Thank Goodness You're Here!

"Give and Take" was recorded without Daevid Allen, who had fallen ill after the release of Planet Gong's LP Live Floating Anarchy in 1978. The remaining members released it under their former name, Here & Now. Honestly, it makes no difference. If you don't look at the name on the CD and put it on, you could be tricked to believe it is a genuine early Gong album. Every element that constitutes the seminal space rock outfit's sound is reproduced to perfection: soaring guitar (courtesy of Steffy Sharpstrings, who would be drafted for the 1990s Gong reunion), sweeping synthesizers, psychedelic melodies, accelerating beats, and hypnotic pulses - they're all there…

The calendar may have technically flipped to November, but Halloween is celebrated year round here, at Zombies In My Blog. In early October, Here Come The Mummies performed a rousing set to a packed house at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. That night was also notable because their latest CD, All Excess, was also released then.