Gong - Shamal (1975) [Virgin]

Tracks
1 Wingful of Eyes Howlett 6:20
2 Chandra Lemoine 7:18
3 Bombooji Malherbe 5:11
4 Cat in Clark's Shoes Malherbe 7:39
5 Mandrake Moerlen 4:52
6 Shamal Bauer, Howlett, Lemoine … 8:53

Notes @ cduniverse
By 1975, all Gong's rough edges were sanded away. Erstwhile leader Daevid Allen took his spacy/psychedelic hippie mythology with him when he left in '74. In it's place, the remaining members (vocalist Gilli Smyth and synth player Tim Blake had … Full Descriptionalso departed) pursued a jazz-rock fusion sound and a group-led dynamic, with all members contributing ideas. SHAMAL is full of ultimately satisfying mid-'70s fusion, but the final traces of the old Gong can still be heard in Didier Malherbe's whimsical sax lines, bassist Mike Howlett's occasional vocals/lyrics and the biting guitar of Steve Hillage (at this point merely a guest musician). It's ironic that it was produced by Nick Mason since it's far from Gong's Pink Floydish space-rock origins, but SHAMAL is the first and probably the best of the Gong Mark II albums.

Gong: Mike Howlett (bass, vocals), Didier "Bloom" Malherbe (tenor & soprano saxophones, flute, gongs), Patrice Lemoine (piano, organ, Mini-Moog), Mireille Bauer (marimba, glockenspiel, xylophone, gongs, percussion), Pierre Moerlen (drums, vibraphone, tubular bells).

Additional personnel: Miquette Giraudy, Sandy Colley (vocals), Steve Hillage (acoustic & electric guitars), Jorge Pinchevsky (violin).

Recorded at Basing Street Studios and Olympic Studios, London, England.

Engineers: Phil Ault, Dave Hutchins, Ben King.