New Gong album, Upending Ascending

[polmico]

https://www.gongband.com/

Single released today.

This is some very welcome news.

[Hour Candle]

https://www.gongband.com/

Single released today.

This is some very welcome news.

Interesting.. And loads of new dates together with Ozric Tentacles too

[Piskie]

New single is good. Album will be an automatic buy for me! Saw Gong with the Ozrics last year. Not sure I can stand another 4 hours standing.

[aith01]

Very cool! I’ll def be snagging the new Gong.

[clivey]

Suitably Gong vibed single. If the rest is as good it will be fine with me.

[Aquatarkus]

Love the new single. I am envious of UK folks who get to see them with Ozric this fall. I'll bet that tour with the Steve Hillage Band was cool too.

[Interstellar]

Great artwork too.

[Piskie]

I saw the Hillage tour. Bucket list job for me! Was marvellous.

[polmico]

This new Gong—I hesitate to call it Kavus Torabi’s Gong, but it is an easy monicker to throw out there—has done no wrong. They sound great in the studio. They sound great live. The art is cool, the tunes are cool, the whole vibe is cool.

I don’t suppose I’ll ever get to see them live, so any reports from the upcoming tour are welcome.

New Hawkwind and Gong in the same year? What a wonderful world!

[JKL2000]

I see there's a track called The Ship of Ishtar, which also happens to be the title of a great though not well-known book by A. Merritt (who wrote Burn, Witch, Burn). Curious to learn if the song title comes from the book, or some other inspiration.

[wilcox660]

It does my heart good to see the Gong legacy continue & to be in such loving & capable hands! May they continue to inspire generations of listeners!

[Piskie]

Ishtar is the goddess of love I see. Very Gong!

[Right_Brained]

Hey, sounds like there's a possibility that Gong will be touring North America next fall! According to a recent Facebook post from Leonardo Pavkovic (MoonJune) there are plans afoot for a tour in 2024 sometime between August and mid-October. Hope the stars align to make this happen. I saw the Daevid Allen/Hillage/Smyth/Giraudy/Travis/Howlett version at NearFest, but would also love to see this new version carrying on the Gong vibes fronted by Kavus.

[polmico]

^I'd be all about that. Timing would be right for Prog Day . . .

[chalkpie]

New Gong...killer! I love this groove and vibe. And Kavus's vocals too.

[clivey]

New Gong...killer! I love this groove and vibe. And Kavus's vocals too.

Perfect 2 songs for the morning coffee. Really enjoying what they are all about these days. I think I hear a meld going on that really appeals . Kinda XTC meets the old Gong , but it makes for a very modern sound to me in an organic non electro kinda way.

Ha ha was I was listening on my phone.Will enjoy even more on suitable listening apparatus very shortly. Yeah.
More coffee Another listen or 2

[Piskie]

I have the album on pre-order. Looking forward to it.

[miamiscot]

Fantastic!!!

[JAMOOL]

new single sounds just like Knifeworld to me. not a bad thing obviously but maybe calling them "Kavus Torabi's Gong" is pretty apt. anyway since that band is (maybe?) defunct I will be picking this up

[Progatron]

Auto-buy. I have really enjoyed the last couple of releases and this one looks to be on par.

[Piskie]

That new track reminds me a bit of Happy The Man.

[polmico]

I have the album on pre-order. Looking forward to it.

Almost pulled the trigger on the Bandcamp preorder so I could get the art print. Shipping from England right now is ridiculous. I'll probably regret not getting the print.

[Piskie]

Still waiting for the cd to arrive but I've listened to the download a couple times and I'm pretty pleased with it. Has a bit more contrast than the last album, some good tunes and a few touches of glissando guitar. Long live Gong!

[thedunno]

Is it me or is Kavus realy singing better than ever on this rekkid?

[Munster]

Here's a good review of the new album, from the Financial Times. I am copying it out here as the FT has a paywall.

"To be or not to be: the dilemma that perplexed Hamlet has been resolved by psychedelic stalwarts Gong. And their answer is — to be.

"This longest-lasting of underground bands was formed in 1967 by Australian counter-culturalist Daevid Allen and his British partner Gilli Smyth during exile in France (Allen, formerly a member of Soft Machine, wasn’t allowed to stay in the UK due to visa problems). Numerous line-up changes ensued over subsequent decades. More than 50 people have passed through Gong’s ranks, including a bassist recruited because he was a Taurean and a French jazzer encountered in a goat herder’s cave in Mallorca. Well, why not?

"Allen exited the band in 2015 when he entered the undiscovered country from which no traveller returns. Before dying, his wish was for Gong to continue the space-rock odyssey without him. 'At last I am free to let go of it so now it is up to you guys to carry it on into new unknown heights and depths far beyond anything I could ever imagine myself,' he told his younger bandmates in an email.

"A really far-out regeneration might have seen Gong do a Doctor Who and re-emerge in a completely different form — as a girl group, say, or a wedding band. But the band’s following might have recoiled from that as bad karma. So the quintet still fly the freak flag in the old-fashioned way, with prime psych-rock.


"Unending Ascending is their third album since Allen shuffled off this mortal coil. (The first had the unimprovable title of Rejoice! I’m Dead!) It opens with a charmingly whimsical guitar riff reminiscent of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. The song is called “Tiny Galaxies”, one of several tracks with cosmic associations. Some are more recondite than others. “O, Arcturus!” refers to the fourth brightest star in the night sky. Meanwhile, “My Guitar is a Spaceship” does exactly what it says on the tin.

"Frontman Kavus Torabi, formerly of Cardiacs, sings about third eyes and Ishtar, Mesopotamian goddess of sexual love. He’s joined by guitarist Fabio Golfetti, bassist Dave Sturt and drummer Cheb Nettles. Ian East on sax adds the jazzy element that has always featured in Gong’s voyaging. There are moments when the contraption comes across as a little dated and warp speed slows to a genial proggy chug. But the droning guitar distortion, healing wash of cymbals and chanted vocals of “Lunar Invocation” are genuinely transportive. Death be damned: Gong go on."