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DAEVID ALLEN

Canterbury Scene • Australia


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Daevid Allen picture
Daevid Allen biography
Christopher David Allen - January 13th, 1938 (Melbourne, Australia) - 13 March 2015

Daevid Allen (sometimes credited as "Divided Alien") is an Australian poet, guitarist, singer, composer and performance artist best known as co-founder of the psychedelic rock bands SOFT MACHINE (in the UK, 1966) and GONG (in France, 1970).

In 1960, inspired by the Beat Generation writers he had discovered whilst working in a Melbourne bookshop, Daevid Allen travelled to Paris where he stayed at the Beat Hotel, moving into a room that had recently been vacated by Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky. While selling the International Herald Tribune around Le Chat qui Peche and the Latin Quarter, he met Terry Riley and also gained free access to the jazz clubs in the area. After meeting up with Willaim S. Burroughs and inspired by philosophies of Sun Ra, he formed a free jazz outfit, the Daevid Allen Trio, and performed at Burroughs' theatre pieces based on Burroughs' novel "The Ticket That Exploded".
Allen travelled to England, renting a room in Canterbury where he met his landlord's son, 16 year old Robert Wyatt.. They formed the band Soft Machine in 1966 with Kevin Ayers and Mike Ratledge. Ayers and Wyatt had previously played in Wilde Flowers.

Following a tour of Europe, Allen was refused re-entry to the UK due to overstaying his visa on a prior visit. He settled in Paris where, in May 1968, he took part in the protests which swept the city. He handed out teddy bears to the police and recited poetry in pidgin French, and now admits that he was scorned by the other protesters for being a beatnik.

Fleeing the police, he made his way to Deya, Majorca, with his partner Gilli Smyth. It was here that he recorded the first album under the name Gong, titled Magick Brother (released on BYG Actuel in 1969). They were joined by flautist and saxophonist Didier Malherbe, who they claimed to have found living in a cave on Robert Graves' estate.

In 1971 Gong released Camembert Electrrique. They became somewhat of an anarchist commune in rural France between 1973 and 1974. They were joined by Steve Hillage to record the Radio Gnome Trilogy after signing with Virgin, consisting of Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg and You.

Allen left this incarnation of Gong and recorded two solo albums, Good Morning and Now Is the Happiest Time of Your Life. In 1977...
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DAEVID ALLEN discography


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DAEVID ALLEN top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.20 | 68 ratings
Banana Moon
1971
3.79 | 60 ratings
Daevid Allen & Euterpe: Good Morning!
1976
3.30 | 57 ratings
Now Is the Happiest Time of Your Life
1977
2.89 | 26 ratings
N'existe pas!
1979
3.81 | 17 ratings
Divided Alien Playbax 80
1982
5.00 | 1 ratings
Ja-Am: Seven Drones
1990
3.00 | 1 ratings
The Australian Years
1990
3.13 | 16 ratings
Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth & Harry Williamson: ‎Stroking The Tail Of The Bird
1990
4.06 | 18 ratings
Australia Aquaria / She
1990
3.53 | 15 ratings
Daevid Allen & Kramer: Who's Afraid?
1992
3.00 | 4 ratings
Twelve Selves
1993
3.11 | 16 ratings
Dreamin' A Dream
1995
3.29 | 7 ratings
Daevid Allen & Kramer: Hit Men
1995
3.00 | 7 ratings
Eat Me Baby I'm A Jelly Bean
1998
2.54 | 4 ratings
Daevid Allen & Harry Williamson: Twenty Two Meanings
1999
3.00 | 3 ratings
Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth & Orlando Allen: I Am Your Egg
2005
4.00 | 2 ratings
Daevid Allen - Guru & Zero: Beauty and the Basket Case
2006
3.00 | 2 ratings
Daevid Alled & Don Falcone: Glissando Grooves
2006
3.00 | 2 ratings
Daevid Allen & Walter Funk: Altered States of Alien KWISP
2006
3.00 | 1 ratings
Soundbites 4 Tha Revelation
2012
3.00 | 2 ratings
Soundbites 4 Tha Revelation
2012
4.00 | 2 ratings
Stoned Innocent Frankenstein
2014
3.78 | 36 ratings
Daevid Allen Weird Quartet: Elevenses
2016

DAEVID ALLEN Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.80 | 5 ratings
Live Spring 88
1988
2.00 | 1 ratings
Divided Alien Clockwork Band
1997
3.00 | 2 ratings
Divided Alien Playbax (Disk 1)
2004
3.00 | 2 ratings
Divided Alien Playbax (Disk 2)
2004
3.00 | 2 ratings
Daevid Allen & Russell Hibbs: Bards of Byron Bay
2004
3.00 | 2 ratings
Daevid Allen & Nicoletta Stephanz: Live @ The Knitting Factory NYC
2004
3.00 | 2 ratings
Daevid Solo @ The Axiom Cheltenham 1998
2006
3.50 | 2 ratings
Daevid Allen & Magick Brothers: Live in Glastonbury Town
2006
3.00 | 1 ratings
Daevid Allen & Magick Brothers: Live in San Francisco
2012

DAEVID ALLEN Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

4.00 | 1 ratings
Daevid Allen & The Glissando Guitar Orchestrae: The Seven Drones (at Gong Uncon 06)
2008

DAEVID ALLEN Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.00 | 1 ratings
Tape Works
1990
3.00 | 1 ratings
Daevid Allen & Gilli Smyth: Deya Daze 1976-1979
1990
4.00 | 2 ratings
Invisible Opera Company of Oz: Melbourne Studio Tapes
2004
3.00 | 1 ratings
Gentle Genie
2004
4.50 | 2 ratings
Time of Your Life
2005
4.00 | 2 ratings
The Man From Gong: The Best of Daevid Allen
2006
3.00 | 2 ratings
Sixty Minutes With
2007

DAEVID ALLEN Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

3.45 | 11 ratings
The Death Of Rock & Other Entrances
1982
3.14 | 7 ratings
Alien in New York
1983
3.60 | 5 ratings
Don't Stop / Stop/Don't
1984
3.00 | 2 ratings
Radio Sessions
1994
4.00 | 2 ratings
Daevid Allen & Euterpe: Studio Rehearsal Tapes 1977
2004
3.80 | 5 ratings
Self Initiation
2004

DAEVID ALLEN Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Daevid Allen Weird Quartet: Elevenses by ALLEN, DAEVID album cover Studio Album, 2016
3.78 | 36 ratings

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Daevid Allen Weird Quartet: Elevenses
Daevid Allen Canterbury Scene

Review by Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

4 stars The seeds for this particular project began when Daevid Allen and his bass player Michael Clare contributed a few tracks to a California Psychedelic band called SPIRITS BURNING. It was SPIRITS BURNING's second record released in 2001 and a year later Allen, Clare, Falcone from SPIRITS BURNING and drummer Trey Sabatelli started a band called WEIRD BISCUIT TEATIME and released an album called "DJDDAY" in 2005. So fast forward to 2016 and they change the name to DAEVID ALLEN WEIRD QUARTET but we get the same guys plus Paul Sears from THE MUFFINS who shares drum duties with Sabatelli plus a second guitarist. This is a really good album and I'm so impressed with Don Falcone who is a multi-instrumentalist and he adds a lot of instruments to the sound here.

That second track "Imagicknation" sounds so much like an early GONG tune, but my first top three is the next tune "The Latest Curfew Craze" which is fast paced with a surprisingly heavy sound. An instrumental that burns. "Kick That Habit Man" sounds so old school with those spoken words that have an attitude at times. Distorted bass on "Alchemy" from Falcone. I like "The Cold Stuffings Of November" for that spacey and drifting sound. Next top three is "Grasshopping" and no surprise that this clocks in at 4:20. It opens with Allen saying "Here we go!" as the music kicks in. I like how the guitar cries over top. Organ after 2 1/2 minutes and a heavy atmosphere ends it. "God's New Deal" is folky with ethnic sounds including bouzouki and also accordion. "Killer Honey" is my final top three although the final two tracks would sure make my top five if I had gone that way. Rain and water sounds to start before a powerful atmosphere arrives with drums, bass and more. Nice and heavy! "Under The Yum Yum Tree Cafe" and "Banana Construction" end the album in a strong manner.

If your a GONG or Daevid Allen fan I think you'd be surprised at how good this 2016 release is.

 Daevid Allen & Euterpe: Good Morning! by ALLEN, DAEVID album cover Studio Album, 1976
3.79 | 60 ratings

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Daevid Allen & Euterpe: Good Morning!
Daevid Allen Canterbury Scene

Review by Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

4 stars 3.5 stars. Rounded up. Daevid Allen's second release is a good one, better than the debut or the one that follows in my opinion. He has the Spanish acoustic band EUTERPE helping out and these guys are players despite my distaste for acoustic music.

Gilli Smyth adds vocals and it's pretty cool that Mike Howlett adds bass to "Wise Men In Your Heart" while Pierre Moerlen adds percussion to this song that they both composed. It's the longest at 11 1/2 minutes and my favourite. The bass here is outstanding to say the least. Love the atmosphere and we get vocals coming and going. Vocal expressions too. The opener is a top three, a beautiful song called "Children Of The New World" with acoustic guitar and almost spoken vocals. How about "French Garden" a song that stood out for me from the start. Pleasant vocal melodies before the singing starts. It all turns fuller. So good. I don't usually mention bonus tracks as I like to stick to the original album but once in a blue moon I come across a really good bonus tune like "Euterpe Gratitude Piece" a live one at almost 10 minutes. So spacey and it's like the soundtrack to a movie scene where someone enters Heaven. Check out the psychedelic laughter at one point as the audience roars. The rooster from the title track makes an appearance later.

A solid album that has that Allen charm in spades. Can't go lower than 4 stars for this 1976 release.

 Now Is the Happiest Time of Your Life by ALLEN, DAEVID album cover Studio Album, 1977
3.30 | 57 ratings

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Now Is the Happiest Time of Your Life
Daevid Allen Canterbury Scene

Review by Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Released in 1977 this solo album by GONG's Daevid Allen was recorded in Spain and features several Spanish musicians. I'm surprised to see that the synth player is Victor Peraino from Arthur Brown's band. He played first on his "Journey" record from 1973. Victor adds synths on two tracks and a lot of these musicians only play on a track or two. Acoustic guitar and Daevid's vocals rule the day here along with beats. Of course we get plenty of silliness too.

The two tracks that I like are "Only Make Love If You Want To" or I saw it called "Lady Dear Lady" on another edition. A relaxed tune with reserved vocals and some atmosphere created by Victor's synths. "I Am" the longest track is more of a soundscape with the Glissando guitar from Allen dominating.

More miss than hit for my tastes so 3 stars fits the bill. It's pretty good but "Good Morning!" and the latter day "Elevenses" are both much better than this in my opinion.

 Banana Moon by ALLEN, DAEVID album cover Studio Album, 1971
3.20 | 68 ratings

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Banana Moon
Daevid Allen Canterbury Scene

Review by mental_hygiene

3 stars This is a very strange album that's in many ways dissapointing and intriguing. What brought me to this was my general attraction to canterbury solo careers. Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Steve Hillage, etc, there's a lot of big names to choose from. If that wasn't enough, there's the fact that this guy who lead the original lineup of Soft Machine was a member of the obscure garage boink music group Gong. Daevid Allen spells his name weird, so I thought his solo album would be just as pleasant or astounding. The cover art is really sick, and probably the only remotely polished element of this release.

I really love Ween, and one of my favorite Ween albums is GodWeenSatan. If you listen to the first song on this album, Time of Your Life, you might think that this album is absolutely miles away from GodWeenSatan or the Pod. I really love Frank Zappa, and one of my favorite Zappa albums is Joe's Garage. If you listen to the second song on this album, you might think that this album is absolutely miles away from Joe's Garage or We're Only in It for the Money. I really love Daniel Johnston, and one of my favorite Daniel Johnston albums is Hi, How Are You? Finally once you reach the song All I Want is Out of Here, you begin to understand where Banana Moon becomes relevant with all of the prior names. The album takes a complete 180 into absurity and chaos. I don't know if this album was at all relevant or influential to any of the previously mentioned names, but I hear a very clear connection. It is self expression by being as absolutely chaotic as possible.

Daevid Allen tricks us into believing that he rocks and/or rolls. Or that he is secretly a genius composer songwriter. I think the dude just had so much fine while recording this. At the same time you could easily write this off as complete gibberish, there's a charm to some of the droning proto-noise rock tracks towards the end. And His Adventures in the Land of Flip is probably the highlight of this album for me. Some might find it unbearable, but unbearable psychedelia is what I thrive on sometimes.

Most of all, how did this album get made? Gong is pretty out there for the early 70s, but I feel like the distinct aura of some of these songs was only possible in a DIY environment. See: all of the above mentioned DIY albums. Yes, I count Frank Zappa as a DIY musician, that's a different tangent for another review.

To end this review on a more serious tone, this album is really unbalanced. The original issue sells the first side as more of an accessible post-soft machine collection of songs, which range from alright to really mediocre. The second side is the freakout, which I think is the only consistent unit of energy on this record. I would absolutely come back to that side of Banana Moon, but as an album, I'm not sure if it's good. However, for the sheer daringness of Allen, I feel like this deserves to be counted as 3 stars.

 Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth & Harry Williamson: ‎Stroking The Tail Of The Bird by ALLEN, DAEVID album cover Studio Album, 1990
3.13 | 16 ratings

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Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth & Harry Williamson: ‎Stroking The Tail Of The Bird
Daevid Allen Canterbury Scene

Review by patrickq
Prog Reviewer

2 stars Promotional material for Stroking the Tail of the Bird claims that it sounds like walking through a rainforest. That's probably as accurate a description as could fit in six or seven words. It's an exceedingly ambient recording - - most of the music here is rhythmless, and there's rarely anything approaching a lead instrument.

As is the case with many ambient works, this album is also an example of minimalism. Much of what we hear seems to be Williamson's synthesizers; minutes go by in which Allen's guitar and Smyth's "space whispers" are indiscernible amid the ambience, which is probably the goal. But this isn't a "headphones" album; repeated listens don't reveal many Easter eggs. It's more like Brian Eno's idea of "ignorable art." But there's a little more art here than on Eno's seminal Ambient 1: Music for Airports, for example, and I wouldn't call it ignorable.

Tracks like "Stroking the Tail of the Bird part 2," where the rainforest vibes are strongest, remind me of Wendy Carlos's 1972 album Sonic Seasonings, which is a good thing. But there's less to Stroking the Tail than to that Carlos classic. Appearing as it did in 1990, Stroking the Tail was surely tarred with the dreaded "new age" label. And rightly so in a few places, such as when the opening of "Moonpeople Bliss" features what sounds like a harp!

So who might enjoy this album? All three of the performers here are connected with Gong. I only know two songs by Gong, both of which are on compilations I own: "Perfect Mystery" and "Om Riff." Let me just say that Stroking the Tail of the Bird sounds nothing whatsoever like either of those, nor anything like "The House is Not the Same," a Mother Gong song led by Smyth and Williamson. So Stroking the Tail doesn't seem like a long-lost Gong album. Based on the classification scheme on Prog Archives, Stroking the Tail is listed under the Canterbury Scene subgenre. But as long as Canterbury is exemplified by albums like In the Land of Grey and Pink, Stroking the Tail is no Canterbury Scene album either.

To be fair, Stroking the Tail of the Bird is an inoffensive new-age album that you might chill out to after listening to Kitaro. But if you're looking for atmospheric, synth-based prog, I'll suggest Klaus Schulze's early work (although his first two albums weren't actually synth-based). And if you want serious minimalist electronic music, you can't go wrong with Sonic Seasonings.

 Daevid Allen & Euterpe: Good Morning! by ALLEN, DAEVID album cover Studio Album, 1976
3.79 | 60 ratings

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Daevid Allen & Euterpe: Good Morning!
Daevid Allen Canterbury Scene

Review by YourJefa

3 stars This album was published in 1976, Daevid Allen and Gilli Smith have had left Gong two years earlier. In general, I think this album is very slow and soft, I mean, the music is not the kind that we can appretiate on the classic Gong Albums, this is more similar to the first Daevid Allen's solo album "Banana Moon".

It did not make me feel much interest, in some points I got really bored; clearly it has too much of the Canterbury Scene characteristics, but probably the best times for Canterbury Scene were in the first half of the 70's.

The album has some interesting moments, I liked the three last songs (including the bonus track "Euterpe gratitude piece") but I found than more of the half of the album was very slow and not too much interesting. I'll rate it with three stars.

 Banana Moon by ALLEN, DAEVID album cover Studio Album, 1971
3.20 | 68 ratings

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Banana Moon
Daevid Allen Canterbury Scene

Review by YourJefa

3 stars When I started listening to this album I was expexting to listen a lot of the same type of sounds present in the classic Gong albums, but to be honest, what I found was more like a pop folk album.

The atmospheres created by Gong in the Radio Gnome Invisible are very hard to get (by a listener) and clearly this Daevid Allen's debut was not in that line. Then I realized that this album was published in 1971, the same year in which "Camembert electrique" was published but two years earlier than "Flying teapot" so I figured that probably Daevid hadn't started to explore those amazing sounds.

I feel just a couple of songs would be able to keep the attention of a whole Gong fan, but in general it's kind of boring. Anyway, I was expecting way too much from this album and I couldn't find what I was expecting. I'll rate it with three stars.

 N'existe pas! by ALLEN, DAEVID album cover Studio Album, 1979
2.89 | 26 ratings

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N'existe pas!
Daevid Allen Canterbury Scene

Review by Walkscore

2 stars On this album, Daevid Allen's follows in a similar vein to the pattern he set on the previous 'Now is the Happiest Time of Your Life', although with a bit less emphasis on acoustic guitar songs, and with more glissando, improv poetry, and free-jazz tracks. This album will be enjoyable for true fans, but is too fragmented and esoteric a collection to act as a good introduction to his music, and to be honest, not everything here works as music. The first side is the better side. I can listen to all except 1 of the 8 tracks on this side, and the first three tracks are really quite good. The second side is much poorer, mainly dominated by a 12-minute improvisation (both lyrics/poetry and music) that is difficult to listen to (and I really like free jazz improvs!), and the opening tune on this side has quite trite lyrics. So, while there are some minor gems here, on the whole this is for fans only. I give it 4.1 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates to 2 PA stars.
 Daevid Allen Weird Quartet: Elevenses by ALLEN, DAEVID album cover Studio Album, 2016
3.78 | 36 ratings

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Daevid Allen Weird Quartet: Elevenses
Daevid Allen Canterbury Scene

Review by nat health

5 stars Many, many great moments to relish here. The quartet manages to invoke classic Gong elements, as on Imagicknation, classic Muffins, as on Under the Yumyum Tree Cafe, and yet break new ground throughout. Secretary of Lore could be subtitled Theme From An Imaginary Space Western. Alchemy would not sound out of place on Amon Duul's Vive La Trance, nor Grasshopping on Bowie's Outside (albeit replete with gliss guitar, vintage organ and what sounds like thumb piano). In no way derivitive, a perfect marriage of synthetic and acoustic. What a tribute to/from Daevid Allen, as it contains some of his best work. Hopefully the quartet will continue on, loose knit and unfettered.
 Now Is the Happiest Time of Your Life by ALLEN, DAEVID album cover Studio Album, 1977
3.30 | 57 ratings

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Now Is the Happiest Time of Your Life
Daevid Allen Canterbury Scene

Review by sl75

4 stars This continues in a similar direction to the preceding album, Good Morning, using some of the same musicians (though not the full ensemble), with similar European folk influences, and still avoiding drumkit for the most part, although there is a greater role for percussion. The Planet Gong mythology returns here, though still mixed with the more direct moral language of Good Morning. There is also the incorporation of performance poetry, I rather enjoyed "Poet For Sale", and though I see it's divided reviewers here, I rather liked the inclusion of Daevid's children on "Tally & Orlando Meet The Cockpot Pixie". There is no standout highlight this time (like "Wise Man In Your Heart" on the last album), and a couple of slightly jarring moments (like "See You On The Moontower" which almost turns into conventional rock n roll), but generally I think anyone who enjoyed Good Morning should like this almost as much. A low four stars (probably more 3.5).
Thanks to Sean Trane for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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