It's 1976 and the Pot Head Pixies have departed the Planet Gong in their flying teapots, leaving only drummer/percussionist Pierre Moerlon and saxophonist Didier Malherbe from the crazy days of the Radio Gnome trilogy. In just two albums Gong have shifted from hippie spacerock with silly songs about pixies, to a French jazz ensemble.
This album was lent to me by a school friend at the time, and despite the radical departure (or is it?) from earlier Gong I enjoyed it. I only saw it reasonably priced on CD on EBay earlier this week, so treated myself.
Expresso opens this entirely instrumental album, a Moerlon composition, led by Allan Holdsworth's angry guitar opening, followed by a flowing solo, with a vibraphone/percussion undercurrent. Night Illusion follows, a Holdsworth tune, which again showcases his virtuoso guitar skills. Percolations in two parts is a percussion based tune, starting with lots of vibraphone/xylophone/bells, the flute leading it along nicely with bass and drums intermittently kicking in, before the second part moves into a fantastic xylophone frenzy and an unnecessary drum solo (tautology alert!)
Shadows Of is a lively tune, with a flute section leading to some guitar acrobatics again. Esnuria once again, matches Moerlon's percussion with Holdsworth's guitar, to great effect, especially as Malherbe plays along on sax, a fantastic tune. The final song, Mireille, composed by bassist Francis Moze sounds like a solo performance on piano by him, accompanied by an acoustic Holdsworth. It's pleasant, but no more, and is a limp ending to a fine album.
This is an album I've enjoyed for a long, long time, and will continue to enjoy (alongside the more bonkers side of Gong). It's worth a listen just for the fantastic guitar work of the late Allan Holdsworth.
4* - as long as you aren't expecting flying saucers and octave doctors, you won't be disappointed
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