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I know what you're thinking: experimental music doesn't work Louis, but in this case you are wrong people! Gong, a terrific experimental band that haven't stopped creating brilliant music since 1967! And they've conjured up another album this year 'I See You.' They is so much beyond this band that makes them mysterious, crazy, scary but contagious. You can't help but wanting to know their exact movements: you always want to know what they're going to do next. But I'll let you in on a secret...you can't do that, it is impossible! I've tried!

Gong even possess mythology, I mean not many bands can say that! With elements of Buddhism bringing the band a new dimension of mystery to their game, Gong are a unique assembly of musicians playing all kinds of music. They fuse together rock, jazz, funk! They use a variety of instruments to spark up a genre classified as 'space rock,' all of this combining together to make progressive psychedelic rock!

And their live sets have gone down in history! They've been gigging for nearly 50 years and the energy that erupts from them is still as big as ever. Check them out performing songs such as 'Magdalene' and 'You can't kill me' and you'll be amazed at what you're witnessing. The lead singer Daevid Allen is an ancient gem!

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The Performance was excellent! Heavy and full on,so much that I kept thinking that they were capturing the original Gong performances back in the day. Master builder was my highlight! ( i think most people that were there would agree), someone tweeted that they blew the roof off :). The new vocalist (I'm sorry as I do not know his name) did an excellent job. I feel the band really did Davaed proud!!!

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[News] Gong announces their “Universal Ascension Tour 2024” 

Continuing their live domination and “ Unending Ascending ” promotion Gong have announced more live shows across 2024  including dates in South America, European & UK festivals plus and extensive European tour for later in 2024 .. all this in addition to the UK shows in March with Ozric Tentacles

UNIVERSAL ASCENSION 24 – Tickets and info here: https://www.gongband.com/

“ We are delighted to announce the first tranche of international dates for the remainder of the year! More are due to be announced soon as well! We can’t wait to melt your minds and drink deep of the cosmic goo that such an interaction will invariably cause. With love from the Planet Gong “

06/04 CL Santiago Teatro Caupolican 13/04 FR Concarneau Le CAC 04/05 PT Gouveia Gouveia Art Rock Festival 20/07 DE Bad Doberan Zappanale 15/08 DE Eisfeld Woodstock Forever 24 16/08 UK Tunbridge Wells The Forum 17/08 UK Hernhill A New Day Festival 24 07/11 NL Tilburg O13 08/11 NL Zoetermeer Boerderij 10/11 DE Hamburg MS Stubnitz 11/11 DK Copenhagen Hotel Cecil 12/11 SE Malmö Babel 13/11 SE Goteborg Musikens Hus 15/11 SE Stockholm Debaser 16/11 SE Sala Rockland 18/11 FI Pori Validi Karkia Club 19/11 FI Espoo Louhisali 21/11 PL Warsaw Hybrydy 22/11 PL Bydgoszcz Kuźnia 23/11 PL Poznan CK Zamek 24/11 PL Katowice Rialto 26/11 DE Fürth Kofferfabrik 27/11 DE Jena KuBa 28/11 CZ Prague Akropolis 29/11 AT Ebensee Kino Ebensee 30/11 AT Vienna Porgy & Bess 03/12 DE Munich Backstage 04/12 DE Rüsselsheim Das Rind 05/12 DE Karlsruhe Jubez 06/12 FR Paris Cafe de la Danse 07/12 FR Colmar Le Grillen 09/12 DE Bonn Harmonie

read our Exclusive Interview with the band here: [Interview] Exclusive interview with Gong

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Post archive, [weekly playlist] may 2024 #03.

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• Discography

LOTUS UNFOLDING

April 2024 Tour

Ozric Tentacles are embarking on an extensive European tour in April 2024 focussing on a route through Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Eastern Europe and the Balkans to Greece and back via Germany.

Silas & Saski (Silas Wynne and Saskia Maxwell) will be the opening act on all of the tour dates.

April 3 – Casino Conzertsaal, Sint-Niklaas, BELGIUM (SOLD OUT) April 4 – De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, NETHERLANDS April 5 – Effenaar, Eindhoven, NETHERLANDS April 6 – Capitol, Langethal, SWITZERLAND April 8 – Hiroshima, Torino, ITALY April 9 – Magnolia, Milano, ITALY April 10 – Crazy Bull, Genova, ITALY April 11 – Spazio Rossellini, Roma, ITALY April 12 – TPO, Bologna, ITALY April 13 – Capitol, Pordenone, ITALY April 14 – Klub Kotac, Pula, CROATIA (SOLD OUT) April 15 – Club Mochvara, Zagreb, CROATIA April 16 – A38, Budapest, HUNGARY April 17 – Control Club, Bucharest, ROMANIA April 18 – Singles, Sofia, BULGARIA April 19 – Fuzz Club, Athens, GREECE April 20 – Mylos, Thessaloniki, GREECE April 22 – Transtation Subart, Kranj, SLOVENIA April 23 – Klub Kotac, Pula, CROATIA (SECOND SHOW ADDED) April 27 – Kulturzentrum Das Rind, Russelsheim, GERMANY April 28 – Forum, Bielefeld, GERMANY

More dates on this tour TBC.

Please keep checking social media and Live Shows listings.

In the meantime, Ozric Tentacles head out for the third and final tour with labelmates GONG through March 2024.

Ozric Tentacles return with their new excursion into the worlds of the magical and brilliant with another aural treat in the form of ‘Lotus Unfolding’ out now via Kscope.

Lotus Unfolding is the new release from UK based instrumental intergalactic travellers Ozric Tentacles. Six new tunes have been added to the Ozric universe, conceived, written and recorded in their own ‘Blue Bubble’ studio in Fife.

Ozric Tentacles’ aural synapses buzz throughout the album to channel the band’s limitless creativity, making Lotus Unfolding the perfect conduit of the spiritual and the physical. It’s an essential addition to the band’s catalogue.

Lotus Unfolding is available on CD Digipak, Limited Marble LP with limited die cut sleeve, Blue LP also with limited die cut sleeve, Black LP and available digitally.

Trees of Eternity

Travelling The Great Circle

Alongside the first four official studio albums released by Ozric Tentacles - Pungent Effulgent, Erpland, Strangeitude and Jurassic Shift - and Live Underslunky, Travelling The Great Circle offers a collection of rare content from band members old and new, personal artefacts from close associates of the band, and new Erpmen drawn by Ed Wynne. The 80-page Hardback Book Edition also features liner notes by Dominic Blake, rare photographs and hard to find audio and visual material. The bonus disc Demos & Rarities was hand-picked and remastered by Ed Wynne. 

This edition also includes a DVD featuring the band performing to a sold out crowd at Brixton’s Fridge in 1991, along with various TV appearances from the era.

"Ozric Tentacles still inhabit that part of the sonic landscape where Gong rub shoulders with Jean-Michel Jarre." The Arts Desk

One of the most influential bands to emerge from the UK's festival scene, Ozric Tentacles formed during the solstice at Stonehenge Free Festival 1983 going on to become psychedelic staples at Glastonbury and other festivals. The creative vision of multi-instrumentalist Ed Wynne, the Ozrics' uniquely trippy soundscapes connect fans of progressive rock, psychedelia and dance music culture.

Watch Gong's new video for If Never I'm And Ever You

Gong release live clip ahead of Pulsing Signals and their upcoming 2022 tour

Gong have shared a new live video for If Never I’m And Ever You ahead of their extensive 2022 tour. The clip captures the band performing the song, taken from The Universe Also Collapse s , in the intimate setting of their rehearsal space before the pandemic.

Says frontman Kavus Torabi, “Here we are back at the start of 2019, rehearsing for The Universe Collapses tour, from which the recordings for Pulsing Signals were taken. The tour was wonderful and the shows were wild. We're very excited for you to finally hear the album and look forward to seeing you on our UK tour in March."

Gong's live album Pulsing Signals is out on February 18 via Kscope. It was recorded across shows at The Wardrobe in Leeds, The Cluny in Newcastle and Rescue Rooms in Nottingham in 2019 as the band toured  The Universe Also Collapses . This record finds the group in spirited form as they undertake their final tour before the global pandemic took charge.

Gong will be taking their This Is The Moment And Now Is The Time show on tour throughout February and March 2022 with more gigs confirmed in Europe later in the year. Scroll down for the full list of dates so far. 

GONG LIVE IN 2022

Feb 27: Fletching Trading Boundaries, UK Mar 01: Brighton Chalk, UK Mar 02: Southampton 1865, UK Mar 03: Reading Sub 89, UK Mar 04: Guildford Boileroom, UK Mar 05: Colchester Arts Arts Centre, UK Mar 07: Leicester Musician, UK Mar 08: Manchester, Gorilla, UK Mar 09: Glasgow Oran Mor, UK Mar 10: Carlisle Brickyard, UK Mar 11: Wigan The Old Courts, UK Mar 12: Stockton-On-Tees Georgian Theatre, UK Mar 13: Norwich Arts Centre, UK Mar 14: Bury St Edmunds The Apex, UK Mar 15 Birmingham Hare & Hounds, UK Mar 16 Nottingham Rescue Rooms, UK Mar 17: Newcastle Cluny, UK Mar 18 York Crescent, UK Mar 19: Hebden Bridge Trades Club, UK Mar 20: Bethesda Neuadd Ogwen, UK Mar 22: Exeter Phoenix, UK Mar 23: Bristol Thekla, UK Mar 24: Stroud Sub Rooms, UK Mar 25: Hitchin Club 85, UK Mar 26: Ramsgate Music Hall, UK Mar 27: Tunbridge Wells Forum, UK Mar 28: London The Garage Aug 07: Plympton Love Summer Festival 2022, UK Aug 13: Obersülzen Guru Guru Festival, Germany Sep 06: Verviers Spirit Of 66, Belgium Sep 07: Heerlen Nieuwe Nor, Netherlands Sep 08: Nijmegen, Netherlands Sep 09: Amstelveen, Netherlands Sep 10: Minden, Germany Sep 11: Bremen, Germany Sep 12: Hannover, Germany Sep 13: Hamburg, Germany Sep 14: Berlin, Germany Sep 15: Weinheim, Germany Sep 16: Russelsheim Am Main, Germany Sep 17: Jena, Germany

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Gong announce their Universal Ascension tour

Continuing their live domination and ‘unending ascending’ promotion gong have announced more live shows across 2024 including dates in south america, european & uk festivals plus an extensive european tour for later in 2024....

UNIVERSAL ASCENSION 24 "We are delighted to announce the first tranche of international dates for the remainder of the year! (Please note, there are more incoming). We can't wait to melt your minds and drink deep of the cosmic goo that such an interaction will invariably cause. With love from the Planet Gong ."

Dates are as follows: 06/04 CL Santiago Teatro Caupolican 13/04 FR Concarneau Le CAC 04/05 PT Gouveia Gouveia Art Rock Festival 20/07 DE Bad Doberan Zappanale 15/08 DE Eisfeld Woodstock Forever 24 16/08 UK Tunbridge Wells The Forum 17/08 UK Hernhill A New Day Festival 24 07/11 NL Tilburg O13 08/11 NL Zoetermeer Boerderij 10/11 DE Hamburg MS Stubnitz 11/11 DK Copenhagen Hotel Cecil 12/11 SE Malmö Babel 13/11 SE Goteborg Musikens Hus 15/11 SE Stockholm Debaser 16/11 SE Sala Rockland 18/11 FI Pori Validi Karkia Club 19/11 FI Espoo Louhisali 21/11 PL Warsaw Hybrydy 22/11 PL Bydgoszcz Kuźnia 23/11 PL Poznan CK Zamek 24/11 PL Katowice Rialto 26/11 DE Fürth Kofferfabrik 27/11 DE Jena KuBa 28/11 CZ Prague Akropolis 29/11 AT Ebensee Kino Ebensee 30/11 AT Vienna Porgy & Bess 03/12 DE Munich Backstage 04/12 DE Rüsselsheim Das Rind 05/12 DE Karlsruhe Jubez 06/12 FR Paris Cafe de la Danse 07/12 FR Colmar Le Grillen 09/12 DE Bonn Harmonie Tickets and info  gongband.com

Unending Ascending track list:

• Tiny Galaxies
• My Guitar is a Spaceship
• Ship Of Ishtar
• O, Arcturus!
• All Clocks Reset
• Choose Your Goddess
• Lunar Invocation
• Asleep Do We Lay

Gong ’ s Unending Ascending will be available on CD / Black LP / Limited edition Green LP and Digitally

GONG NEW ALBUM ‘ UNENDING ASCENDING ’ OUT NOW

Uk tour in nov 2023.

Following the success of 2019’s ‘The Universe Also Collapses’, Gong ’ s intergalactic voyage has once more entered Earth’s orbit with their new album ‘Unending Ascending’.

Set for release on November 3rd, the new album promises to offer yet another mind-expanding set of songs. Opener ‘Tiny Galaxies’ crackles with the electricity of supercharged sixties psych-pop, while ‘My Guitar Is A Spaceship’ is as close to an anthem as anything Gong have previously recorded. This uptempo, single-riff stomper is already a live favourite, garnering a positive reaction from a crowd of 90,000 Blur fans at Wembley Stadium in July 2023 when Gong frontman Kavus Torabi dropped it into his DJ set before Paul Weller took to the stage.

‘Ship of Ishtar’ is a rapt cosmic hymn where Gong make time itself stand still. Jet streams of kaleidoscopic melodies envelop ‘O, Arcturus’, to be followed by the lively polyrhythmic angularity of ‘All Clocks Reset’. ‘Choose Your Goddess’, a surprisingly muscular slice of ritualistic trance rock, ratchets up the intensity yet further. On ‘Lunar Invocation’ the band summons the Moon deities of yore with ululating feedback and squalling cymbals before the post-credits of ‘Asleep Do We Lay’ lull lugubriously, gently beginning the cycle all over again.

Regarding the single Kavus Torabi had the following to say:

“‘Tiny Galaxies ’ came together very quickly and we loved it so much we road tested it around the UK and Europe throughout the Summer of last year before we recorded it. The fantastic response we received playing it out made it the obvious choice as the first song to drop ahead of our new release. Pick the telescope up for a total headtrip through the cosmos in three and a half minutes, but, for all our sakes, don’t look down the other end.”

Accompanying the single and the announcement of the new album comes a video that brings the vibrant world of Gong to life. Created by Drain Hope, it’s the perfect visual representation to ‘Tiny Galaxies’. 

Kavus Torabi continues:

“Once again Drain Hope has illuminated our theta waves into this beautifully kaleidoscopic vision.”

Gong will be appearing alongside Ozric Tentacles on a co-headline tour throughout the UK in November/December 2023 as well as ‘The Last Blast’ Tour in 2024. 

OZRIC TENTACLES AND GONG TOUR 2023

• Friday 17 November – OXFORD, 02 Academy2
• Saturday 18 November – LONDON, O2 Forum
• with the Crazy World of Arthur Brown
• Sunday 19 November – MANCHESTER, O2 Ritz
• Monday 20 November – SHEFFIELD, 02 Academy2
• Tuesday 21 November – COLCHESTER, Arts Centre
• Thursday 23 November – NORTHAMPTON, Roadmender
• Friday 24 November - BRISTOL, O2 Academy
• Saturday 25 November – GLOUCESTER, Guildhall
• Sunday 26 November – BIRMINGHAM, 02 Academy2
• Tuesday 28 November – BRIGHTON, Chalk
• Wednesday 29 November – NORWICH, Epic Studios
• Thursday 30 November – BOURNEMOUTH, O2 Academy
• Friday 1 December – FROME, Cheese & Grain
• Saturday 2 December – LIVERPOOL, 02 Acedemy

THE LAST BLAST TOUR 2024

• Thu 7th March - EXETER - The Phoenix
• Fri 8th March - FALMOUTH - Princess Pavilion
• Sat 9th March LYME REGIS - Marine Theatre
• Sun 10th March - CARDIFF - The Globe
• Mon 11th March - SWANSEA - Patti Pavilion
• Wed 13th March - SOUTHAMPTON - The 1865
• Thu 14th March - MARGATE - Dreamland
• Fri 15th March - HULL - The Welly
• Sat 16th March - NOTTINGHAM - Rescue Rooms
• Sun 17th March - STOCKTON-ON-TEES - Georgian Theatre
• Mon 18th March - LINCOLN - Engine Shed
• Wed 20th March - LEEDS - Brudenell Social Club
• Thu 21st March - NEWCASTLE - University
• Fri 22nd March - GLASGOW - St Luke's 
• Sat 23rd March - EDINBURGH - Summerhall

GONG + OZRICS TEAM UP FOR THE LAST BLAST TOUR

After the roaring success of their previous tour, Ozric Tentacles and Gong join forces once more, embarking a  co-headline tour across the UK in November 2023. Regarded as one of the most influential bands to emerge from the UK’s festival scene, Ozric Tentacles returned after a long hiatus delivering their 2020 full length ‘Space For The Earth’.

Co-headliners and seminal psych-rockers Gong , released their studio album ‘The Universe Also Collapses’ also via Kscope in 2019, followed by live album ‘Pulsing Signals’ in 2022. Their 2022 joint tour was the first Ozric Tentacles full-band outing in eight years and the very first time that both Gong and Ozric Tentacles had toured together.

Fruit Salad Lights, long-time visual collaborator with both bands, will accompany their performances throughout the tours with a stunning light show and mind-expanding projections.

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown will also be appearing as a special guest at London’s November 18 th performance at O2 Forum.

Says Ozrics Tentacles multi-instrumentalist Ed Wynne regarding the announcement:

“It looks like we're heading out on tour once again this autumn. We had a great time last year with our label mates GONG and it was fun to take a full band out on the road after such a long hiatus. Brandi Wynne is back on bass, and we introduced our fantastic new drummer, Tim Wallander. So, here we go for round two – up, up and away!”

Gong frontman Kavus Torabi also had the following to say:

“We knew the first tour we did last year with Ozric Tentacles was going to be good, but I don’t think either band realised just how good. As mind-blowing as it may have been for the audience, it was as beautiful for both bands off stage.” Kavus continues

“Perhaps many people have always associated Gong with Ozrics but what became apparent in 2022 when we toured together was just how stylistically different yet completely compatible both bands were. Two very unique sides of the same psychedelic coin. Make no mistake, regardless of which band plays first or last, this is an unforgettable show, a full-on sensory assault with both bands absolutely tapping into the eternal. We would have been fools not to repeat it.”

As co-headliners, the bands will alternate the running order each night.

Pulsing Signals (Live Album)

Iconic British band Gong have announced their new live album ‘Pulsing Signals’ will be released on Kscope in February 2022. Recorded live across three shows at The Wardrobe in Leeds, The Cluny in Newcastle and Rescue Rooms in Nottingham in 2019 as the band toured their acclaimed album ‘The Universe Also Collapses’, this live record finds the group in spirited form as they undertake, unbeknownst to them, their final tour before the global pandemic took charge.

Formed in 1969 by Daevid Allen, one of the founding members of Soft Machine, classic albums such as Camembert Electrique, Flying Teapot and You established Gong as one of the most unique, innovative and experimental rock groups of the Seventies.    

Before he sadly passed away in 2015, Allen laid out his hopes for a future Gong, that it should be uplifting, exploratory and a positive force. Kavus Torabi, Fabio Golfetti, Ian East, Dave Sturt and Cheb Nettles, chosen by him, continue his vision.

Owing to Gong being an international band, lockdown and restrictions on travel made it impossible to convene and work on new music. The band received many requests by fans to release a live album and fortunately enough, the band had multitrack recordings of several shows from the 2019 tour. Bassist Dave Sturt went through all the master tapes and selected the best performances which became Pulsing Signals.

The album was recorded by Pete Wibrew and mixed by Frank Byng, while mastering was handled by Andy Jackson. The stylish artwork was designed by Steve Mitchell, who has worked closely with the band since 2016’s Rejoice I’m Dead.

To mark the announcement, Gong have shared ‘My Sawwtooth Wake’ from the album. Taken from 2019’s ‘The Universe Also Collapses’, the sprawling near 13 minute epic captures the band on top form with an appropriately mind bending video to match.  

With touring now set to recommence and bookings going long into 2022 and beyond, Daevid Allen’s vision for the future looks set to be fulfilled.

Pulsing Signals will be available on 2CD & digitally on 18 th February   and   2LP on 22 nd March   - all formats are available now.

The Universe Also Collapses

The vanguards of 20th and 21st century psychedelic music lead the way with their new studio album.

Gong is more than a band. It’s an idea. A way of life. A continuum that exists in all times, in all places, everywhere.

Gong’s new album, The Universe Also Collapses , their first for Kscope, is the latest shining point on that continuum, a masterpiece of visionary 21st century psychedelia, a celebration of the magick of science, a journey both internal and external, bridging the worlds of lysergic exploration and quantum physics, equal parts Terence McKenna and Stephen Hawking.

“We wanted to make what we thought of as the ultimate psychedelic rock album,” says Gong’s singer and guitarist Kavus Torabi of The Universe Also Collapses. “The word ‘psychedelic’ gets bandied around a lot, and a great deal of the stuff that gets called psychedelic nowadays doesn’t match up to the description. I want to hear music that makes me feel like I’m on drugs.” 

The Universe Also Collapses is all of that, but it’s much more too. This is the second album since the death in 2015 of Daevid Allen, the maverick genius who founded Gong more than 50 years ago in a flash of LSD-fuelled inspiration. If 2016’s Rejoice! I’m Dead! was a tribute of sorts to the band’s departed talisman, then The Universe Also Collapses marks the dawning of a new chapter.

“Gong has always been a force for propulsive, forward-thinking open-mindedness,” says Kavus. “The last album was partly us paying tribute to Daevid, but I think maybe Daevid would have seen that as a bit too sentimental. He was more ‘Fuck that you guys, do your own thing.’”

Torabi and bandmates Fabio Golfetti (guitar), Dave Sturt (bass), Ian East (saxophone) and Cheb Nettles (drums) have taken that unspoken instruction to heart on The Universe Also Collapses . Where Gong’s wilfully erratic path has stopped off at pulsing space rock, pot-headed whimsy, needle-sharp fusion and all points in between, the new album is an undiluted psychedelic experience.

“We wanted to put Gong back at the heart of being an absolutely psychedelic band,” says Kavus. “From the start we wanted to make delirious, psychedelic, head music that you could actually dance to!  It’s not a prog record, it's not a jazz fusion record – it’s a psychedelic record.”

It’s no coincidence that The Universe Also Collapses feels like a trip, in the true sense. Its four tracks ebb and flow, bend and warp, fold in on themselves then open out in a dazzling display of sound and imagery. This is the lysergic experience recreated in musical form.

“We consciously wanted it to sound like a big musical revelation. Let it have everything: the build-up, the bliss, the dark voyage of the soul, the epiphany,” explains Kavus.

This approach is embodied in opening track, “Forever Reoccurring”, an epic 20-minute song-come-sonic exploration that consciously upends conventional notions of time and space.

“That song started off with this one riff,” explains Kavus. “One thing Gong is good at is stretching a riff out, so we did that for a while, and we thought, ‘What if this just grew and grew? This might make a brilliant opening song.’”

That same instinctive approach shaped the other tracks that make up the album. Gong had amassed more than 30 potential songs, but they decided to focus on the very first three they’d written: the jagged yet spiralling “If Never I’m And Ever You”, the alternately turbulent and blissful 13-minute mindscape “My Sawtooth Wake”, and the revelatory finale “The Elemental”.

“As the Buddha says, ‘Where there is choice there is misery, where there is clarity there is no choice.’ We said, ‘Let’s just take the first three and develop them,’” explains Kavus.

The Universes Also Collapses isn’t a concept album (“That suggests there’s a narrative,” says Kavus) but there is an over-arching theme that binds it together, best expressed in one of the opening track’s key lines: “All the moments that make up a life/Forever at once reoccurring. The idea stems from a realisation I had that everything is happening at once,” says Kavus. “ Our experiences of time as a linear thing is merely because we’re trapped in these funny bodies that experience it that way. But everything is happening at once – there’s no such thing as time. It’s an illusion. The idea is that the Big Bang and the inevitable collapse of the universe is all happening in the same instant – the here and now,” he continues. “All we have is this single moment, and everything that has happened or ever will happen is happening within it.”

This theme flickers through The Universe Also Collapses’ three other tracks like tracer lines. Lyrical and musical moments reappear, reflecting an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of experience. “Like an acid trip, themes keep coming back,” says Kavus.

Throughout their career, Gong have simultaneously been a reflection of, and a reaction to, the real world. The Universe Also Collapses doesn’t so much provide solace from these crazy times as put them in a proper perspective – one that makes them look very, very insignificant.

“Post-internet, post-social media, I don’t know what the real world is,” says Kavus. “I'm with the author Robert Anton Wilson - the real world is only your own reality tunnel. Everybody might be projecting their reality tunnel, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it's mine or yours or whatever. My reality tunnel is Gong, and it is psychedelic music. That's the world I want to live in, and it’s a great world to live in. But Daevid saw Gong as a radical force for good. I'm always aware of that.”

Even four years after his death, Daevid Allen’s presence is inextricably bound up with Gong. But where Rejoice! I’m Dead! was undeniably a tribute to their departed colleague, The Universe Also Collapses marks a new chapter.

“ Gong was Daevid’s vision, but he didn't want his vision to be buried with him in the grave,” says Kavus. “He always wanted it to carry on, with him or without him. Daevid always said that Gong is a ship that you get on and off and it’s up to whoever is on the ship to take it wherever they want to.

“With this one it was very much, Let's make the record that we want to make. No guests or anything. We're legitimately Gong, let's make our album’,” he continues “If there's stuff on there that doesn't sound like what people think Gong is, well, we're not going to pretend we're in 1974, this is 2019. This is very much us going, ‘If we're following Daevid's idea, then we are Gong and we have made this on our own terms.’ We are Gong and this is what Gong is.”

Gong have never been a spiritual band in the glib sense of the word. But wherever Daevid Allen is now, he would be proud of the latest evolutionary step being taken by the entity that he helped will into being.

“He just wanted Gong to carry on. That his idea wouldn't die with his body.” says Kavus emphatically. “ And he would love that it's gone back to being really psychedelic again.”

But then Daevid Allen isn’t really gone. Like Gong - like everyone who has ever listened or ever will listen to them – he exists at all points, everywhere, at the same time. As the mantra-like closing words of The Universe Also Collapses’ final track, “The Elemental”, put it: “Remember, there is only now…”

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• GONG ( Asian pop group )
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• Jul 20 2024 Galopprennbahn Bad Doberan, Germany Add time Add time Add times
• Aug 15 2024 Feriendorf Auenland Eisfeld, Germany Add time Add time Add times
• Aug 16 2024 The Forum Royal Tunbridge Wells, England Add time Add time Add times
• Aug 17 2024 A New Day Festival 2024 Faversham, England Add time Add time Add times
• Sep 24 2024 Egner Chapel, Muhlenberg College Allentown, PA, USA Add time Add time Add times
• Sep 27 2024 The Grey Eagle Asheville, NC, USA Add time Add time Add times
• Oct 01 2024 Reggies' Music Joint Chicago, IL, USA Add time Add time Add times
• Oct 02 2024 Shank Hall Milwaukee, WI, USA Add time Add time Add times
• Oct 03 2024 The Token Lounge Westland, MI, USA Add time Add time Add times
• Oct 04 2024 Ludlow Garage Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH, USA Add time Add time Add times
• Oct 05 2024 Irving Theater Indianapolis, IN, USA Add time Add time Add times
• Oct 06 2024 Beachland Ballroom and Tavern Cleveland, OH, USA Add time Add time Add times
• Oct 20 2024 ProgStock Festival 2024 Rutherford, NJ, USA Doors 11:30 AM  –  Scheduled: 12:00 PM 11:30 AM 12:00 PM
• Nov 07 2024 Poppodium 013 Tilburg, Netherlands Doors 7:00 PM  –  Scheduled: 8:00 PM 7:00 PM 8:00 PM
• Nov 08 2024 De Boerderij Zoetermeer, Netherlands Add time Add time Add times
• Nov 11 2024 Hotel Cecil Copenhagen, Denmark Add time Add time Add times
• Nov 12 2024 Babel Malmö, Sweden Add time Add time Add times
• Nov 16 2024 Rockland Sala Gruva, Sweden Add time Add time Add times
• Nov 19 2024 Louhisali Espoo, Finland Add time Add time Add times
• Nov 22 2024 Klub Kuźnia Bydgoszcz, Poland Add time Add time Add times
• Nov 24 2024 Kinoteatr Rialto Katowice, Poland Add time Add time Add times
• Nov 26 2024 Kofferfabrik Fürth, Germany Add time Add time Add times
• Nov 27 2024 Kulturbahnhof Jena, Germany Add time Add time Add times
• Nov 28 2024 Palác Akropolis Prague, Czechia Add time Add time Add times
• Nov 29 2024 Kino Ebensee, Austria Add time Add time Add times
• Nov 30 2024 Porgy & Bess Vienna, Austria Add time Add time Add times
• Dec 03 2024 Backstage Club Munich, Germany Add time Add time Add times
• Dec 04 2024 Das Rind Rüsselsheim, Germany Add time Add time Add times
• Dec 05 2024 Jubez Karlsruhe, Germany Add time Add time Add times
• Dec 06 2024 Café de la Danse Paris, France Add time Add time Add times
• Dec 07 2024 Le Grillen Colmar, France Add time Add time Add times
• Dec 09 2024 Harmonie Bonn, Germany Add time Add time Add times

Gong at Teatro-Cine, Gouveia, Portugal

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Gong at CL.Prog 2024

• My Guitar Is a Spaceship
• Tiny Galaxies
• My Sawtooth Wake
• Lunar Invocation
• Choose Your Goddess

Gong at Casa Rockambole, São Paulo, Brazil

• You Can't Kill Me
• All Clocks Reset
• Through Restless Seas I Come
• Master Builder

Gong at Summerhall, Edinburgh, Scotland

Gong at saint luke's, glasgow, scotland, gong at newcastle university students' union, newcastle upon tyne, england, gong at the engine shed, lincoln, england, gong at georgian theatre, stockton-on-tees, england.

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Gong at The Welly Club, Kingston upon Hull, England

Gong at dreamland ballroom, margate, england.

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• You Can't Kill Me ( 118 )
• Master Builder ( 113 )
• Oily Way ( 73 )
• I Never Glid Before ( 71 )
• Rejoice! ( 67 )

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Acid Mothers Gong Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. Daevid Allen Daevid Allen and Euterpe Fältsånger Invisible Opera Company of Tibet Pierre Moerlen’s Gong Mother Gong Motorpsycho Planet Gong Ty Segall Steve Hillage Band System 7 The Tangent University of Errors

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Daevid Allen The Beatles Irving Berlin Donovan Steve Hillage Allan Holdsworth Mother Gong Planet Gong

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567 people have seen Gong live.

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Country Gongbang’s Opry debut

Country Gongbang makes their Grand Ole Opry debut (6/22/24) – photo courtesy the Grand Ole Opry

South Korean bluegrass band Country Gongbang had a big night last Saturday on their first US tour when they got to play on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville for the first time. They got the full debut treatment, with parking signs, names on the marquee, and everything.

The group consists of Yebin Kim on mandolin, Hyunho Jang on banjo, Jongsu Yoon on fiddle, Sunjae Won on guitar, Keeha Song on bass.

Their first visit to the US was for the 2023 World of Bluegrass convention in Raleigh, NC, where they were a featured showcase act. That trip was enabled through the IBMA’s International Band Performance Grant , which helps cover the travel expenses for deserving non-US bluegrass artists to attend and showcase at WOB.

Also included with the grant is an extended US tour the following year, which is what has brought the Gongbang back this month. They will be performing all over the country this next few weeks, and also got to play at The Station Inn last Friday night. They had already done the CBA Father’s Day festival as their first stop, and will appear this weekend at the Bluegrass Hall of Fame’s ROMP Festival in Owensboro, KY.

Though this talented young group sings primarily in their native language, you can immediately recognize it as good bluegrass music.

Here are a couple of songs from their second set at the CBA Fest.

Additional stops on the tour include:

• July 5 – Forever Bluegrass Fridays (Chattanooga, TN)
• July 6 – Museum at Five Points (Cleveland, TN)
• July 11 – PPPP Proudly Presents (Cleveland, TN)
• July 13-14 – Frankfort Bluegrass Festival (Frankfort, IL)
• July 18-20 – Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival (Oak Hill, NY)
• July 25-26 – Ossipee Valley Music Festival (Hiram, ME)

The IBMA put together this short video from Saturday night’s Opry.

The Opry shared some photos from the show, and we got a few more from the band. It does your heart good to see such bluegrass dreams come true for these fine pickers and singers, who learned the music back in their homeland.

The International Band Performance Grant is funded by donations from the public, so if this story moves you to contribute, you may do so online .

Many congratulations Country Gongbang!

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Today's Strands NYT Hints (and Answer) for Monday, July 1, 2024

I f you’re looking for hints and answers for Strands for Monday, July 1, 2024, read on—I’ll share some clues and tips, and finally the solution to the puzzle with the theme “We’ve got the beat.”

For an easy way to come back to our Strands hints every day, bookmark this page . You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Strands answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the spangram and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

Hint for the spangram in today’s Strands puzzle

A word for the rhythmic section of a concert band.

Hint for the theme words in today’s Strands puzzle

These are examples of instruments people in that rhythmic section might play.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Strands puzzle!

We’re about to give away the answers to today’s Strands puzzle. 

What is the spangram in today’s Strands?

Today’s spangram is PERCUSSION.

What are the theme words in today’s Strands?

The theme words today are: DRUM, TRIANGLE, RATTLE, CYMBAL, GONG, TAMBOURINE.

Here’s what the board looks like when the puzzle is solved:

How I solved today’s Strands

I wonder if the theme is somehow percussion related? Let’s see. 

Yep, there’s DRUM in the upper left. ?

TRIANGLE is below that. ?

I now see the spangram directly to the right of these words: PERCUSSION. ?

RATTLE completes the left half of the puzzle. ?

Next, I see CYMBAL in the upper right. ?

Followed by TAMBOURINE, which travels from the bottom of the puzzle and up the right side. ?

Lastly, GONG. ?

How to play Strands

You can find the Strands game on the New York Times website and in the NYT Games app.

When you start playing, you’ll see a game board with an assortment of letters, flanked by a clue that gives a hint at the board’s theme—this will be a phrase, like “Better with age.” Your job is to find the hidden words within the board that reflect the puzzle’s theme.

A crossword crossed with a word search

The most important word to find is the “spangram,” a word that more explicitly states the puzzle’s theme. (For example, the spangram for the puzzle with the theme "Better with age" is FERMENTED, which describes products that are, you guessed it, get better with age.) The spangram will span the entire game board, either from left to right or top to bottom (hence the name). When you find the spangram, it will be highlighted in yellow. Solving the spangram usually makes the rest of the puzzle much easier to complete.

In Strands, words can travel any direction (up, down, left, right, and diagonal), and you will only use each letter once. There is only one correct solution. When you correctly identify one of the puzzle’s words (for example, KOMBUCHA, MISO, or KIMCHI), it will be highlighted in blue. 

If you are struggling to solve the puzzle, you can submit any non-theme words you see (as long as they are four letters or more) to receive credit toward a single hint. If you submit three non-theme words, the “Hint” button will be clickable; if you click it, all of the letters in one of the theme words will be highlighted for you. You will still have to link these highlighted letters in the right order to form one of the theme words. If there is already a hint on the board and you use another hint before solving for that word, that word’s letter order will be revealed.

How to win Strands

Unlike Connections and Wordle, you cannot fail Strands. When you submit guesses, you will either correctly identify an answer, receive credit toward a hint, or the text will shake back and forth, indicating that the word you submitted is too short or not valid. You can't run out of guesses, and there is no time limit.

You win when you’ve correctly used all the letters on the board, meaning that you have identified the spangram and all of the theme words. Like other NYT games, upon solving the puzzle, you will see a shareable card that indicates how you performed that day: blue dots ? indicate theme words you found, the yellow dot ? indicates when you found the spangram, and a lightbulb ? indicates words that you received a hint for.

Music and Concerts | Is 1974 the third-best year ever for great…

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Music and concerts | is 1974 the third-best year ever for great albums from bob marley to joni mitchell, you tell us, other standout albums from that year were made by king crimson, gram parsons, randy newman, ann peebles, and dozens more..

If 1972 was the greatest year ever for albums , and if 1973 was close behind , where does that leave 1974?

It’s a fair question, especially since I enthusiastically wrote articles in 2022 and last year in the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Sunday Arts section singing the praises of my favorite albums of, respectively, 1972 and 1973. The answer to the question I now pose about 1974 is a tricky one.

At least it is for me, since –— in mid-May of that year –— I graduated early from Pacific High School in San Bernardino and returned to Frankfurt, Germany, where I had lived from the age of 7 to 16. Once back in Frankfurt, I was introduced to a brave new world of musical adventure. My aural horizons and album collection both quickly expanded.

Fortunately, great music easily transcends borders and time zones on either side of the Atlantic. Witness such standout 1974 albums as Joni Mitchell’s “Court and Spark,” Bob Marley & The Wailers’ “Natty Dread,” Randy Newman’s “Good Old Boys,” Stevie Wonder’s “Fulfillingness’ First Finale,” Neil Young’s “On the Beach,” Miles Davis’ “Get Up With It,” Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and Tangerine Dream’s “Phaedra.”

The list of similarly impressive 1974 releases also includes Steely Dan’s “Pretzel Logic.” Linda Ronstadt’s “Heart Like a Wheel,” David Bowie’s “Diamond Dogs,” Joe Pass’ “Virtuoso,” Bonnie Raitt’s “Streetlights,” Roxy Music’s “Country Life,” Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand the Rain” and Parliament’s “Up for the Down Stroke.”

Kraftwerk and Willie Nelson

Just as good from 1974 are Labelle’s “Nightbirds,” Jackson Browne’s “Late for the Sky,” Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn,” Fela Kuti & The Africa 70’s “Confusion,” Blue Oyster Cult’s “Secret Treaties,” Grateful Dead’s “From the Mars Hotel,” The Raspberries’ “Starting Over,” Can’s “Soon Over Babaluma” and Willie Nelson’s “Phases and Stages.”

It was also the year some artists released two very memorable albums each, most notably James Brown (“The Payback” and “Hell”), Leo Kottke (“Ice Water” and “Dreams and All That Stuff”), Queen (“Queen II” and “Sheer Heart Attack”) and former San Diegan Frank Zappa (“Apostrophe(‘)” and “Roxy & Elsewhere”).

I happily heard nearly all the albums cited above the year they were released. But one of the joys of music is discovering worthy albums a year, a decade, or even longer after they were released. Accordingly, some of my favorite 1974 albums were acquired later on.

Many of them came from Arcade Music Co. Record and Tape Exchange’s flagship store in downtown San Diego, the city I moved to from Frankfurt in November 1975. Albums at Arcade at that time were priced at $1.98 each. While they were all used, each album came with a five-day guarantee.

Arcade’s customers over the years included the teenaged Frank Zappa in the mid-1950s and members of pioneering San Diego punk-rock band The Zeroes in the 1970s. I frequented the store so often I was on a first-name basis with several of its employees. One of them, Mike Georgia, shared my passion for the woefully obscure English band Patto and its astounding guitarist, Ollie Halsalll, who was prominently featured on the self-titled debut album by The Rutles.

When a customer Mike was ringing up one day professed ignorance of Patto’s recently deceased lead singer, Mike was incensed. “You don’t know who Mike Patto is? Get out!” he barked at the hapless shopper. “But what about my albums?” the understandably surprised customer asked. “You’re not getting your albums!” Mike yelled, his neck bulging. “Get out!” It was like a scene from the film adaptation of the book “High Fidelity,” albeit 16 years before Nick Hornby’s classic 1996 book was actually published.

The treasure trove of 1974 albums I bought at Arcade included Gil Evans’ “Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix,” Milton Nascimento’s “Milagre Dos Peixe,” The Wild Magnolias’ “The Wild Magnolias,” Horacee Arnold’s “Tales of the Exonerated Flea,” Luther Allison’s “Luther Blues,” Astor Piazzola’s “Libertango” and Keith Jarrett’s “Belonging.” I somehow resisted the fleeting urge to buy a copy of motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel’s self-titled, largely music-free album.

Arcade is also where I came across a number of 1974 debut albums. Some were real finds, most notably Robert Palmer’s “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley,” Dee Dee Bridgewater’s “Afro Blue,” The Residents’ “Meet The Residents” and Dr. Feelgood’s “On the Jetty.” Others were negligible (take a bow Kiss, Rush, Kansas and Judas Priest). And there was one very curious misfire, “Tina Turns The Country On,” the first solo release (and only country album) by Tina Turner.

Life overseas

For me, 1974 was bifurcated. I spent the first five months in San Bernardino, where I knew no one who shared my musical tastes. For the rest of that year and the first nine months of 1975, I was back in Frankfurt where I had a good number of friends and rented a one-room attic apartment. It didn’t have a bath or a shower, just a bed, a closet, a sink, a toilet, a mini fridge, a chair and a small table on which I set the vintage Remington portable typewriter my parents had given me before I left San Bernardino.

I used the Remington to write album reviews and music-related interviews for the magazine Overseas Life, which –— despite my clear lack of experience –— had hired me to write about music when I was a 10th grader at Frankfurt American High School. Published just outside Frankfurt, Overseas Life was available free on U.S. military bases in all the NATO countries in Europe and as far afield as Turkey.

Now, instead of snail-mailing my album reviews from California, I hand-delivered them to the magazine’s offices. I was in no way daunted by the fact I did not have a record player during my entire 16-month sojourn in Frankfurt.

But, hey, that’s what friends are for! And I soon found a temporary Frankfurt home for my albums with two new pals, sister and brother Aniko and John Ronto, whose jazz-aficionado father, Jack, had an excellent stereo system and a terrific record collection. It was at the Ronto’s that I did much of my album-listening.

I was so devoted to music that my only carry-on bag when I flew to Frankfurt from California was a case that held 30 of my favorite albums. All of them are still in my collection today. As I went through customs at the Frankfurt airport, I was asked to open the case. The young, uniformed customs inspector, who had a mustache and longish hair, randomly pulled out one of my albums. It was “There is Nobody as Fascinating as a Jazz Musician” by Wolfgang Dauner, Germany’s most daring pianist and band leader.

The customs inspector smiled and waved me through without checking either my suitcase or my passport.

It’s unclear if he would have been as accommodating had he had pulled out my copy of Gentle Giant’s “Three Friends,” Leo Kottke’s “Ice Water,” Kraftwerk’s “Ralf and Florian” or Mahavishnu Orchestra’s “Birds of Fire.” But no matter.

I was back in Frankfurt, where I soon attended concerts by everyone from Wolfgang Dauner, Ravi Shankar, Frank Zappa, Stephane Grappelli, Genesis, Joe Henderson, Roxy Music, Julian Bream, Maggie Bell, Johnny Griffin and Savoy Brown to Return To Forever, Paco de Lucia, Wishbone Ash, Klaus Doldinger’s Passport, Mott The Hoople, Brian Auger, Albert Mangelsdorff, Kevin Ayers (whose band featured Patto alum Ollie Halsall on guitar), Frantic Dwarf, Volker Kriegel and the English blues-rock band Chicken Shack, whose leader, Stan Webb, had been my first interview subject when I was 16. (And my second when I was 18, but that’s another story.)

My album collection increased literally overnight, following my first visit to the offices of Overseas Life where a pile of albums had been mailed for my review consideration from Virgin Records in London. They included Tangerine Dream’s “Phaedra, Henry Cow’s “Unrest,” Gong’s “You,” Fred Frith’s “Guitar Solos,” David Bedford’s “Star’s End” and Dudu Pukwana’s “In the Township,” which was my welcome gateway to jazz from South Africa.

So, what are my favorite albums of 1974?

Depending on my mood, my picks can change by the hour.

On another day, I might pick Randy Newman’s “Good Old Boys,” Gil Scott-Heron’s “Winter in America,” Neil Young’s “On the Beach,” Bennie Maupin’s “The Jewel in the Lotus,” Richard & Linda Thompson’s “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” and Weather Report’s “Mysterious Traveler.” But right now, the following six albums fit the bill perfectly.

Joni Mitchell, ‘Court & Spark’

Her sixth album in as many years, the luminous “Court and Spark” was Joni Mitchell’s most sophisticated work to date. Less nakedly introspective than her 1971 masterpiece, “Blue,” it still offered a candid exploration of the tug-of-war between conflicting desires. Or, as Mitchell so knowingly sings on “Help Me,” still the biggest hit of her career: “We love our lovin’ / But not like we love our freedom.”

King Crimson, ‘Red’

Few albums have captured the sound of a band simultaneously exploding and imploding as powerfully as “Red” by King Crimson, the seminal English progressive-rock act that influenced everybody from Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain to the members of Phish, Rush, Tool and Primus. Brainy and brawny, “Red” combines edgy dissonance, improvisational finesse and blistering power to create a hair-raising sonic experience that Crimson drummer Bill Bruford once described to me as “intelligent heavy metal.” It’s all that, and a lot more.

Bob Marley & The Wailers, ‘Natty Dread’

The departure of Wailers’ co-founders Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston seemed to spur Bob Marley to even greater creative heights on “Natty Dread.” Its nine songs, including “No Woman, No Cry,” “Lively Up Yourself” and “Revolution,” are by turns sensuous and thought-provoking, celebratory and reflective, as Marley mixes penetrating songs about redemption, love, faith and rebellion against corrupt political systems.

Eberhard Weber, ‘The Colours of Chloë’

A striking fusion of impressionistic jazz, hypnotic minimalism and contemporary chamber music, German bassist Eberhard Weber’s cello-drenched “The Colours of Chloë” is a singular work. By turns hushed and haunting, enigmatic and quietly electrifying, it established him and the German record label ECM as major international forces. “Chloë” was a key inspiration for Kate Bush, who later featured Weber’s wonderfully evocative upright electric bass work on her own albums, and for jazz guitar star Pat Metheny, who spearheaded the 2015 all-star concert of Weber’s music released by ECM as “Hommage à Eberhard Weber.”

Gram Parsons, ‘Grievous Angel’

Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris created such sweet harmony together on 1973’s “GP” that few could envision them topping it. But “Grievous Angel” is even better, a country and Americana-music gem that sounds as vital and stirring today as it did 50 years ago. With the chillingly beautiful “In My Hour of Darkness,” recorded only a few weeks before the 26-year-old Parsons suffered a fatal overdose in late 1973, he seemed to foretell his own death.

Little Feat, ‘Feats Don’t Fail Me Now’

The exceptional Los Angeles band Little Feat made three great albums, 1973’s “Dixie Chicken,” 1974’s “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” and 1975’s “The Last Record Album.” From start to finish, “Feats” captures the band at a creative peak with its intoxicating blend of rock, funk, blues, New Orleans R&B, and more. The opening three numbers  –— “Rock & Roll Doctor,” “Oh Atlanta” and the sinewy “Skin It Back” –— would be enough to make any album stand out. Here, they are matched note for note by the six superb songs that follow.

Slapp Happy, ‘Slapp Happy’

This sadly underappreciated German-British trio’s second album is a treasure trove of left-of-center art-pop that is sly, lilting and gently subversive. Singer Dagmar Krause deftly combined German cabaret traditions with what sometimes suggested clones of Edith Piaf, Diana Ross and Yoko Ono rolled into one. The album’s tango-fueled opening cut, “Casablanca Moon,” begins with this memorable couplet: He used to wear fedoras, now he wears a fez / There’s cabalistic innuendos in everything he says / Sucking at a cigarette, picking at a thread / Underneath the Casablanca Moon.

What is your favorite album of 1974, and why? Send your responses to [email protected]. Please include your name and where you live (not your address, but the area (such as North Park or Chula Vista).

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• My Guitar is a Spaceship - Single Version Gong Buy 4:28
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