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MIKE AND THE MACHINE
February and March are the time of the year when I tend to reminisce over the careers of artists such as Mark Hollis, Scott Walker, Mark Lanegan, Gary Brooker and Mark Linkous, who all departed this earth within a few weeks of one another in various years.
So now we can add Mike Ratledge to that list, the composer and performer of the best of Soft Machine’s tracks at the height of their creativity. In your April obituary you rightly cited “Slightly All The Time” and “Out-Bloody-Rageous” as twin peaks of Mike’s work and for me these two pieces have stood the test of time, still sounding fresh and still revealing more detail on each listen. To those I would add “Chloe And The Pirates” from Soft Machine’s Six, where Ratledge and Karl Jenkins complement one another sublimely shortly before the former left the band as it moved towards a more guitar-based sound.
Like Mark Hollis, once Mike Ratledge felt he had nothing further to contribute to the updated version of the band he left it in the capable hands of others and stepped out of the limelight into ancillary projects.
I often wonder how people will regard these longer forms of recorded music in years and decades to come and whether they will endure beyond their time, like the works of the classical composers. It’s a moot point as we have never been in this musical moment before, but I know that I will continue to listen to Soft Machine’s albums and in particular those featuring Mike Ratledge for many years yet.