Gong

Formed in 1969 by Daevid Allen, one of the founding members of Soft Machine, classic albums such as 'Camembert Electrique', 'Flying Teapot' & 'You' established Gong as one of the most unique, innovative & experimental rock groups of the Seventies. Recorded in the middle of their most critically lauded 'Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy' era, 'Live at Longlaville': Salle Elsa Triolet, 27.10.74 is a previously unreleased concert recently discovered in the archives. Despite 1974 being one of the most intensive years in the band's history, with over 150 gigs clocked up, relatively few live recordings from that time exist. We are fortunate to have unearthed such a good one. When it came to squirrelling away recordings for future enjoyment, enlightenment or even possible enrichment, Gong were not the Grateful Dead.

Downwind (1979). Eagerly awaited re-press for this classic album by Pierre Moerlen's Gong featuring Mike Oldfield, Steve Winwood & Mick Taylor. Booklet with restored artwork, photos & liner notes. By the late 1970s Percussionist Pierre Moerlen had taken over the leadership of Gong and had steered the band away from Psychedelic Space Rock and took the band into a Jazz Rock direction, one in which the band excelled. After recording several albums with Virgin, the band now featured Hansford Rowe on bass, Ross Record on guitar, Benoit Moerlen on vibes and Francois Causse on percussion. Moerlen signed with Arista Records in 1978 and recorded this excellent album partially in Mike Oldfield’s studio. Oldfield guested on the superb lengthy title track with fellow guest Steve Winwood, whilst Mick Taylor appeared on the track "What You Know"…

The companion piece to The Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg is not your usual progressive rock album. Very quirky, with many, mostly brief compositions, the album is a tad less spacy than Teapot, with just a few psychedelic-inspired lyrics, and it's very technically adept. Angel's Egg opens with a true space rock cut (one of the few on the album), filled with the usual Gilli Smyth space whispering and Daevid Allen voicings, then leads into the cleverly titled "Sold to the Highest Buddha," with Steve Hillage and Didier Malherbe prominent figures…

Gong - Rejoice! I'm Dead! (2016) {Madfish SMACD1049}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 385 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 142 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 49 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2016 MadFish / Snapper Music / Gong | SMACD1049
Rock / Art Rock / Canterbury Scene / Experimental Rock

Featuring the voice of Daevid Allen on two songs and guest appearances from Steve Hillage and Didier Malherbehe, Rejoice! I'm Dead! is the 2016 release (and 28th album) from the enduring legend that is Gong. Gong has entered yet another new phase in its four-decades plus journey with Rejoice! I'm Dead!, the follow up to 2014's I See You the last album Daevid Allen was to record with Gong.

Mother Gong is basically the partnership of singer Gilli Smyth and multi-instrumentalist Harry Williamson along with various friends and family, including saxophonist Robert Calvert, who essays some lovely solos on "Unseen Ally" and "La Dea Madri." Their former Gong bandmate Daevid Allen, as the credits humorously suggest, is "a collection of sub-personalities held together by their friend"; the sub-personalities on display on his half of the split album The Owl and the Tree are that of the Incredible String Band-like psych-folk gnome (a word that he pronounces with the G in the charming "The Owly Song") and the blissed-out space rocker on the lovely 14-and-a-half-minute multi-part suite "I Am My Own Lover." Mother Gong's half of the record is equally fine, a combination of prettily meandering instrumentals and Smyth's familiar fairy tale recitations…

With Gong now standing as less of a band than a constantly revolving way of life, into which the composite parts rise and fall depending upon who actually wants to be involved, 2032 is nevertheless one of the precious few albums that really can be aligned with the "classic" Gong era - that is, the days of Flying Teapots and Pothead Pixies, glissando guitars and spooky space whispers. With Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Steve Hillage, Mike Howlett, and Miquette Giraudy all on board, it is understandably being billed as a continuation of the original Radio Gnome mythology, and there are definitely moments when it fits the bill perfectly. "Escape Control," "Guitar Zero," and the epic lunacy of "Wacky Baccy Banker" are all keynotes to the chaotic tale, and if the casual listener is left wondering precisely what it's all about, then that only adds to the magic that is the nature of Gong…

This is a classic, the epitome of the band's early Daevid Allen phase with Ph.P.'s (pothead pixies) in full, blazing glory. In its infancy, Gong was a unique prog rock band that branched out in all directions at once while most other prog bands chose simply one path or another. Camembert Electrique is a testament to that. The band's eclectic "electric cheese" rock is a mixture of psychedelic rock, spacy atmospherics and lyrics, and doses of jazz often presented with a pop sensibility, yet always intense. From the first cut on Camembert, you are transported to planet Gong via the voice of a "radio gnome" who drops in intermittently to remind you you're not in Kansas anymore. Daevid Allen leads the band through several compositions musically (not lyrically) reminiscent of, and possibly influenced by, early King Crimson – a hard, raw-edged sound propelled by a strong guitar-sax-percussion combo.

Strictly limited to 1500 deluxe 4CD sets (in 64-page hardback books), the package features all of the original album artwork and inserts, including the 15 page comic book companion to the Robot Woman 2 story.
Gilli Smyth, co-founder of Gong alongside Daevid Allen, formed Mother Gong with Harry Williamson in 1978 and the Robot Woman trilogy is widely accepted as one of the pinnacles of the band's career. Previously only available on 3 vinyl LP releases pressed in small number in the 1980s this long-awaited release heralds the first appearance of Robot Woman 1, 2 and 3 on CD, something devoted Gongsters have been requesting for years. Also included is a fourth disc of fascinating 'Demos and Rarities'; 18 previously unreleased unknown and hidden extras, the earliest of which dates from 1976…