Personalities | Soft Machine | Sixties | Rock

(Vocal/instrumental group, 1965–75)

At the dawning of the age of Aquarius, Soft Machine – their ever-changing line-up based around Robert Wyatt (drums) and Mike Ratledge (organ) – rivalled Pink Floyd as London’s prime exponents of psychedelic rock, mainly through use of complex time signatures, a stubbornly English lyricism and the creation of musical moods through open-ended improvisation. A later, jazzier edition of the group reached the UK album chart in the early 1970s, relying less on instinct and thrilling margin of error than technical precision.

Styles & Forms | Sixties | Rock
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Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

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