In 1966, London's UFO Club was the place for happenings, one could regularly witness performances there by Pink Floyd, Tomorrow, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and yes, the Soft Machine. The group derived it's name from a novel by William S. Burroughs. The Soft Machine is bassist-vocalist Kevin Ayers who also plays lead guitar, keyboardist Mike Ratledge and drummer-vocalist Robert Wyatt. The album was released in 1968 and was produced by Chas Chandler of the Animals.
Although the roots of their music lies in jazz-fusion and they would later return to their roots as musicians, the period from 1968 - 1970 finds them doing unstructured 'psychedelic' things. They do have some songs but most of this album is sensory bombardment with various electronic devices. A more detailed review of 'Hope For Happiness', 'Joy of A Toy', 'Lullabye Letter', 'We Did It Again' and 'Why are We Sleeping' will follow as time permits.
