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░ ██ ██ Artist: Gong ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: Rejoice! I'm Dead! █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 2016 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2017-01-03 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Progressive Rock ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: Madfish ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Album ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ As much as a Gong fan as I am, I would really have █
█ liked this to have been a great tribute to the █
█ Devided Alien, but it just isn't. Largely it just █
█ sounds like the later albums of Violeta De Outono, █
█ although only Fabio Golfetti is in common. And, on █
█ the whole, it's pretty average modern mainstream █
█ indie rock, all clean and sparkling with a lot of █
█ hipness and not much hippiness. █
█ Earlier on you'd never guess there was a Gong █
█ connection. In the second track "Rejoice!" the █
█ instrumental break with a sizzling solo from Steve █
█ Hillage is the first highlight and a slight hint █
█ at Gong. "Model Village" sounds purposely composed █
█ to fit in the Duduk solo from Didier Malherbe, but █
█ there it gets good only for that moment. Not until █
█ track 6 does it get at all Gong like. "Visions" is █
█ a nice gliss-out that runs into "The Unspeakable █
█ Stands Revealed" which is also good until the █
█ singer decides to ruin the trip (I wonder how █
█ those two tracks work being split on the 2LP █
█ edition?). I somehow didn't notice Didier's solo █
█ in "Through Restless Seas I Come", and the final █
█ track "Insert Yr Own Prophecy" was obviously █
█ intent on being a type of "You Never Blow Yr Trip █
█ Forever" float-off finalΘ and does contain one of █
█ the longest instrumental breaks. █
█ Anyway, although some said their gig at The █
█ Musician here in Leicester was great, I doubt I'd █
█ have enjoyed it that much. I wonder what Daevid █
█ himself would have thought? █
█ █
█ --- █
█ █
█ Daevid AllenÆs ghost shows up in the █
█ self-deprecating humor evident in the albumÆs █
█ titleàand lives on in the band. The first Gong █
█ album after its founderÆs 2014 death, Rejoice! IÆm █
█ Dead! (out September 16, 2016, Madfish Music) is █
█ an emphatic reassurance the the brainchild will be █
█ fine without its progenitor. █
█ And thatÆs just the way Allen ù who had taken some █
█ leave of absences from Gong over the years ù would █
█ have wanted it. █
█ The current, five-piece lineup (Kavus Torabi █
█ (guitar, vox), Fabio Golfetti (guitar/vox), Dave █
█ Sturt (bass/vox), Ian East (saxophone, flute) and █
█ Cheb Nettles (drums/vox)) come with varying █
█ experience in AllenÆs Gong, with Torabi joining █
█ just in time to participate in the last Allen-led █
█ Gong album I See You (2014), already contributing █
█ music thatÆs well aligned with the swerving, █
█ witty, loose but penetrating brand of rock thatÆs █
█ sort of jazzy, sort of proggy but never █
█ self-consciously so. A year later, heÆs suddenly █
█ thrust into the forefront of the band, and the █
█ good ship Gong is staying firmly on course. █
█ Finding the right balance between psychedelic █
█ jamming and tortuous, calculated turns is the █
█ strong suit of Gong, obvious on the longer numbers █
█ such as ôRejoice!ö where the band gallops in █
█ syncopation with EastÆs sax pattern that calls to █
█ mind Thelonious MonkÆs ôMisterioso.ö Yet, theyÆre █
█ going with the flow, sandwiching the heady groove █
█ with an extended middle of Middle Eastern-kissed █
█ improvising. Guitars shimmer and quiver through █
█ most of ôThrough Restless Seas I Come,ö building █
█ for the burst you can feel coming from the █
█ beginning. And is ôInsert Yr Own Prophesyö a █
█ little theatrical with all itÆs stop-start, █
█ stuttering action? Sure, but it still rocks hard █
█ and ù when itÆs inclined ù floats harder. █
█ ItÆs hard to pinpoint the ôepicö track of the █
█ bunch,since they strive to make most of their █
█ songs that way, but my vote goes to ôThe █
█ Unspeakable Stands Revealed,ö where a groove █
█ slowly materialize from it and the improvising █
█ soprano sax of East fills up the channels. Only █
█ four minutes in are the lyrics heard, by which █
█ time the song has turned into a bonafide rocker. █
█ Traversing through multiple, connected movements █
█ moving along a single thread, it has the feel of █
█ an saga set to song. EastÆs increasingly urgent █
█ wails begin to dominate right up to the sudden █
█ end. █
█ The shorter numbers donÆt suffer from the lack of █
█ stretching out, as atmospheric, neo-psychedelia █
█ seeps into ôThe Thing That Should Beö and █
█ especially ôModel Village,ö which makes one █
█ realize that Gong is a forebear to Sean LennonÆs █
█ Ghost of The Saber Toothed Tiger. █
█ No one can make up for the keen wit and █
█ unpredictability of Daevid Allen, whose loss in █
█ the artful side of British rock is on par with the █
█ loss months later of one of his fans, David Bowie. █
█ But thereÆs much to revel about with Rejoice!, as █
█ the torch bearers of serious rock who donÆt take █
█ themselves too seriously carries on confidently. █
█ █
█ --- █
█ █
█ Gong has entered yet another new phase in its █
█ four-decades plus journey with Rejoice! I'm Dead!, █
█ the follow up to 2014's I See You the last album █
█ Daevid Allen was to record with Gong. █
█ A few minutes into listening to Rejoice! I'm █
█ Dead!, all doubts about the absence of Daevid █
█ Allen will be cast aside as contemporary and █
█ classic members unite to produce an undeniably █
█ 'Gong sound'. █
█ Steering the band's music into outer space and the █
█ inner ear, Kavus Torabi, Fabio Golfetti, Dave █
█ Sturt, Ian East and Cheb Nettles take the Gong █
█ legacy into fresh territories without abandoning █
█ the principles established by the band's founding █
█ visionary Daevid Allen. █
█ "Inspired by the light, love and passing of our █
█ dear friend and inspiration, Daevid Allen" - Dave █
█ Sturt █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. The Thing That Should Be 3:34 ░
░ 2. Rejoice! 10:16 ░
░ 3. Kapital 3:23 ░
░ 4. Model Village 6:43 ░
░ 5. Beatrix 2:54 ░
░ 6. Visions 4:29 ░
░ 7. The Unspeakable Stands Revealed 11:56 ░
░ 8. Through Restless Seas I Come 6:57 ░
░ 9. Insert Yr Own Prophecy 9:38 ░
░ 59:50 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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