|
Gong - SHM-CD Album Series 8CD (2015) FLAC Beolab1700
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Gong - SHM-CD Album Series
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Artist...............: Gong
Album................: SHM-CD Album Series
Genre................: Prog Rock
Source...............: CD
Year.................: 2015
Ripper...............: EAC (Secure mode) / LAME 3.92 & Asus CD-S520
Codec................: Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC)
Version..............: reference libFLAC 1.3.0 20130526
Quality..............: Lossless, (avg. compression: 57 %)
Channels.............: Stereo / 44100 HZ / 16 Bit
Tags.................: VorbisComment
Information..........:
Posted by............: Beolab1700 on 1/23/2016
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tracklisting
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Gong slowly came together in the late ’60s when Australian guitarist Daevid Allen (ex-Soft Machine) began making music with his wife, singer Gilli Smyth, along with a shifting lineup of supporting musicians.
Albums from this period include Magick Brother, Mystic Sister (1969) and the impromptu jam session Bananamoon (1971) featuring Robert Wyatt from Soft Machine, Gary Wright from Spooky Tooth, and Maggie Bell. A steady lineup featuring Frenchman Didier Malherbe (sax and reeds), Christian Tritsch (bass), and Pip Pyle (drums) along with Allen (glissando guitar, vocals) and Smyth (space whisper vocals) was officially named Gong and released Camembert Electrique in late 1971, as well as providing the soundtrack to the film ontinental Circus and music for the album Obsolete by French poet Dashiel Hedayat. Camembert Electrique contained the first signs of the band’s mythology of the peaceful Planet Gong populated by Radio Gnomes, Pothead Pixies, and Octave Doctors. These characters along with Zero the Hero were the focus of Gong’s next three albums, the Radio Gnome Trilogy, consisting of Flying Teapot (1973), Angel’s Egg (1974), and You (1975). On these albums, protagonist Zero the Hero is a space traveler from Earth who gets lost and finds the Planet Gong, is taught the ways of that world by the gnomes, pixies, and Octave Doctors, and is sent back to Earth to spread the word about this mystical planet. The bandmembers themselves adopted nicknames — Allen was Bert Camembert or the Dingo Virgin, Smyth was Shakti Yoni, Malherbe was Bloomdido Bad de Grasse, Tritsch was the Submarine Captain, and Pyle the Heap. Over the course of the trilogy, Tritsch and Pyle left and were replaced by Mike Howlett (bass) and Pierre Moerlen (drums). New members Steve Hillage (guitar) and Tim Blake (synthesizers) joined.
After You, Allen, Hillage, and Smyth left the group due to creative differences as well as fatigue. Guitarist Allen Holdsworth joined and the band drifted into virtuosic if unimaginative jazz fusion. Hillage and Allen each released several solo albums and Smyth formed Mothergong. Nevertheless the trilogy lineup reunited for a few one-off concerts including a 1977 French concert documented on the excellent Gong Est Mort, Vive Gong album. Allen also reunited with Malherbe and Pyle as well as other musicians he had collaborated with over the years for 1992’s Shapeshifter album. Hillage also worked as the ambient-techno alias System 7. A number of Gong-related bands have existed over the years, including Mothergong, Gongzilla, Pierre Moerlin’s Gong, NY Gong, Planet Gong, and Gongmaison. During the new millennium Gong material continued to be released, including Live 2 Infinitea issued in fall 2000, as well as numerous reissues. I Am Your Egg appeared in 2006 from United States of Distribution. Meanwhile, Gong in various lineups featuring Allen and Smyth continued to perform and record intermittently, up to final album I See You released in 2014, before Allen succumbed to cancer in Australia on March 13, 2015 at the age of 77.
1971 Camembert Electrique
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. Drummer Pip Pyle played on only a few Gong sessions; he is a major figure here, as is saxophonist Didier Malherbe. Both are up front on the wailing progressive rocker “You Can’t Kill Me,” which also features guitarist Allen in top form. Allen’s declarative “I’ve Bin Stone Before,” the first part of an inventive three-song medley, is of particular interest; introductory church organ and avant-garde sax make this another unique Gong experience. But the real gem on Camembert is “Tropical Fish: Selene.” This jazzy composition is the most involving and intricate piece on the recording. The band moves tightly through several progressive movements and Gilli Smyth scores with her trademark “space whispering.” Camembert Electrique remains undated after over 40 years and hovers “strong and steamin'” over most of the Gong catalog.
01 Radio Gnome
02 You Can’t Kill Me
03 I’ve Bin Stone Before : Mister Long Shanks : O Mother
04 I Am Your Fantasy
05 Dynamite : I Am Your Animal
06 Wet Cheese Delirum
07 Squeezing Sponges Over Policemen’s Heads
08 Fohat Digs Holes In Space
09 Tried So Hard
10 Tropical Fish : Selene
11 Gnome The Second
1975 Shamal
Between Daevid Allen’s departure from the band and Pierre Moerlen’s official takeover of the band, there is Shamal. This transitional album contains none of the Allen-inspired psychedelia, but also very little of Moerlen’s jazz influence. Shamal is, for the most part, a progressive rock album, half vocal, half instrumental. Its most accessible tune, the opening “Wingful of Eyes,” had the potential for airplay if only it hadn’t been so lengthy. Penned by Mike Howlett, his not-so-great-but-appealing vocal style and lyrics will grow on you, given the opportunity. “Bambooji,” mostly instrumental, opens with Didier Malherbe’s flute, which at times gives this tune an Asian sound. Percussion and flute dominate and yield a Scottish feeling as well. “Mandrake” is the soft, laid-back piece on the album, followed by the closing title cut, a slight foreshadowing of the sound Pierre Moerlen and company assumed on the next several albums. Moerlen, an outstanding, classically trained drummer/percussionist, along with Jorge Pinchevsky on violin color this piece with a Mahavishnu Orchestra hue, although it’s still distinctly Gong.
01 Wingful Of Eyes
02 Chandra
03 Bambooji
04 Cat In Clark’s Shoes
05 Mandrake
06 Shamal
1976 Gazeuse!
Gazeuse! was the first in a successful line of strictly jazz-rock sessions for percussionist Pierre Moerlen and company — compositions that stressed jazz more than rock and which generally strayed away from lyrical content. This 1976 recording, also released under the title Expresso, was the band’s first completely instrumental album, a companion piece to the later, somewhat warmer Expresso II, which is quite similar in sound and structure. To say Gazeuse! is percussive is an understatement. Drummer Moerlen is accompanied by brother Benoit and Mireille Bauer on vibraphones with Mino Cinelu playing other assorted percussion. “Percolations” is a showcase for this foursome: Part one, a display of beautiful vibes and xylophones; part two, a technically superb drum solo. Pierre’s playing is fierce in this second part, exhibited by some truly volatile drumming near the close. Allan Holdsworth is the sole guitarist on the album and contributes two of his own compositions. His “Night Illusion” is a standout and reminiscent of Bill Bruford’s Feels Good to Me on which Holdsworth collaborated around the same time. Longtime Gong member Didier Malherbe adds spice to the proceedings with jazzy flute on “Shadows Of” and prominent sax on the slightly funky “Esnuria.”
01 Expresso
02 Night Illusion
03 Percolations
04 Shadows Of
05 Esnuria
06 Mireille
1977 Gong Est Mort, Vive Gong
Recorded live at the Hippodrome in Paris.
CD1:
01 Can’t Kill Me
02 I’ve Been Stoned Before / Mr Longshanks / O Mother
03 Radio Gnome Invisible
04 Zero The Hero & The Witches Spell
05 Flute Salade / Oily Way / Outer Temple
CD2:
01 Inner Temple (Zero Meets The Octave Doctor)
02 IAO Chant & Master Builder
03 Sprinkling Of Clouds
04 From The Isle Of Every Where To The End Of The Story Of Zero The Hero
05 You Never Blow Your Trip Forever
1977 Live Etc.
The essential Live Etc. sports incredible live versions of material from four Gong albums (Camembert Electrique, Flying Teapot, Angel’s Egg, You) and one studio track which had been recorded in 1974 as an attempt at a single. The live material, recorded 1973-1975, consists of performances from several different incarnations of the band, making this an excellent starting point for anyone interested in sampling Gong. Abundant and overflowing with infusions of space, prog, and jazz, this melting pot of a band stands alone in its eclectic delivery of the goods. Highlights include Moerlen’s percussion solo on “Flying Teapot,” Malherbe’s sax solo on “Zero the Hero…,” and Hillage’s guitar work on the spacy “Radio Gnome Invisible.” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” is Gong’s attempt at a single; while somewhat mainstream, even this piece pushes the envelope for the airwaves. “6/8 Tune” is a superb jazzy instrumental, a kind of foreshadowing to the CD’s final four tracks, which are for the most part instrumental and very progressive. The tracks blend together to form the climax and highlight of this great live album, and exhibit the jazziness that would become an integral sound in the band’s future releases. Recorded after Allen’s departure, this is the personnel that would go on to record Shamal, though no tracks from that album show up here. Live Etc. originally ended with the tune “Ooby-Scooby Doomsday” (another attempt at a pop hit), but at 79 minutes, the CD format could not hold it, and it has been tacked on to the end of the Angel’s Egg compact disc release.
CD1:
01 You Can’t Kill Me
02 Zero The Hero And The Witch’s Spell
03 Flying Teapot
04 Dynamite / I Am Your Animal
05 6/8 Tune
06 Est-Ce Que Je Suis
07 Ooby-Scooby Doomsday Or The D-day DJ’s Got The D.D.T. Blues
08 Radio Gnome Invisible
CD2:
01 Oily Way
02 Outer Temple
03 Inner Temple
04 Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
05 Isle Of Everywhere
06 Get It Inner
07 Master Builder
08 Flying Teapot (Reprise)
1978 Expresso II
As interesting and fun as the Daevid Allen period was, the name Gong became more meaningful in the context of the music as percussionist Pierre Moerlen assumed the role of bandleader. An emphasis on percussives of all sorts became clear on Gazeuse!, the band’s first completely instrumental album, and the music became much jazzier, though never considered jazz. Expresso II finds Pierre Moerlen’s Gong at their peak. Like their previous studio release, Gazeuse!, the album is instrumental, the music is very polished, the sound very clean. Vibes and xylophone dominate on this album, somewhat reminiscent of the sound Zappa achieved through Ruth Underwood on One Size Fits All just three years earlier. The first two tracks, “Heavy Tune” and “Golden Dilemma,” are the highlights here, partially due to the fact that the rest of the cuts all blend together and sound quite similar. The listener is pleasantly assaulted with a barrage of vibes, yet what a unique sound it is when heard on a rock-oriented album. Guitar combos rarely get much better than on “Heavy Tune,” as Mick Taylor rips out leads over Allan Holdsworth’s grinding rhythm guitar. The collective guitar sound achieved is one of restrained power; however, the piece can comparatively be considered a rocker. Gong shifts to a different gear with the following track, “Golden Dilemma,” a faster-paced, jazzy piece with incredible solos from guitarist Bon Lozaga. Formerly of Curved Air, Darryl Way’s violin is a highlight on “Sleepy” and “Boring” (neither of which apply). “Sleepy,” which combines Way’s violin with Holdsworth’s guitar leads, prefigures the sound of the first U.K. album (Holdsworth went on to form U.K. with violinist Eddie Jobson). A very short album, Expresso II is possibly the strongest of the post-Allen Gong, and an essential album.
01 Heavy Tune
02 Golden Dilemma
03 Sleepy
04 Soli
05 Boring
06 Three Blind Mice
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|
