Franco-British progressive rock group still creating new music
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.
