...excellent first wax from th'soft's,all th'more remarkable for bein'taped quickly in th'middle o' a tour o'uncle sams autocrazy(1968),everythin' is in place,at least for this LP,psychedelic pop with avant jazz moves vearin' in'n out makin' it flow,lazy groovin' on warm afternoons by th'river bank indulgin' in a tab o' high class sandoz...this is singular pop-psych in th'way th'floyd first disk was,its psychedelic in a free-form way,though structured nothin' sounds as it would last,a fleetin' moment in th'tributary o' rock'nroll,complicated arrangements for pop tunes that have a commerciality yet are not sellin'themselves in th'market place, they last as long as they last,no more no less,while some cats list'nin' they're doin' what they were written for,to comunicate th'NOW,both bands bought th'fun side o' avant garde to play in th'tunes,plus interestin' lyrics...they'd been together for about four years,in various shapes'n forms by th'time this came around'n it shows they'd learnt to work very loosely yet tight,in th'best possible way,th'jazz way,th'interminglin' o'ideas'n playin' is wonderful,not a bit seriously po-faced as some o' th'later work,th'name shoulda been changed after th'third disk...th'whole canterbury scene in some ways is built entirely on possibilities thrown up by whats happ'nin' within th'walls o'th'groove...

...second effort from th'soft machine,carryin' on from where th'first left,perhaps th'jazzbo tones were turned up slightly,not quite as pop but th'original softs sense o' humour is still intact,not too much po-faceism(yet),everythin' groovin' nicely...theres a jazz-rock vibe happ'nin' throughout but its not jazz-rock as it came to be recognised,th'machine probably dont realise its happ'nin',just movin' along natrually,doin' it as it comes...theres a political conscious at work,a layabout beatnik way o' lookin'at things,through th'distorted reality mirror that true original thinkers'n pioneers view th'world...freeform avant noodlin' comes into play as if suddenly they're all hit with a giant LSD rush,a whole trip takes place in a few seconds then fades away,to return later with more bubbles'n reflections...very much a worthwhile spin'n a great example o' london,via canterbury 'underground' rock from th'club years o' th'late 60's...