RADIO GNOME INVISIBLE VOL. 2 - ANGEL'S EGG

On Gong's 4th album, the music is still as psychotic and schizophrenic as your state of mind will be after too much weed. In order to fully appreciate Gong, the two have to go together I guess: drugs and a bemused mindset.

Gong got a lot more coherent though, and kick off the album with one of their typical mesmerizing space-jazz jams. It flows into the more rocking Sold to the Highest Buddah, a groovy take on one of their obvious sources for inspiration: Syd Barrett. With 14 tracks for 45 minutes, there are many short interludes here. The jazz-rock jingle Castle In The Clouds is one of the best, very concise and to the point. Only a good minute long but still trippy. Also some of the longer songs are very fragmented. The 6 minutes of Prostitute Poem starts with a one minute of guitar and sound effects before it turns into a smoky jazz song with Middle-Eastern flavours. By the end of it we've had 18 minutes of coherent Gong material. That hadn't happened before.

After a bit of fun with Givin' My Love To You, the album has a bit of trouble to find its momentum back. Selene is quite charming but hardly essential. Flute Salad is a more interesting experiment but is sure to have you searching through all your drawers to find that last stash of grass. This music could serve as an excellent substitute to put you in higher states though. Oily Way is a pleasant psychedelic song that belongs to another era. Outer Temple / Inner Temple are way more convincing. Timeless space-jazz here and one of my most loved Gong moments.

The remainder of the album is ok but doesn't add much. With 20 minutes of passable jumble and 25 of essential material, 4 stars would be too flattering still, but it comes close.