What Are You Listening To Right This Minute?

[The Stratmangler]

Flying Teapot is the 1st of the trilogy, and the cover is the Charly Records CD release from 1996.
Next up is this ...



Witch's Song. I Am Your Pussy is on Flying Teapot.

[The Stratmangler]

[IslandPink]

Oh bounteous joy
I haven't got 'Flying Teapot' - that's the problem.
Witches Song etc is on there, of course.
Pre-Christmas present coming up this evening, I think. Maybe I can get one with the Black & White early Virgin label hmmm
Thanks Chris .

[Dave the bass]

On the subject of different versions of Gong I found this the other day.

I have to confess I'm struggling with the current incarnation of Gong. We (Thomas, JTS + Me) went to see them supporting Steve Hillage last month. The Hillage set with the current line up of Gong serving as his backing band was good, not great, but good entertainment (IMO) but the supporting Gong set was hard listening. Their sound is now very 'rock', hard rock actually, and on 1st listening its OK but it starts grating after a while, there's almost too-much 'epic' about the sound, the solo's meander (ouch, sorry, but they do) and don't say anything, there is dynamic but it comes almost as blessed relief rather than phwoooaaarrr peaks and troughs within the music!

Talking to other fans at the gig I'm in the minority, a lot of folk like that new direction so they must be doing summat right. Its difficult to describe what I don't like about one of my fave bands for years, they've lost the huge variety in sounds they used to have, I just can't hear 'Gong' in Gong at the moment.

Thank goodness there's an ace back catalogue of cracking albums out there, most of which ChrisMangler as been playing this afternoon by the looks of things

Meh, Disgruntled of Dartford.

[IslandPink]

So far I've really only been blissed-out by Angel's Egg, and I suspect Flying Teapot will do the same. There's something going on there that is unique that I really like , with Gilli's voice and the saxes and flutes, with that fluid but tight band, full of subtle surprises.

ps. this would have been a good night out :

[Dave the bass]

So far I've really only been blissed-out by Angel's Egg, and I suspect Flying Teapot will do the same. There's something going on there that is unique that I really like , with Gilli's voice and the saxes and flutes, with that fluid but tight band, full of subtle surprises.

Flying Teapot is great IMO, it also has a different line up compared to Angels Egg and You, for example they 'borrowed' the bassist from Magma for it, He plays fretlless on this album which adds a lot to the sound IMO (just like Dave Sturt does in the current line up). Hillage only appears a bit on it. Christian Tritsch was still on the scene, he switched from bass guitar on 'Camembert' to guitar on 'Teapot'.

[Nick]

On the subject of different versions of Gong I found this the other day.

I have to confess I'm struggling with the current incarnation of Gong. We (Thomas, JTS + Me) went to see them supporting Steve Hillage last month. The Hillage set with the current line up of Gong serving as his backing band was good, not great, but good entertainment (IMO) but the supporting Gong set was hard listening. Their sound is now very 'rock', hard rock actually, and on 1st listening its OK but it starts grating after a while, there's almost too-much 'epic' about the sound, the solo's meander (ouch, sorry, but they do) and don't say anything, there is dynamic but it comes almost as blessed relief rather than phwoooaaarrr peaks and troughs within the music!

Talking to other fans at the gig I'm in the minority, a lot of folk like that new direction so they must be doing summat right. Its difficult to describe what I don't like about one of my fave bands for years, they've lost the huge variety in sounds they used to have, I just can't hear 'Gong' in Gong at the moment.

Thank goodness there's an ace back catalogue of cracking albums out there, most of which ChrisMangler as been playing this afternoon by the looks of things

Meh, Disgruntled of Dartford.

Interesting. I guess there was a element of that when Gong became Pierre Moerlen's Gong. Like the latter versions of Soft Machine, they are good and sometimes very good, but don't have the magic of the first two or three LP's. I guess David and Gilli leave a large and hard to fill hole. We know that you can take those two and add a band (say H&N) and you end up with specialness that may not be the Triology but still was a step above what H&N managed on their own. For me part of the magic about the original Master builder was Hillside Villages solo, one of the great ones IMHO.

[IslandPink]

Oh man, now I need a copy of 'Magick Brother' !
The lineup is already there -

Interesting that Allmusic only give it 2.5 stars. Too far out for them.
I can hear bits of Beefheart and Ligeti in there.

[Dave the bass]

Oh man, now I need a copy of 'Magick Brother' !
The lineup is already there -

If thats your motive for buying Magick Brother, proceed with caution!

That piccie that comes up on the YouTube link you posted is misleading, that's not the Magick Brother era line up, it looks like the 'Fish Rising'/final 'You'-era line up to me. From that line up in the piccie I believe came the 'Shamal' era and also Pierre Moerlen's Gong line ups pretty much.

Only Daevid, Gilli and Didier from the 'classic' line up appear on the Magick Brother album. Its the 1st 'Gong' album as such, pre-Camembert so still in prototype mode IMO, the Wiki page will give you more info if you're interested -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magick_Brother#

[Dave the bass]

Interesting. I guess there was a element of that when Gong became Pierre Moerlen's Gong. Like the latter versions of Soft Machine, they are good and sometimes very good, but don't have the magic of the first two or three LP's. I guess David and Gilli leave a large and hard to fill hole. We know that you can take those two and add a band (say H&N) and you end up with specialness that may not be the Triology but still was a step above what H&N managed on their own. For me part of the magic about the original Master builder was Hillside Villages solo, one of the great ones IMHO.

Yups, but, the lead up to Steve's solo in Master Builder is pretty good too, its an ace solo by Didier. The whole song is basically a Sax and Guitar solo really with some extra lovely adornments perhaps.

Maybe thats what I'm missing in the current-Gong sound, those 'adornments'. Daevid and Gilli added the whole Philosophy in Gong as well as lyrical and musical contributions it seems after reading the Gong Dreaming books. As he explained himself, Daevids 'seed-vision' fore-saw what it was all about and how it all linked up (ish). Maybe it was the communal living/lifestyle that made them so special at that time, I wasn't there but if I was and had the benefit of foresight... I'd bottle up what ever was making it so so so special and slowly release it today and continue to make the worlds greatest ever music

But I wasn't there, meh, and I've no bottle of magic juice either. Double Meh!

Yeah, H+N are a rockier sound than Gong especially live and later they started adding live dub to their sound too, I really really loved that sound. Dub and gliss had a profound affect on me in my formative years.

[Nick]

Yeah, H+N are a rockier sound than Gong especially live and later they started adding live dub to their sound too, I really really loved that sound. Dub and gliss had a profound affect on me in my formative years.

Yep. Having a bit of a Dub flashback at the moment due to MarkJ playing me First Circle a few weeks ago.

[IslandPink]

Full Circle, Nick.

That piccie that comes up on the YouTube link you posted is misleading, that's not the Magick Brother era line up, it looks like the 'Fish Rising'/final 'You'-era line up to me. From that line up in the piccie I believe came the 'Shamal' era and also Pierre Moerlen's Gong line ups pretty much.

Only Daevid, Gilli and Didier from the 'classic' line up appear on the Magick Brother album. Its the 1st 'Gong' album as such, pre-Camembert so still in prototype mode IMO, the Wiki page will give you more info if you're interested -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magick_Brother#

No, I'm ahead of you there Dave.
I wasn't looking too closely at the picture.
I did look at the Wikipedia page, that's how I ended up checking out YouTube clips for the early stuff, also I'd been looking at Gilli Smyth's bio. The lineup has three of 'my' key people there, would need Hillage to top it off, though.
That track is great, but also I heard things on the snippets of other tracks that reminded me of future Gong tracks, on A.E. , plus bits of Ligeti and Beefheart, oddly enough.
I was only able to devote 5 mins to listening , around midnight, past bedtime ! - more this evening.
That track led me on to one from Continental Circus that was also Ace.
Watch this space ….( or watch the skies ? )

[Dave the bass]

Aaaah, I see. Well done on doing the research.

Yes, Continental Circus is a cracker (IMO). Only 4 tracks, and one's an instrumental of the Blues for Finlay track. I played the Fohat-esque track from that LP at Owston a few years ago.

[IslandPink]

Ah right. Was it this track ?

[Dave the bass]

Yep, thats the one. Its a great recording I reckon too, raw, honest and full 'o' life of the times.