A Large Chonker of Daevid Allen's Legacy

Linking guru srecko ujka has been busy adding links for a bunch of obscuro releases from Gong kingpin Daevid Allen in the comments section for Pierre Moerlin's Gong - 1979 - Downwind. I guess it's an inside joke that he put the links on the post for a Gong release that doesn't feature Mr. Allen - the fellow is definitely up on his Gong history (more than myself, really). Thanks for all the links!

Gong - 1974 - You (Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt.3)

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

You was my first exposure to Gong and remains one of my favorite albums of any genre. The slightly gaudy, but strangely mystical cover art drew me in (I'm a sucker for Mayan imagery) and the music inside is an accurate reflection of the cover. Gong is very much at the peak of their powers here, even as it is also clear that the band is splintering.

Whereas on previous Gong albums, Daevid Allen was clearly in the driver's seat, You is more of a schizophrenic affair. Allen chimes in with a series of really deranged shorter songs that make me thing of the better songs on Zappa's We're Only In It For The Money. The rest of the band seemed to have some different goals in mind as they go practically instrumental for a completely cosmic sound. Pink Floyd had nothing on Gong for pure space rock. I try not to give track-by-track descriptions of albums, but You provides a musical story (never mind the Radio Gnome elements) and I feel warrants it.

"Thought For Naught" and "A P.H.P.'s Advice" start the album with a creepy carnival atmosphere before the visions take over with the band's phenomenal space grooves. "Magic Mother Invocation" plunges the band into the mystical and mysterious ether as it melds into the fantastic and powerful "Master Builder."

"Master Builder" practically defies description. For one it's a percussion tour-de-force. Pierre Moerlen is basically held in check for the first seven or so minutes of the album (except for some random percussion instruments) before finally hitting the trap set in "Master Builder." On top of interstellar synth and guitarist Steve Hillage's truly great riff, Moerlen proceeds to completely pummel his set while maintaining complete synch with the other musicians. Allen brings in his vocals about halfway through with a possessed chant-like quality. The track spins like a whirling dervish until abruptly ending where we find ourselves on the alien landscape of "A Sprinkling Of Clouds." This purely instumental track recalls Tangerine Dream's work on Alpha Centauri and Atem and compares more than favorably.

Allen and Smyth return to the front for the side two opener "Perfect Mystery." If anything on the album doesn't quite fit, it's this track which would have fit better on Angel's Egg. It's still a fun little intermission from the extended voyages which continue with "The Isle Of Everywhere." It's a space-jazz affair which I imagine prefigures the Moerlen-led Gong, but hits upon an awesome bass groove and some fins sax playing along with a cool spash of etherial synth. Allen's vision finally merges with the rest of the band for the closing epic "You Never Blow Yr Trip Forever." It literally includes everything that made Gong great and ranks as one of their best tracks. We get Allen and Smyth's strange utterances and voice acting along with great playing across the board, a bit of jazz, and plenty of sounds streaming out of the solar vortex. Everyone playing is at the top of their game and focused, providing the perfect climax for the three album voyage.

This is by far the most cosmic of Gong's recordings, and I feel their best. There are clearly some different visions at work here, but they eventually combine and with a little creative sequencing, end up as a cohesive work.

Buy Me:
Gong - You (Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt. 3)

Gong - 1973 - Angel's Egg (Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt. 2)

Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

Gong continues their strange adventure in sound with the second part of their Radio Gnome Invisible series. Daevid Allen is at the top of his game here, using a top notch group of musicians to colour his strange alternate reality. While this is of a piece with Flying Teapot, there are some serious changes here, almost universally for the better.

First off, the songs still sound epic, but the running times are not necessarily so. It feels like there is a lot more going on in the idea department and makes the album more than the sum of its parts. Following the story is even less necessary here than on Flying Teapot. Opening track "Other Side Of The Sky" may contain some story elements, but it's the sound of a nebula cloud slowly enveloping and disorienting the listener.

The synth patterns here also take a much stronger role in the backbone of the songs. On Flying Teapot synths served to create a touch of coloring and were more or less icing on the cake. Here there are some really innovative sequences tying songs together and creating awesome rhytmic beds. This is not to say that this is at all an electronic album as Steve Hillage provides some of his best space guitar here and Didier Malherbe throws in some often exotic sounding sax and clarinet.

Gong's jazz edge is additionally more pronounced on Angel's Egg. Drummer Pierre Moerlen is present on this disc and procedes to make the percussion an often restrained, but still lead instrument. His playing is technically superior, but also extremely musical and ensemble friendly unlike many flash players. He swings and sounds far looser than traditional flash players such as Neil Peart from Rush. When the wall of vibraphones breaks through halfway through "Love Is How You Make It," it never ceases to send a chill down my spine.

"Oily Way" is probably the catchiest track here. I doubt Gong was ever heading for any sort of mainstream success, but in my own alternate reality this would have been one of the early 70's big hits. Gilli Smyth gets another great chance to psychedelically vampl around on the strangely
dirty "Prostitute Poem."

Side two of the LP highlights Gong's instrumental prowess a little more with Daevid Allen receding just a bit on the mostly instrumental and totally spaced-out "Inner/Outer Temples," before the album ends with a few more wacked out Allen-led tracks.

Amusingly, the album comes with a small book that attempts to outline the complete story of the Radio Gnome Invisible story. It's amusing, but completely incoherant, at least without copious amounts of substances that I don;t keep around the house.

Angel's Egg really is Gong at their peak. Nevermind the story and jump into the band's wild and technicolor cound world.

Buy Me:
Gong - Angel's Egg (Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt. 2)

Gong - 1973 - Flying Teapot (Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt. 1)

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Gong usually falls into the progressive rock catagory, but the definition only applies superficially. They do tend to drift through many musical sections as folks like ELP do, they have ridiculous concepts for their albums, and later on the instrumental prowess is definitely in place, but the execution and character is completely different. First off when the band finds a groove, they are prone to sticking to it and not suddenly shifting gears for complexity's sake (as too many prog bands seem to do). Gong has an incredibly goofy charm and never comes off as the least bit pretentious. Cambridge export Daevid Allen is more of an oddball tour guide through an acid-fried fairy land with wife Gilli Smyth as the oversexed sidekick of sorts. This element is readily apparent on this disc.

Flying Teapot is Gong's first major foray into their Radio Gnome Invisible universe. This includes plenty of lyrics involving Pot Head Pixies and Octive Doctors. To be honest I've never been willing to dive into the Gong mythology or try to follow the "story," but the music is high quality that you don't really need to. The sound here harkens back to psychedelia's 1967-68 prime while adding enough new elements to stand out. There are plenty of infinitely echoing glissando guitars and vocals makeing everything else shimmeringly dense. As an added bonus, Steve Hillage is present (credited as Stevie Hillside on sperm guitar and slow whale) with his phenomenal space rock guitar.

The album starts out strong with "Radio Gnome" introducing Gong's sound world perfectly with wacky sound effects and vocal blurbles all set to a galaxy streaked background. "Pot Head Pixies" would have made a great rocking psych-single if not for its self defeating title (can't see the FCC happy with that one). Gilli Smyth gets her showcase near the end of the disc with the strangely nasty "Witch's Song." Apparently Gong still plays live and Gilli Smyth is somewhere around age 70. Is she still singing this with the band? The thought scares me a little, although good for her if she is.

There are two more epic tracks present, and one of them is a little bit of a downer for me. "Zero The Hero And The Witch's Spell" is classic Gong repleat with nine minutes of tripped out lyrics, amusing voice acting, and truly interstellar sounds. "Flying Teapot" often gets the accolades here, and it has some cool stuff, but the main riff is a little too derivitive sounding for my tastes. It sounds like a riff that almost every garage band stands around jamming out to. I tend to hold Gong to a slightly higher standard, but I guess we can't get a "glorious Om riff" in every song.

The other thing that keeps me from putting on the album as much is the lack of a first rate drummer. I have to admit that I discovered these albums backwards and by the time I got here I had become an unabashed Pierre Moerlen fan (although I have yet to hear his later jazz-rock version of Gong). Pip Pyle is a fine player here, but doesn't play with Moerlen's jazzy polyrhythmic intensity. As with "Flying Teapot," I'll chalk this one up to personal preferences rather than mistakes from the band.

Not quite the height of Gong's powers, Flying Teapot is awful close. I like the next two albums even better, but Flying Teapot is still a respectable and often fantastic opener to Gong's Radio Gnome Invisible set.

Note: There are a lot of shady looking reissues of the Radio Gnome albums. I have somewhat expensive Japanese issues, which more than delivers the sonic goods. I would be wary of the Charly reissues as those don't have the best reputations. Charly certaintly burned me on their terrible sounding Red Crayola reissue.

Buy Me:
Gong - Flying Teapot (Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt. 1)