Early Soft Machine

A Very Great Sounded 500 Copies Reissue!!!

Soft Machine plunged deeper into jazz and contemporary electronic music on this pivotal release, which incited The Village Voice to call it a milestone achievement when it was released. It's a double album of stunning music, with each side devoted to one composition - two by Mike Ratledge, and one each by Hopper and Wyatt, with substantial help from a number of backup musicians, including Canterbury mainstays Elton Dean and Jimmy Hastings. The Ratledge songs come closest to fusion jazz, although this is fusion laced with tape loop effects and hypnotic, repetitive keyboard patterns. Hugh Hopper's "Facelift" recalls "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson, although it's more complex, with several quite dissimilar sections…

The sheer ubiquity of Soft Machine live recordings ensures that most fans look askance at any new arrivals to the collection. Too many poorly recorded, badly annotated, and, quite honestly, just plain boring CDs have crept out over the years - hey, is another one really necessary? In this case, yes. Somewhere in Soho was recorded during the band's residency at Ronnie Scott's in London in late April 1970, with the classic Softs lineup of Mike Ratledge, Hugh Hopper, and Robert Wyatt joined by saxophonist Elton Dean - the sole survivor from an earlier experiment with a brass section. The sound quality is not superb, but it's certainly eminently listenable, and the bandmembers themselves sound as relaxed as they ever could be, basically improvising around the contents of their second and third albums (Volume Two and Third) and taking some familiar material to fascinating places…

Kevin Ayers - Joy Of A Toy +5 (1969) {2014 Remaster Japan Mini LP SHM-CD Edition WPCR-15524}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 447 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 168 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 278 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1969, 2014 Parlophone / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-15524
Rock / Art Rock / British Psychedelia / Canterbury Scene

Cardboard sleeve reissue from Kevin Ayers features remastering in 2014 and the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD players). The cover faithfully replicates the original UK LP artwork. Includes an obi featuring design of original Japanese limited edition's LP. Comes with a description and lyrics. Part of eight-album Kevin Ayers cardboard sleeve reissue series features the albums, "Joy Of A Toy +5," "Shooting At The Moon +6," "Whatevershebrings Wesing +10," "Bananamour +7," "Odd Ditties +3," "Yes We Have No Mananas. So Get Your Mananas Today +9," "Rainbow Takeaway +7," and "That's What You Get Babe +4." Bonus tracks.

As the Soft Machine's first bassist and original principal songwriter, Kevin Ayers was an overlooked force behind the group's groundbreaking recordings in 1967 and 1968. This, his solo debut, is so tossed-off and nonchalant that one gets the impression he wanted to take it easy after helping pilot the manic innovations of the Softs. Laissez-faire sloth has always been part of Ayers' persona, and this record's intermittent lazy charm helped establish it. That doesn't get around the fact, however, that this set of early progressive rock does not feature extremely strong material. Ayers' command of an assortment of instruments is impressive, and his deep bass vocals and playful, almost goofy song-sketches are affecting, but they don't really stick with the listener…

Hugh Hopper & Matt Howarth - The Stolen Hour (2004) {Burning Shed Reissue 2014}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 289 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 141 Mb | Data -> 7 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 95 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2004, 2014 Burning Shed | bshed 0204
Jazz / Experimental Jazz / Experimental Rock / Electronic

Gloriously atmospheric, jagged and intense, 2004's 'The Stolen Hour' was a superb extension of Hugh Hopper's 'Jazzloops' series of explorations written to accompany the distinctive imagery of American comic book artist, Matt Howarth. Assisted by, amongst others, Robert Wyatt (cornet, voice), John Marshall and Didier Malherbe, Hopper updated the Jazz-tinged Minimalist looping he initially developed in the 1960s, evoking the innovative spirit of early Soft Machine, while simultaneously suggesting new possibilities for his music. Matt Howarth's 'The Stolen Hour', the visual inspiration for this landmark in the development of Hopper's truly idiosyncratic talent, is featured as a pdf file on the enhanced CD.