by Richie Unterberger
In 1969, the Soft Machine were commissioned to provide music for a multimedia show at the Roundhouse in London. As Hugh Hopper writes in the liner notes, &they wanted a backing tape of suitably deranged and doomy sounds,& and the group (augmented in parts by saxophonist Brian Hopper) delivered suitably abstract music that was high on improvisational challenge and low on melody. This 67-minute CD was compiled from music used in the show. It varies from off-kilter planetarium-type sounds (especially evident in Mike Ratledge's astral electric keyboards) to background-type instrumental jazz-rock to bordering-on-clamorous noisy improv (especially on the 32-minute &Spaced Four&). The sound quality is good, but this is, after all, work that was recorded as a supplement to a performance-art event, with a different purpose in mind than home listening. As such, it has to be considered a marginal entry in the Soft Machine discography, of interest almost exclusively to major fans of the band.