Gong “Live At The Gong Family Unconventional Gathering” 15th Anniversary DVD Reissue and First Time Release on DBL CD!
The classic line-up performing together for the first time in 31 years!
The Gong Family Unconvention at the Melkweg club in Amsterdam in November 2006 was a unique 3-day event in which all the surviving original members of this legendary psychedelic band came together and, after performing their own individual sets, performed once again as Gong. This climactic and joyful 2hr 16min Gong live set was beautifully captured for this DVD video and for the first time CD audio recording! This was the last time that Gong played with the full “classic” line-up (minus just Pierre Moerlen on drums, who died the year before).
The line-up for this unique and special performance:
Daevid Allen – Guitar, Voice
Gilli Smyth – Voice, Space Whisper
Steve Hillage – Guitar
Didier Malherbe – Flute, Soprano Sax, Duduk
Theo Travis – Tenor Sax
Tim Blake – Synthesiser, Voice
Miquette Giraudy – Synthesiser
Mike Howlett – Bass
Chris Taylor – Drums
Tracklist:
1. You Can’t Kill Me (from the album ‘Camembert Electrique’)
2. Radio Gnome Invisible (from the album ‘Flying Teapot’)
3. Tomorrow Afternoon (I Am Your Fantasy) (from ‘Camembert Electrique’)
4. Dynamite / I Am Your Animal (from ‘Camembert Electrique’)
5. Flute Salad (from the album ‘Angel’s Egg’)
6. Oily Way (from ‘Angel’s Egg’)
7. Outer Temple (from ‘Angel’s Egg’)
8. Inner Temple (from ‘Angel’s Egg’)
9. Zero The Hero and the Witch’s Spell (from ‘Flying Teapot’)
10. I Am Your Pussy (from ‘Flying Teapot’)
11. Tropical Fish (from ‘Camembert Electrique’)
12. Selene (from ‘Camembert Electrique’)
13. I Never Glid Before (from ‘Angel’s Egg’)
14. Prostitute Poem (from ‘Angel’s Egg’)
15. Magdalene (from the album ‘Zero To Infinity’)
16. A Sprinkling of Clouds (from the album ‘You’)
17. She Is the Great Goddess (Magick Mother Invocation) (from ‘You’)
18. Master Builder (from ‘You’)
18. The Isle of Everywhere (from ‘You’)
18. You Never Blow Yr Trip Forever (from ‘You’)
Release date on Fri Nov 5th – the 15th Anniversary of the Gong performance.
Released by G-Wave Records through UK distributors SRD. Digital release via Ingrooves (North and South America) and Orchard (UK & rest of world).
Gong Expresso’s New Album “Decadence” Available For Pre-Order!
Featuring Gong Alumni Francois Causse, Benoit Moerlen and Hansford Rowe!
Montreal – Gong Expesso featuring Gong alumni Francois Causse, Benoit Moerlen and Hansford Rowe with guitarist Julien Sandiford’s new album titled “Decadence” is now available for pre-order!
Says Hansford, “ ‘Decadence’ is the title tune on the new Gong Expresso album. Here the word means ‘falling away.’ I hope this tune and all the music on the album somehow addresses this in an unadorned, direct way. When I play with these 3 musicians I am convinced there is something special happening, a coming together. Benoit Moerlen (vibes, marimba) and Francois Causse (drums, perc) and I began playing together in early 1977 in PM’s Gong and our rapport is of the kind only long term relationships can provide. On the other hand Julien who is 25 has been alive less time than I have been playing with the others. Yet our musical relationship feels infinitely long. We are recording in two cities, Paris and Montreal. Francois’ studio in Paris is a tuned percussion church and Piccolo Studios in Montreal is owned by Denis Savage who is co-producing with the band. He is known for his work with Celine Dion.”
PM’s Gong was a major branch of the massive Gong tree. In the mid 1970’s drummer Pierre Moerlen separated from Daevid Allen marking an end to the Flying Teapot period and a powerful jazz/rock unit was formed and signed to Virgin Records. Pierre’s brother Benoit Moerlen, Hansford Rowe, Francois Causse, Allan Holdsworth were core members. Many major guests joined them both on albums and touring. Mick Taylor, Mike Oldfield, and French violinist Didier Lockwood were key participants. Mike Oldfield occasionally used the PMG rhythm section for touring also calling on members for albums such as “Ommadawn”, “Incantations”, “Exposed” and “Platinum.” Pierre Moerlen sadly passed away on May 5th, 2005.
In concert Gong Expresso mines their huge repertoire and has exceptional guests joining them regularly. Along with the release of their new album, the band will be releasing a new video soon.
Gong Expresso’s “Decadence” will be distributed digitally worldwide through The Orchard on Feb 20, 2018.
Gong Expresso Feat. Gong Alumni Francois Causse, Benoit Moerlen and Hansford Rowe To Release New Album “Decadence”
Montreal – Hansford Rowe’s HRIII merges with Gong Expresso! Gong alumni Francois Causse, Benoit Moerlen and Hansford Rowe join HRIII guitarist Julien Sandiford for the recording of the new album by Gong Expresso titled “Decadence.”
Says Hansford, “ ‘Decadence’ is the title tune on the new Gong Expresso album. Here the word means ‘falling away.’ I hope this tune and all the music on the album somehow addresses this in an unadorned, direct way. When I play with these 3 musicians I am convinced there is something special happening. Benoit Moerlen (vibes, marimba) and Francois Causse (drums, perc) and I began playing together in early 1977 in PM’s Gong and our rapport is of the kind only long term relationships can provide. On the other hand Julien who is 25 has been alive less time than I have been playing with the others. Yet our musical relationship feels infinitely long. We are recording in two cities, Paris and Montreal. Francois’ studio in Paris is a tuned percussion church and Piccolo Studios in Montreal is owned by Denis Savage who is co-producing with the band. He is known for his work with Celine Dion.”
PM’s Gong was a major branch of the massive Gong tree. In the mid 1970’s drummer Pierre Moerlen separated from Daevid Allen marking an end to the Flying Teapot period and a powerful jazz/rock unit was formed and signed to Virgin Records. Pierre’s brother Benoit Moerlen, Hansford Rowe, Francois Causse, Allan Holdsworth were core members. Many major guests joined them both on albums and touring. Mick Taylor, Mike Oldfield, and French violinist Didier Lockwood were key participants. Mike Oldfield occasionally used the PMG rhythm section for touring also calling on members for albums such as “Ommadawn”, “Incantations”, “Exposed” and “Platinum.” Pierre Moerlen sadly passed away on May 5th, 2005.
In concert Gong Expresso mines their huge repertoire and has exceptional guests joining them regularly. Along with finishing their new album, the band will be releasing a new video soon.
A 6CD Supernova Box Set Of The Universe’s Finest SPACE ROCK Set To Launch In November!
Featuring Can, GONG, Hawkwind, Popol Vuh, Nektar, Guru Guru, Tangerine Dream and many others!
Los Angeles, CA – An intergalactic roadmap to the most mind-blowing sounds in the Universe will be landing in record stores everywhere starting November 18 courtesy of Purple Pyramid Records. Space Rock: An Interstellar Traveler’s Guide is a brand new collection of 6CDs of the best Space Rock from the outer reaches of the galaxy including tracks by such legendary acts as Hawkwind, Amon Düül II, Gong, Can, Guru Guru, Tangerine Dream, Ozric Tentacles, Popol Vuh, Alice Cooper, Nektar, Chrome, and more! Joining these mythic figures is a broad assortment of spectacular bands from all over the great Planet Earth including bands from Germany, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, France, Hungary, Finland, Italy, and elsewhere! This one-of-a-kind set also includes a never before released track by Hawkwind co-founder Nik Turner from his forthcoming new album. Each CD comes in its own individually designed jacket and all are housed in a deluxe 7″x7″ box with oversized booklet featuring liner notes by music journalist Dave Thompson, band biographies, photos, and out of this world artwork!
Track List:
DISC 1
1. Can – All Gates Open
2. Hedersleben – Gulf Of Lost Souls
3. Øresund Space Collective – The Trichophantic Spire
4. Popol Vuh – Steh Auf, Zieh Mich Dir Nach
5. Joel Vandroogenbroeck – Sign From Space
6. Ozric Tentacles – Space Out
7. Secret Saucer – Lift Off
8. An Emerald City – Seizuretron
9. Nik Turner – Out Of Control
10. Melting Euphoria – Flying Eyes Like Saucers
11. Guru Guru Groove Band – UFOlove
12. Maat Lander – The Comet Rider
13. Gong – Fohat Digs Holes In Space (Live Paris 1972)
DISC 2
1. Tangerine Dream – Ultima Thule Part 1
2. Brainticket – Watchin’ You
3. Faust – Parasiten
4. Pyramidal – Black Land
5. Shawn Lee – Low Riders In Space
6. Hydravion – Passadena Airport
7. Pressurehed – Altitude
8. Het Droste Effect – You Know That I Knew
9. German Oak – Shadows Of War (A. Rain Of Destruction / B. B1 To London)
10. Daevid Allen Weird Quartet – The Cold Stuffings Of November
11. Omega – Don’t Keep On Me Waitin’
12. Kalutaliksuak – What Are Your Feet Eating?
13. Oranssi Pazuzu – Reikä Maisemassa
DISC 3
1. Steve Hillage & William Shatner – Rocket Man (Alternate Mix)
2. Black Rainbows – Hawkdope
3. Guru Freakout – Notre Dame (Mothership) [Edit]
4. XYNN – Lost In Space (English Version)
5. The Spacelords – Pyroclastic Monster
6. Aqua Nebula Oscillator – Human Toad (Live)
7. Magic Wands – Jupiter
8. Atomic Simao – Descending
9. White Manna – We Pretend Space Isn’t There
10. Yuri Gagarin – At The Center Of All Infinity
11. Federico Farnè – What Illuminates The Night
DISC 4
1. Guru Guru – Spaceship (Edit)
2. Hawkwind – Seeing It As You Really Are
3. It’s Not Night: It’s Space – Vibration Eater
4. Earthling Society – EA1729
5. Robert Calvert – Lemmy & I Swallowed Massive Amounts Of Drugs
6. Gilli Smyth – What Do You Really Want (Live)
7. The Re-Stoned – Faces Of Earth
8. The Dunes – Badlands
9. Exxasens – Helios
10. Oranjjoolius – Tiki Sleep Cycle
11. Equations – SSSUUUNNN
12. Secret Symbol Society – Canes Venatici
13. Lord Fuzz – The Freak
DISC 5
1. Amon Düül II – Archangels Thunderbird
2. Naxatra – Space Tunnel
3. Celestial Bums – Child of the Moon
4. Dark Buddha Rising – L
5. My Education / Theta Naught Sound Mass – End Masse
6. Sun Araw – Deep Temple
7. Hidria Spacefolk – Kaneh Bosm
8. Dasputnik – Orbitary Volcano
9. Ava Cherry – Highway Blues
10. Orlando Monday – Moonchild
11. MKM – Retorn Al Planeta Imaginari
12. Sons Of Hippies – Spaceship Ride
DISC 6
1. Nektar – Astronaut’s Nightmare
2. Chrome – Eyes In The Center
3. Space Debris – Phonomorph
4. Leroy Powell And The Messengers – Weightlessness
5. Electric Orange – Meals Of Confusion
6. Floorian – Overruled
7. Alice Cooper – B.B. On Mars (Live 1969)
8. Gdeva – Autobahn
9. Vespero – Vision 7. Kidish Hail
10. ST 37 – The ‘In’ Crowd
11. Nik Turner – 1975 Interview
Spirits Burning & Clearlight Feat. Members of GONG, Hawkwind & Clearlight To Release New Album “The Roadmap In Your Head”
London, UK – “The Roadmap In Your Head” is the 13th studio album from the Spirits Burning space rock collective, and the second to feature keyboardist Cyrille “Clearlight” Verdeaux. The album has a strong Gong presence, as it includes performances by four musicians from Gong’s Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy (Daevid Allen, Steve Hillage, Mike Howlett, Didier Malherbe), and four members of the current Gong (Ian East, Fabio Golfetti, Dave Sturt, Kavus Torabi). Clearlight is a project of French songwriter and composer Cyrille Verdeaux that blends classical romanticism and prog-rock experimentation. The first Clearlight album was released under the name “Clearlight Symphony,” in 1974, by British major label Virgin Records. The most recent release was 2015’s “Impressionist Symphony.”
“Spirits Burning is a musical collective overseen by American composer/producer Don Falcone that has released a pluralistic combination of ambient, jazz and full-on space-rock with input from many of the genre’s luminaries. Spirits Burning has become a respected melting pot of the space-rock fraternity.” Ian Abrahams, Rock N Reel, July-August, 2008.
Says founding member and band leader Don Falcone, “ ‘Roadmap’ is a musical journey from the beginning of one possible day to the next, touching different styles of music along the way. Like the previous Spirits Burning & Clearlight album, the songs are primarily instrumental. The new album is also a salute to Daevid and what he has meant to Spirits Burning, as he has been part of every release, except one.” Gong legend Daevid Allen, who sadly passed away in 2015, co-wrote two songs on this release. He sings on the closing track “Roadmaps,” and plays guitar on this track and the opening title track.
There are thirty-five musicians on Spirits Burning’s “The Roadmap In Your Head.” Besides members of the Gong global family, there are some special new crewmembers: Paul Booth (who recorded his part while touring with Steve Winwood), Theo Travis (who has played with David Gilmour, Porcupine Tree, and Gong), Judy Dyble (who provided some autoharp flourishes), and Jonathan Segel from Camper Van Beethoven (who Don invited after discovering he was a Gong fan). Returning crewmembers include: Hawkwind family members Steve Bemand, Nik Turner, and Bridget Wishart, plus Albert Bouchard (BÖC). “The Roadmap In Your Head” was mastered by well known ambient recording artist Robert Rich.
Titles:
1. The Roadmap In Your Head 3:56
2. Sun Sculptor & The Electrobilities 3:50
3. The Birth Of Belief 8:38
4. Coffee For Coltrane 6:58
5. Isolation In 10 80 2:55
6. Mrs. Noonness 4:12
7. The Old College Sky Is Where We Left It 1:28
8. Fuel For The Gods 13:05
9. Early Evening Rain 3:31
10. Black Squirrel At The Root Of The Staircase 7:34
11. Outsiders Parachute In 5:48
12. Déjà Vu 2:25
13. La Rue Inconnue 4:48
14. Roadmaps (The Other Way) 5:59
Prog Legends Gong To Release New Studio Album “Rejoice! I’m Dead!”
Their first album since the death of Daevid Allen – Released on Madfish September 16, 2016!
London, UK – Some say it couldn’t, or shouldn’t, be done. How could Gong exist without Daevid Allen? A few minutes into listening to the title track of their brand new album, “Rejoice!”, aspersions will be cast aside. It is undeniably Gong
Gong have had many, many line-ups. Formed when Australian beatnik/freak Daevid Allen quit The Soft Machine and moved to France at the tail end of the ’60s, before debuting in 1970 with Magick Brother, the band have remained fluid, even playing without their founder from the mid-to-late ’70s, fracturing and reassembling and constantly taking on new shapes and forms: an undeniably amorphous unit. David Bowie told Vanity Fayre in 2003 that Daevid Allen’s Banana Moon is one of his favorite albums, and today everyone from indie artists Temples and Ty Segall to hip hop artist Madlib and techno DJ Surgeon are inspired, and borrow, from Gong’s music and ideology. The funky grooves, avant-garde flourishes and counter-cultural stance is timeless. So timeless that Gong fully exists even without their creator and guiding light. For those who are unaware Daevid Allen died in March 2015.
“I have been co-presenting The Interesting Alternative Show with Steve Davis for the last six years or so,” begins the story of how Gong’s new singer/guitarist Kavus Torabi met Daevid. “In 2011, Steve rang up excitedly saying ‘You’ll never guess who we’ve got as a guest next week… Daevid Allen.’ I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I’d met Daevid briefly a couple of times with Tim Smith (Cardiacs) but never properly. As a lifelong Gong lover, this filled me with delight. Straight away the two of us seemed to really click, within minutes the conversation had taken a turn for the absurd and I was more than a little flattered when he told me, after about an hour, ‘You’re a poet man, I can tell.’
“Over the forthcoming months we would text each other on a fairly regular basis, whenever Daevid was in town playing a gig he’d get in touch to see if I wanted to come along. ‘I’ve been thinking about this a lot,’ he told me, ‘Do you want to play guitar in Gong?’ This came somewhat out of the blue. ‘But you’ve never actually heard me play, Daevid’ I told him. ‘I don’t need to,’ he replied. ‘I felt the same way about Mike Howlett when I met him too and I’m never wrong about this stuff.’ Of course I said ‘Yes’ instantly. ‘You know, I can’t play like Steve Hillage,’ I told him. His response was priceless ‘I don’t care about what you can’t do, I care about what you can do.’
“Since being a teenager, I have often come up with riffs that, while I loved them, had to be shelved because I always felt they sounded a little TOO much like Gong. One of which I started playing. Daevid got up and started improvising lyrics and melodies over the top, his beautiful eyes twinkling. This would become ‘When God Shakes Hands With The Devil (from I See You).’ ‘Wow Kav!’ Daevid said afterwards, ‘Got any more like that?’ Realizing that 20 years or so of shelved riffs had not gone to waste, I blurted out ‘Yeah! Loads!’
Kavus joined Gong in 2014 in time for the last album the “new” band made with Daevid, “I See You,” unaware of the direction his new gig as a guitar player would take. “It was shortly after our Brazilian tour in March 2014 that, following a broken arm, Daevid told us that he had been diagnosed with cancer and would be unable to fulfill the 47 date world tour that had been booked to promote (the album). To my, and I guess all of our, minds there was no question that he would beat this thing. The most enlightened and switched on guy I ever knew, with light shooting out of every pore, he seemed indomitable. Nonetheless, he started making noises about how he wished the band to continue without him. I think everyone in the band felt ambivalent about this, particularly as we watched the majority of the gigs get canceled upon news that he was too unwell to fulfill them. I certainly had no desire to front it. I have my own band Knifeworld in which I play this role. We did, however, have a new album to promote, so we reluctantly agreed to play the remaining shows and bow out gracefully after that. Each night we sent Daevid recordings or links to YouTube footage and, from his sick bed in Australia, he wrote gushing praise about what had happened to the band and how this was exactly what he had hoped. By the end of the tour and with the full blessing of Daevid we decided to carry on.
“ ‘Rejoice! I’m Dead!’ came together over several weeks in an East London rehearsal studio. In terms of the writing, the songs became very elastic, what may have been brought to the band as a fixed idea, through experimenting, discarding, expanding and mutating evolved into the songs as you hear them now. Every member was key in the development of each song,” closes Kavus. Thus, Kavus (vocals/guitar), Fabio Golfetti (guitar/vocals), Dave Sturt (bass/vocals), Ian East (sax/flute) and Cheb Nettles (drums/vocals) took on the mantle of steering the Teapot further into outer space and the inner ear.
On the album you’ll also notice the voice of Daevid in an early song idea rehearsal, along with Gong alumni Steve Hillage, Didier Malherbe and Graham Clark. Fans of the “Virgin trilogy” won’t be let down!
In the words of bassist Dave Sturt: “You bet it’s a Gong record!”
It depends on your knowledge of Gong history and what constitutes as a Gong record, but if “Rejoice! I’m Dead!” is classified as their 28th album the Gong legacy is the strongest it has been since 1974. Consider the differences between “Angel’s Egg,” “Gazeuse!,” “Floating Anarchy” and “I See You,” the various splinter projects and collectives… what is it that make Gong who they are? Their spontaneity and numerous Phoenix-like rebirths – this is just the latest installment. Nothing more, nothing less. New members and old coalesce, the sound unmistakably Gong.
Even without Daevid Allen Gong will continue ….. And long may it do so.
Fans can have a hint of what’s to come with a clip from the song “Rejoice!” featuring Steve Hillage:
Check out the video teaser for “Rejoice! I’m Dead!” here:
“Rejoice! I’m Dead!” will be released on CD, a double LP and as a limited edition deluxe 3 disc hardback book edition featuring 44-page book, CD, DVD-AV & Bonus CD and digitally.
Glass Onyon PR 