''Volume Two'' is the second

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

The Soft Machine ''The Soft Machine'' is a 1961 novel by American author William S. Burroughs. It was originally composed using the cut-up technique partly from manuscripts belonging to '' The Word Hoard''. It is the first part of ''The Nova Trilogy''. Title a ...

(although it was their debut in home country of the UK), released in 1969. The album combined

humour Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

psychedelia Psychedelia usually refers to a Aesthetics, style or aesthetic that is resembled in the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience produced by certain psychoactive substances. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. In 2000 it was voted number 715 in

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

''.

Overview

The Soft Machine had split up in September 1968 but reunited that December without bassist/singer

Kevin Ayers Kevin Ayers (16 August 1944 – 18 February 2013) was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely asso ...

in order to fulfill contractual obligations. Their road manager

Hugh Hopper Hugh Colin Hopper (29 April 1945 – 7 June 2009) was a British progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and other bands. Biography Early career Starting i ...

took Ayers' place on bass and a second album (the first released in their home country UK) was recorded in early 1969. The group's sound had been radically altered from the first album, pushing much further in a complex prog and

jazz-fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

direction with Hugh's brother

Brian Hopper Brian Hopper (born 3 January 1943) is an English guitarist and saxophonist. Hopper was born in Whitstable, Kent, England, and is the older brother of the late bassist Hugh Hopper. With Hugh, he was a member in the early Canterbury scene band W ...

guesting on soprano and tenor saxophones; after guesting on the album, Hopper joined Soft Machine as a fourth member for a few months later in 1969. Multi-sectional suites like "Rivmic Melodies" and "Esther's Nose Job" rely on complex time signatures, Dadaist humour, short spoken word interludes, and

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is an English retired musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

's idiosyncratic vocals which were often put through heavy echo delay. By contrast, "Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening" is a brief melodic tune performed on an acoustic guitar. In the lyrics to "Have You Ever Bean Green?" Soft Machine reference the

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, with whom they had toured the United States in the spring of 1968; as Hendrix's opening band they were exposed to large crowds for the first time. The title of the song is a play on the chorus in the Hendrix song "Are You Experienced?", which asks "Have you ever been experienced?". Wyatt thanks "Brian" (Brian Hopper) and "George" (engineer

George Chkiantz George Chkiantz is a British recording engineer, based in London, who has been responsible for the engineering on a number of well-known albums, many of which are considered classics, owing in part to the quality of the recordings. Career Chkian ...

) in the next section, "Pataphysical Introduction – Pt. 2", which also includes a quote of "These Foolish Things". The title of the side two suite, "Esther's Nose Job", is derived from a chapter in

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, Literary genre, genres and Theme (narrative), th ...

's novel '' V.'' ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' gave the album a strong review upon release, calling it "little short of brilliant for much of its length", noting that "they are capable of handling a 7/4 time signature so well that you don't notice it's 7/4". A feature for ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' noted that the band's influences ranged from Ornette Coleman, Don Ellis, Hindemith and Bartok along with electronic sounds. Mike Ratledge stated "we're aiming for more complicated ideas whereby the structure changes throughout a piece". The outer sleeve featured an abstract collage of a girl with electronic wires and reels in place of a torso. The US version of the album featured a gatefold with expanded liner notes and a B&W photo of the group, whereas the UK version dispensed with the gatefold and featured a different B&W photo on the rear. A passage in the US liner notes (uncredited) states "There is music for the body and music for the mind...The Soft Machine plays music for the mind."

Track listing

Side 1

#"Rivmic Melodies" – 17:07 ##"Pataphysical Introduction – Pt. 1" (

) – 1:00 ##"A Concise British Alphabet – Pt. 1" (

, arr. Wyatt) – 0:10 ##"Hibou, Anemone and Bear" (

Mike Ratledge Michael Ronald Ratledge (6 May 1943 – 5 February 2025) was a British musician. A part of the Canterbury scene, he was a founding member of Soft Machine. He was the last founding member to leave the group, doing so in 1976. Early life Ratledg ...

, Wyatt) – 5:58 ##"A Concise British Alphabet – Pt. 2" (Hopper, arr. Wyatt) – 0:12 ##"Hulloder" (Hopper, arr. Wyatt) – 0:52 ##"Dada Was Here" (Hopper, arr. Wyatt) – 3:25 ##"Thank You Pierrot Lunaire" (Hopper, arr. Wyatt) – 0:47 ##"Have You Ever Bean Green?" (Hopper, arr. Wyatt) – 1:23 ##"Pataphysical Introduction – Pt. 2" (Wyatt) – 0:50 ##"Out of Tunes" (Ratledge, Hopper, Wyatt) – 2:30

Side 2

#"Esther's Nose Job" – 16:13 ##"As Long as He Lies Perfectly Still" (Ratledge, Wyatt) – 2:30 ##"Dedicated to You But You Weren't Listening" (Hopper) – 2:30 ##"Fire Engine Passing with Bells Clanging" (Ratledge) – 1:50 ##"Pig" (Ratledge) – 2:08 ##"Orange Skin Food" (Ratledge) – 1:52 ##"A Door Opens and Closes" (Ratledge) – 1:09 ##"10:30 Returns to the Bedroom" (Ratledge, Hopper, Wyatt) – 4:14

Personnel

;Soft Machine *

– piano, Lowrey Holiday De Luxe organ;

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

(on 3); harpsichord (on 12); flute (on 3 and 10) *

– bass guitar; acoustic guitar (on 12); alto saxophone (on 3 and 14–16) *

– drums, lead and backing vocals ;Additional personnel *

– soprano and tenor saxophone * Michael Jeffrey – executive producer *Byron Goto – cover and liner design *Henry Epstein – cover and liner design *Eric Goto – photos

Charts

References

External links

The Soft Machine - ''Volume Two'' (1969) album review by Peter Kurtz, credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

The Soft Machine - ''Volume Two'' (1969) album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Soft Machine discography
a
Calyx website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volume Two Soft Machine albums 1969 albums Probe Records albums