Gong's new album I SEE YOU is now out on Madfish (a division of
Snapper Music) in North America.
Please note that Gong co-founder Daevid Allen currently is in
treatment for cancer. We will set up interviews with other band
members: Orlando Allen on drums, bassist Dave Sturt, guitarist Fabio
Golfetti, and horn player Ian East winds. Another guitarist Kavus
Torabi (formely of The Cardiacs and also with Gong guitarist Steve
Hillage) is new to the band; he is also available.
The current incarnation of Gong comprises vocalist / lyricist Daevid
Allen, who, even at the age of 75, still radiates an incandescent
creativity, the original anarchic vibe that was born out of
counter-culture revolution in the Paris commune in 1968. Allen's own,
highly idiosyncratic worldview helped kick-start the classic Brit
psychedelic explorers, Soft Machine when the '60s were still swinging.
His co-conspirators on I SEE YOU are Orlando Allen on drums, new
guitarist Kavus Torabi (The Cardiacs), guitarist Brazilian Fabio
Golfetti, horn player Ian East winds, and bassist Dave Sturt (the
sonic manipulator).
I SEE YOU is timeless and timely, a welcome antidote to an
increasingly homogenized musical mainstream. The playful song "I See
You" is fusion and kicks off the album. "Syllabub" could be a hit, and
namedrops culture in a fun-loving way. Tracks such as "This
Revolution," a spoken piece which namechecks Gil Scott-Heron and picks
up the vibe of his "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," articulates
the kind of concerns and theories that've always inspired Daevid Allen
and informed the Gong worldview, contrasts with the ferocious
inter-stellar Funk of "You See Me," which is sure to be a live
favorite. "Thank You" is a heavy slab of psychedelicised blues, whilst
the closing song "Shakti Yoni Dingo Virgin," a moody, melodic
instrumental piece with heavy pant-singing--serves to illustrate the
immense musical firepower and musical diversity that lurks within the
current line-up of Gong.
Gong hopes to take I SEE YOU out on tour in the coming months when
Daevid's health will allow. Do listen, because I SEE YOU offers up yet
more proof that Daevid Allen's creative wellspring shows no sign of
running dry, and that the latest Gong line-up has the kind of musical
acumen that matches any of their classic line-ups of yore.
Gong is a Franco-British rock band formed by Australian musician
Daevid Allen. Other notable band members include Kevin Ayers. Tim
Blake, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Gilli Smyth, Steve Hillage, Francis
Moze, Mike Howlett, Pierre Moerlen, Allan Holdsworth, Bon Lozaga,
Hansford Rowe. Mick Taylor & Darryl Way have played on Gong albums,
and Van Der Graaf Generator drummer Guy Evans played with Gilli
Smythe's Mother Gong Others who have, albeit briefly, played in Gong
include Bill Bruford, Brian Davison, Don Cherry, and Chris Cutler.
--
Progressive Rock & Progressive Metal - E-Zine
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