Floating Anarchy

Gong: Sold to the Highest Buddha & Castle in the Clouds

From: Angel's Egg [Blue Plate, 1973]

Gong: Master Builder

From: You [Virgin, 1974]

The back cover on my Decal CD reissues say "File Under Psychedelia."

Gong is a band that is a bit tricky to introduce to people; pick the wrong album or the wrong song and the music might not take. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the band operated more as a collective than a proper band. The constant lineup changes produced such dramatic differences in their sound from song to song that it's difficult to pin-point those pivotal moments in their discography that will draw a listener in and give him/her an entry point into the band's universe.

These 3 songs are from what many consider to be Gong's creative peak (1973-1974) and their most succesful albums: The Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy. The Radio Gnome song cycle, which unfolds over the course of 3 diverse albums [Flying Teapot, Angel's, You], is based around the band's founder and chief songwriter Daevid Allen's Gong mythology. Legend has it, the kernel for this mythology was born out of a very impressionable acid trip. I won't get too deep into the specifics of the story and its philosophies here, I only mention this because it's an interesting aspect of the band to explore should you enjoy these songs.

Sold to the Highest Buddha is as close as Gong comes to a pop song. It's a concise arrangement that is sonically dense and practically overflows with tasty, unselfish playing by a handful of space jazz rock pioneers: Daevid Allen, Steve Hillage, Pierre Moerlen, Tim Blake, Mike Howlett, Didiere Malherbe. Together this lineup had amazing chemistry as showcased in the smooth transition from the tightly-wound Buddha to the spacious, deceptively rocking Castle in the Clouds. In a way, this song to song transition mirrors the transition from Angel's Egg to You. If Angel's Egg is a pop album, then You is the space rock jam fest. Master Builder will give you a sense of how the 1974 era collective liked to play: heavy/funky rhythm section, spacey synth backdrops, a few chants here and there, and some nice soloing from Malherbe (sax) and Hillage (guitar).