Gong
Album: Camembert Electrique
Label: Charly
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.planetgong.co.uk/

It is only a very short while since I reviewed Gong's album "I See You". That, to me was quite a joyous occassion. A brand new album from Gong, coupled with the news from October 2014, that daevid allen (lower case intended), had completed his chemotherapy and was officially declared cancer free and that a tour was likely as soon as he had regained his strength.

I was therefore completely unprepared for the news that daevid had passed away on the 13th March. "I See You" felt like a swan song and sadly, that is how it turned out. Which makes reviewing the re-issue of Camebert Electrique far more of a somber event than it should be.

Camembert Electrique was recorded and originally released in France in 1971, but was not released in the UK until 1974. To promote the band, the album was released by Virgin for the same price as a 45 rpm single. I have vivid memories of it costing just 50p when I brought it, but the sleeve notes state that it was sold for 59p. To further promote the band, Virgin sponsored a UK tour, (I think that must have been around 1973 or 1974), with ticket prices again costing just 50p.

Gong's music is very anarchic. Think of a cross between jazz, early Pink Floyd, and the Goons. The cover and sleeve notes drawn by Dingo Virgin (an alias of daevid's) look very much like the doodles that Spike Milligan would embellish Goon show scripts with. Despite the anarchy, the band are extremely talented musicians, and produce extraordinairily beautiful music, interspersed with delightful lunacy.

There are eleven tracks on this album, officially, but the first and last tracks on each side of the vinyl, (tracks 1, 6, 7 and 11) only last for twenty-seven seconds, twenty-eight seconds, twelve seconds and twenty-five seconds respectively. On the other hand, Track 3, comprises three separate songs, "I've Been Stone Before", "Mister Long Shanks" and "O Mother" all rolled into one. Track 5 comprises two songs, "Dynamite" and "I am Your Animal" rolled in to one, and track 10 consists of two songs, "Tropical Fish" and "Selene", so it's rather hard to define exactly how many songs there actually are on the album. The sleeve notes describe track 1 as "The transmission begins with Mista Pot Hed pixie hymnself introducing Radio Gnome to your head. Then we wander down a short passage with many doors opening and shutting, pass through a waterfall & find ourself confronted by a singing mouth which starts singing:". "You Can't Kill Me", the first real track on the album, is described as "Word & Muse by daevid & arranged by every body at once".

I can recall being a little disappointed in the album when I first heard it. When I saw Gong perform at Hastings Pier back in the early 1970s, when they performed "I've Been Stone Before", daevid sang "I've been stoned before, in St John's Wood Crematoriumyumyum" to the great delight of the audience. Sadly on record he omitted the "yum yum" at the end of crematorium. My disappointment was short lived, however, and Camembert Electrique rapdly became one of my favorite albums.

My favorite tracks are those which feature Gilli Smyth's amazing voice. She is credited as 'space whisper and lady voice', which sums her up perfectly. Don't think I've ever heard anyone else with a voice like hers: she uses it far more as an instrument than as a means of simply conveying lyrics. There's a wonderful transition in styles between the end of her ethereal "I am Your Fantasy" and when daevid's voice suddenly explodes into "Dynamite" . Must also give a strong mention to Didier Malherbe's frenetic saxophone and flute playing - the schoolboy in me still laughs at his alias - Bloomdido Bad de Grass.

Camembert Electrique is not just being celebrated as a re-release on CD. It is also being re-released on vinyl. Not only that, the cover art is also being celebrated with the release of a teapot (a teapot being the means of transport of pothead pixies in travelling from Planet Gong - (and tea being a euphamism for a certain other dried leaf)). Not only that, the cover art is also being celebrated in the release of a cheeseboard! (Bert Camembert being yet another pseudonym for daevid, along with Dingo Virgin, and the Divided Alien).

Put the kettle on, get out the cheese and biscuits and pay a visit to the Planet Gong. Say Hello to daevid for me.

Pete Bradley