Gong – 2032
Gong was never a band to do things by the book. Throughout the seventies they released a succession of psychedelic, progressive rock albums that could be considered outlandish – some might say stark raving mad – and avant-garde even by the standards of those insane times.
Think the arthouse stylings of The Soft Machine (of whom Gong founder Daevid Allen was also once a member) corralled in with the French New Wave madness of a Jean-Luc Goddard film and you might just find yourself skirting close to the same solar system that Gong inhabited.
41 years on from the band’s inception and Gong have a new album coming out, 2032, and it’s one that’s billed as the next instalment in perhaps the most celebrated of works in their considerable canon, the “Radio Gnome Trilogy” – consisting of the classic albums: Flying Teapot (1973), Angel’s Egg (1973) and You (1974).
2032 brings things bang up to date, reuniting Allen with another core member, Steve Hillage, for the first time since You. It takes a more “conventional” sound than earlier works and infuses it with a variety of different elements, incorporating both past and present.
Of course, “conventional” for Gong is never going to be the same “conventional” the rest of us abide by and 2032 is awash with their style of eccentricity, albeit delivered with a more modern sound. This means the capsules within which Gong fire us out to the further reaches of space rock now have a polished surface that wouldn’t have existed during the seventies. It’s only a personal opinion but I feel this type of balls-to-the-wall, squeaky-clean production lacks a certain character that exists on recordings from that era.
That’s not to say that the album is no good. Quite the contrary in fact. Aside from an ill-advised rap at the end of ‘City of Self Fascination’ and throughout ‘How to Stay Alive’ (which immediately conjures up images of aging Trustafarians “getting down with the kids”), 2032 is a pleasantly surprising listen with enough things going for it to cancel out these minor, and most probably personal, gripes.
Fair enough, it was never going to top the triumphs of the first half of the seventies, but by broadening their brush whilst maintaining the off-the-wall essence of what the band were originally about, they might just succeed in bridging the divide between then and now.
With songs such as ‘Dance with the Pixies’, ‘The Year 2032′ – apparently the year when the peaceful planet Gong will finally make contact with us barbaric earthlings?!? – and ‘Portal’ keeping the psych and progressive flags flying throughout, as well as that sixties and seventies ideal of attainable world peace remaining pretty much the album’s galvanizing motif, 2032 should keep old and new fans of the band happy until EMI get around to issuing a digitally remastered and expanded box set of their Gnomic three-part magnum opus.
2032 is released 21st September 2009 on G-Wave and available to buy from Amazon.co.uk
Gong’s nationwide UK tour kicks off on Thursday 19th November at the Bristol O2 Academy. Ticket Hotline: 08700 603 777. For further info about the full UK tour dates please visit www.planetgong.co.uk.
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“but I feel this type of balls-to-the-wall, squeaky-clean production lacks a certain character that exists on recordings from that era.”
Agree, parts of it sound assembled whereas their trilogy sounded played. Some good parts and great drumming and bass thoughout but shame they couldn’t tempt Tim Blake to add some atmosphere. Despite this I think underwhelming LP, they have amazed me live earlier this year at Glastonbury and last year at the Forum.
“Assembled” – That hits the nail bang on head. I think it describes the vast majority of modern music too. Not sure whether that’s my only problem with the music of today though. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s just a completely different sound nowadays, even when it’s a group from the sixties/seventies recording new stuff. They just can’t capture that feel of back then. Still, there’s the occasional modern group, such as Circulus or The Witch and the Robot, that are succeeding in re-igniting the psychedelic/progressive rock flame.
Glad to hear they can still cut it live though. Cheers, Robn
I think that it is true about assembling – certainly Radiohead’s last album sounded both jammy and cut-and-paste. I think groups like Gong put in these little modern nods to music trends because they were always implied within their music. Kind of like giving a nice nod to the kids who are just learning that’s it’s okay to develop good musicianship as well as being a studio-bound freekazoid.
a careful read of the album credits i think will reveal that 2032 was literally assembled… parts recorded in diff parts of the world and then assembled into final form by mr hillage. I however think its brilliant; i already own F Teapot, A Egg and You – i wanted and got a new album, recorded today. No point in Gong trying to reproduce a simulcrum of the conditions they were in in early 70′s to give us a fake ‘old’ album.
Didn’t have any liner notes or album credits with the promo copy, but thanks for clearing that up.
I think it all comes down to personal preference at the end of the day, and for me nothing can beat the sound of that era.
Thanks for dropping by.