Gong's Flying Teapot: The onset of the pot-head pixies
Written: Jan 19 '03
Product Rating:
Pros: Fun first album in the Planet Gong concept trilogy series
Cons: Steve Hillage much subdued. Concept is a bit murky at this stage.
The Bottom Line: Building off previous Gong releases, this 1973 album is mostly a work of psychedelic jazz. Although dated, there's still a lot to enjoy here.
adjensen's Full Review: Flying Teapot (Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt. 1) by Go...
A long time ago, in a place quite a ways from here (both distances being kind of relative, sorry) music was a passion, rather than a business. Artists tended to do things that they thought were worth doing, not what some suit passed down as "the latest trend."
Of course, there were a lot of flubs and failures, but there also was a lot of really great music made as a result...in fact much of the diversity that you see today in music owes a debt to early innovators who said "rock with a throbbing beat would be cool" or "oh yeah? I can too make a flute a rock instrument!"
Well, with 20/20 vision, we can look back at some of it and say "that's really quaint. What they must have been thinking!" And today's album is an example of that -- Gong's Flying Teapot, the 1973 release was the first album in the classic "Planet Gong" trilogy that the band is still getting mileage out of today.
Flying Teapot
First off, if you can find this album, count your blessings. I had been looking for it for nigh on ten years when I found a copy on a vendor's table at NEARfest last summer. I believe that it's back in print, although likely only as an import.
And the reason (I suspect) for its rarity is that it's a much different animal than the other two parts of the trilogy (Angel's Egg and You.) Those albums featured a slightly different lineup, but the impact was significant. Steve Hillage came out of Khan to put some huge guitar licks into the other two albums, but his distinctive sound is absent here. Daevid Allen plays the glissando guitar, but he lacks the heavier technical sound of Hillage.
So, the result is a spacier, more jazzy album.
Aside from Hillage and Allen, other players were Didier Malherbe (saxophone, flute,) Tim Blake (keyboards,) Gilli Smyth (vocals,) Christian Tritsch and Mike Howlett (both playing bass) and Rachid Houari (drums.)
I should also describe the concept of the trilogy, although it makes little sense these days. The story of Planet Gong is told through the story of Zero the Hero, an everyman who wanders around meeting all sorts of weird side characters...the Pot Head Pixies, the Octave Doctors, and a psychic radio station.
Well, it probably made more sense at the time.
Track Listing
Radio Gnome Invisible
Combining nonsense lyrics with a tight drum by Houari and some great saxophone work by Didier Malherbe, this opens the album and sets the mood nicely. Some jazz, a little rock, and some general weirdness to make you wonder what's going on. Smyth gets in some spooky vocal accents on the chorus (well, what might pass for a chorus anyway.)
Flying Teapot
At over eleven minutes, this dominated side one of the album and starts with a spacey synthesizer bit that just sort of drifts around for a couple of minutes before Allen's vocal starts up. Once things get rolling, this becomes a very jazzy track, with tight saxophone interplay with a pretty classic drum tempo. The last couple of minutes is a mishmash of percussive noise.
The Pot Head Pixies
Mostly vocal, this uses the instruments to accent Allen and Smyth. Although catchy, really one of the lessor tracks. There's a complete shift in tempo and key about midway for a twenty second snippet of cabaret music, something Allen throws in periodically.
The Octave Doctors and the Crystal Machine
One would think that, with such a rich title, this would be a useful addition to the story. Nope, it's about two minutes of Blake synthesizer solo. Not bad, but not really contributory either.
Zero the Hero and the Witch's Spell
Broken into parts (within the song, not on the album,) this is largely held together by Houari's excellent drumming. The varied moods of this track make his job pretty tough, but he makes it all work. Easily some of Malherbe's best saxophone work ever, this switches between classic jazz and space rock without tripping up. About six minutes in, the beat picks up and Malherbe runs a very nice avant garde solo through the rest of the band's heavy backing.
Witch's Song, I am Your P*ssy
Opens with a nice interplay between guitar, bass and saxophone, with Smyth's rather obscene vocal over the top. The songs drifts between the driving beat and some ethereal spacey stuff with Smyth laughing, screaming, singing and moaning her way through the lyric. Epinions doesn't seem to like the title of the song, but you can figure it out, I'm sure.
Conclusion
While it intros the Planet Gong concept and continues the general feel that Allen had set on the previous couple of Gong albums, this album represents the least of what the trilogy would eventually offer. Angel's Egg far exceeds Flying Teapot for overall quality, largely due to the heightened contributions of Hillage, who is probably my favourite guitarist.
That said, this remains a pleasurable album thirty years out. The concepts are bizarre, some of the music may seem infantile, but it's a classic recording that bears repeated listening to grab all of the nuances.
Great Music to Play While: Listening to the psychic radio broadcast from Planet Gong
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