings. Featuring the trio line-up of Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, and Mike Ratledge, this debut album was, as the original liner notes state, 'the sound of music updated by the music of sound.'"
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CD
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WATER 196CD
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"Originally released in 1969 following the departure of Kevin Ayers, Soft Machine's second album is a more experimental and ambitious work than its predecessor. With Robert Wyatt as the driving creative force and the addition of Hugh Hopper on bass, Volume Two (blending psych, jazz, and pop with enough whimsy and humor) is progressive rock at its finest. A classic of the Canterbury Scene. Featuring new liner notes."
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CD
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RUNE 235CD
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"Soft Machine were one of England's original psychedelic bands, rising out of the same 'UFO CLUB' London scene at the same time as Pink Floyd. Originally founded in Autumn, 1966 as a four piece of Daevid Allen-guitar, Kevin Ayers-bass, vocals, Mike Ratledge- organ and Robert Wyatt- drums, vocals, they became a trio in August, 1967 when Australian Daevid was denied re-entry into the UK after a French tour. The trio continue onward playing many shows and slowly building an audience in 'swinging London' and beyond. The band releases a 45 and link with Jimi Hendrix's management which culminates in the Softs touring the USA with the Jimi Hendrix Experience two different times in 1968, playing over 60 shows as their opening act and recording their first album while in the USA during their tours. This captures the 1967-era Soft Machine (Kevin Ayers, Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt) in full concert glory, recorded live in swinging London's legendary Middle Earth club. The performance is unbelievably freaky for 1967, with songs that feature unusual structures linked by wild solos and improvisations."
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2CD
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RUNE 195CD
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"One of the most critically acclaimed, far-reaching and influential avant rock bands ever was Soft Machine, named after a novel by William Burroughs. About five years into the band's lifetime, in August 1971, founding member Robert Wyatt left Soft Machine. The band had just released its Fourth album and completed an exhausting period of touring. Wyatt's departure left the band -- then consisting of keyboardist Ratledge, bassist Hugh Hopper and saxophonist Elton Dean -- in disarray. After a few months, Soft Machine recruited rock drummer John Marshall, formerly of the Jack Bruce Band and Nucleus. But the lineup of Hopper, Ratledge, Dean and Marshall would only last a half year. Live in Paris is a rare recording of the quartet of Hopper, Ratledge, Dean and Marshall during that lineup's final days; Dean left Soft Machine later that month. It is also a special, rare example of a Soft Machine concert recorded and released in its entirety. Live in Paris shows Soft Machine playing in top form, their stage performance transcending any internal tensions. Heavily indebted to jazz as well as free improvisation, the band's jazz/rock sound here is at times spare, even minimal, with Dean's free-blowing saxophone often in the fore. In the liner notes, Aymeric Leroy notes that the music illustrates main composers Ratledge and Hopper's 'shift in compositional style towards looser and more minimalistic themes'."
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2CD
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VP 233CD
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"You may well ask, why release yet another live recording of a Soft Machine concert when there are already several available. Quite simply according to the line up which included Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper and Elton Dean and in their opinion it was one of the best performances they had done together. It was made in the middle of the classic Soft Machine period and contains all the major items that made up their repertoire of the time. The recording was made by Brian Hopper from the audience and as can be heard from the enthusiastic reception by the audience at the end, this was an outstanding Soft Machine offering, with an 'authentic' live sound exactly as it was actually experienced, heard here in glorious lo-fi, but a performance to treasure and above all to enjoy. It is the spirit and energy which comes through in a performance that is critical and if these are at a high point as they were in this concert then any shortcomings in sound quality can be ignored. Elton's playing was especially lyrical with a soaring, expressive fluency especially on 'Out- Bloody-Rageous', 'Backwards', 'Hibou Anemone & Bear' and 'Pigling Bland'. Hugh, as ever, underpinned everything with rock solid bass whilst displaying sensitivity and drive ? very necessary with the complex patterns being thrown around by the other three. Robert as a drummer, Robert as a vocalist, Robert as a musician -- all are inseparable. It is his total immersion in music that enables Robert to project his personality into all he does on stage and on record Mike's uncompromising strings of notes, leaps of musical structure and texture and complex time signatures all characterize a style not heard before (or since) in any band. The concert followed conventional practice with two sets separated by an interval. It was therefore appropriate to place the two halves on separate CDs to maintain the feel of the overall performance. This CD will be a must for the huge Soft Machine fan base especially with this brilliant line up."
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CD
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RUNE 170CD
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"One of the most critically acclaimed, far-reaching and influential avant rock bands ever was Soft Machine, named after a novel by William Burroughs. The band was formed in Canterbury, Kent, England in 1966 by Daevid Allen (guitar), Kevin Ayers (bass/vocals), Mike Ratledge (keyboards) and Robert Wyatt (drums/vocals). Backwards is comprised of recordings from three different and intriguing eras of the band, and includes liner notes written by Canterbury music scholar Aymeric Leroy. Backwards begins with three tracks from May, 1970: a recording of the 'classic' quartet made about the time that Soft Machine had finished recording its acclaimed Third album. The recording is mono, but the sonic quality is superb; this may be the single finest recording of the quartet version of Soft Machine, surpassing even the band's official studio releases. The next two tracks on Backwards are recordings of performances from November, 1969, featuring the 'big band' septet version. Since the only other available material by this version of the band is 20' of BBC recordings, this is an invaluable addition to the band's recorded legacy. Backwards concludes with Robert Wyatt's original demo of 'Moon In June', a tune the band would later record for Third. The demo version which appears here, taken from the original acetate, was recorded in two parts and spliced together by the band."
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viewing 1 To 14 of 14 items
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