GONG — Gongmaison (review)

GONG — Gongmaison album cover Album · 1989 · Jazz Related Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Warthur
Gongmaison - "Gong", as in the Daevid Allen-led incarnation of the band, circa the classic Angel's Egg trilogy, and "maison" as in French for "house", as in house music. The Gongmaison project saw Allen pull together a range of musicians - including Gong stalwarts such as Didier Malherbe - for an experiment in fusing the classic Gong sound with modern-day dance music.

The connection isn't as left-field as you might think - Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy would launch a second career as System 7 a couple of years down the line when they realised the potential of taking their Rainbow Dome experiments and applying those ideas to dance music, and Allen's own The Wise Man In Your Heart sounds an awful lot like a prototype of the genre to me. Still, whilst the experiment is fascinating the album simply makes me yearn for another listen to You instead of continuing with the interminable Flying T. Dance Mix.

On the whole, worth a look for Gong fans and a nice experiment in dabbling in a genre otherwise ignored or sneered at by prog musicians, and of course the partial reunion here eventually led to further Allen-fronted Gong projects down the line. But I wouldn't put it in the upper tiers of the expanded Gong discography.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Music Caravan Bop
BILLY TAYLOR
Buy this album from MMA partners
Terceiro Mundo World Fusion
NOMADE ORQUESTRA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Chateau Post-Fusion Contemporary
LUIZ AVELLAR
Buy this album from MMA partners
Gratitude Pop/Art Song/Folk
LUIZ AVELLAR
Buy this album from MMA partners
Possession Nu Jazz
SHABAKA
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Shabaka - Timepieces (Visualizer) ft. Billy Woods
SHABAKA
snobb· 1 day ago
Raw Blues 2 Promo
DOUG MACLEOD
js· 1 day ago
All I Had Was The Blues
DOUG MACLEOD
js· 1 day ago
El Ausente - Classico Latino live in Colombia
CLASSICO LATINO
js· 2 days ago
Barbara Blue - Sweet, Strong & Tight
BARBARA BLUE
js· 2 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed