Volume Two

Following their second 1968 US tour supporting the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Soft Machine effectively broke up. Robert Wyatt stayed in the US, while Mike Ratledge returned to London and Kevin Ayers sold his bass and departed for Ibiza, where he would eventually launch a moderately successful solo career. But a recording commitment to Probe Records prompted new sessions for the band, this time at London's Olympic Studios. Wyatt and Ratledge invited roadie Hugh Hopper to join up. Not only was Hopper an accomplished bassist, but along with his brother Brian Hopper (who added saxophone to the album), he also came from the same Canterbury breeding ground of The Wilde Flowers. Several of Hopper's compositions had already found their way into the Softs repertoire, including the classic "Memories." Hopper's songs also comprised the bulk of the album's first side, the somewhat lighter "Rivmic Melodies" set, including Wyatt's classic reading of "A Concise British Alphabet." The quasi-instrumental "Hibou, Anemone and Bear" is particularly strong, and the different sections flow together seamlessly, underscoring an impressive continuity of sound. Apart from Hopper's uncharacteristic (but welcome) acoustic guitar on "Dedicated to You but You Weren't Listening," side two, subtitled "Esther's Nose Job," contains more of Ratledge's discrete compositions. Again, the Softs rely on their arranging skills to tie it all together. Hopper's finessed bass playing is more fitting than Ayers psychedelic plodding; and combined with Ratledge's overdriven organ and Wyatt's busy but persistent drumming, this "music for your mind" is a sonic tour de force, and a classic album of any musical era. Volume Two was their first album to see release in the UK.