GONG — Flying Teapot: Radio Gnome Invisible, Part 1 (review)

GONG — Flying Teapot: Radio Gnome Invisible, Part 1 album cover Album · 1973 · Jazz Related Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Warthur
I always think of the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy as being about tension - the tension between short, snappy psychedelic songs as favoured by Daevid Allen on the one hand, and long spacey instrumental sections as performed with gusto by the band on the other. Angel's Egg is dominated by the first approach, and You by the second, leaving Radio Gnome Invisible as the album where the two are more or less in balance.

And I have to say that whilst it isn't quite the groundbreaking, landmark album that You is, it's still pretty damn good. Gilli Smyth gets a welcome chance to take on the lead vocals in Witch's Song/I Am Your Pussy, the magic trio of Didier Malherbe on sax, Steve Hillage on guitar and (especially) Tim Blake on synthesisers are firing on all cylinders, and Daevid's loopy tea-based mythology is presented with just enough of a knowing wink to let you in on the joke. Anyone who likes the more psychedelic and spacey end of the Canterbury spectrum would be well advised to check this one out.
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