Soft Machine’s 1968 debut, The Soft Machine, fused psychedelic rock, free jazz and playful pop to help establish both progressive rock and the Canterbury Scene. Its importance lay in its unusually abrasive, experimental approach at a time when psychedelic music was common, making it feel more confrontational than the era’s typical peace-and-love sound.

Although the group’s members had already split by the time the record appeared, friends and family in London treated its imported release as a major event. The album was made in America in four days and opens with “Hope For Happiness”, combining Robert Wyatt’s raw vocals and drums, Mike Ratledge’s droning organ, Kevin Ayers’ bass, tape effects and dissonant passages. Its distinctive sleeve included a revolving pinwheel design, while listeners recalled being struck by music unlike anything they had previously heard.