Camembert Electrique

This album is just FUN! Brings back memories of youth. I started listening to Gong when Flying Teapot was released. Then to my amazement I went on to pick this one up, amazement because this was music you couldn't listen to on AM or most FM. I'm sure there were probably some college radio stations who played this, just not in my neck o' the woods. I like this entire album as I did with Flying Teapot. My favorite tunes are "I've Bin Stone Before", "I Am Your Fantasy" and "Dynamite: I Am Your Animal". The band plays loose but doesn't lose focus. Didier Malherbe 'Bloomdido Bad De Grasse' is one great sax player and kind of leads everyone to where they need to go. I bought this remaster to replace my old copy from the '80s, it was getting a little long in the tooth. The sound is great and I wholeheartedly recommend this album for a trip to the Planet Gong.

Released in 1971 this album shows Gong adopting the heavy space rock sound that would carry them through their most distinctive and classic works: Flying Teapot (1973); Angel's Egg (1973); and You (1974) (aka The Radio Gnome Trilogy). Unfortunately, after the excellent You album Daevid Allen left the band and Gong moved in a jazz rock direction. Although I like the jazz rock phase of Gong, it does not quite compare with the magic of their 1971-1974 output, and especially the excellent Camembert Electrique.The core lineup on this album contains French and English musicians of considerable skill: the first-rate Pip Pyle (drums); Christian Tritsch (bass guitar); Didier Malherbe (saxophones, flute); Gilli Smyth (vocals, "space whisper"); and bandleader Daevid Allen (vocals, electric guitars, and bass). Also present are two brief appearances by keyboardists Eddy Louiss (Hammond organ and piano); and Constantin Simonovitch (phased piano). I think it goes without saying that all of the musicians in Gong are excellent. In fact, Gong has had some of prog's best drummers including Pip and the late Pierre Moerlen. When the band really gets going, the ensemble work can get very complex. The bass playing is extremely aggressive and Christian favors a slightly distorted tone on his Fender. In fact, this tone was used by bassist Mike Howlett during the subsequent albums during the 73-75 period. Coupled with some wild playing on an equally distorted electric guitar, the interplay between the bassist and guitarist is hair raising. Pip of course really drives everything along with his incredible technique. Although I really enjoy Daevid's vocal style and altered spoke word passages, his approach may not appeal to everybody.The 11 tracks on this album all (more or less) blend into one another and include very spacey instrumental interludes that feature Gilli Smyth's sultry space whisper, short experimental passages that fature tape loops and other electronic experimentation, and thunderous prog rock workouts. Of all the tracks on the album it is only Tried so Hard that comes even somewhat close to being a "song" with melodies - it actually brings a bit of a reprieve, especially after the cacophonous closing jam on Fohat Digs Holes in Space, although it too is pretty crazy in its own way. I guess it is worth mentioning that Fohat... comes close to the sound that Gong would get on albums like Angel's Egg although I think that, in general, the blueprint was pretty much established with this album.This reissue by Charly is, like all of the other Gong releases by Charly, pretty lousy. The liner notes are however, informative although the sound quality is only just OK.All in all this is an incredible album of very heavy progressive space rock. The musicianship is positively top shelf and the music gets pretty cosmic at times. This is fantastic stuff all around that is highly recommended along with Continental Circus (1972); Flying Teapot; Angel's Egg, and You.

Gong, in any of its manifestations, isn't for everyone, but when the Daevid Allen-founded band was really hitting its 'Pataphysical/lysergic groove, it was capable of conjuring real magic, and this collection, defined by the defiant "You Can't Kill Me" as much as it is by the absurdist hippy-dippy stuff, is peak stuff. The music is companionably trippy (having Pip Pyle on drums helps), the humor works, and the whole vibe is unique and kind of enchanting.

If you like phsycodelic and spacial music this Gong album is perfect for you.Nice sleepac with lyrics.

First, this is an amazing album that gets overlooked. The remaster is good. I like the packaging. I wish there was some extra tracks though. I would also like to hear remasters of the trilogy recordings. Steve Wilson, remix this one in 5.1 please!

I've been a Gong fan since the first time I heard them. I can't say that Camembert Electrique is as good as any of the albums in the so called " Gong Trilogy. But it still has all of the same feeling as those recordings. I say get it.

highs - You Can't Kill Me, Fohat Digs Holes In Space, Tried So Hardlows - nonelike this, go for: Hawkwind, The byg deal compilation, Steve hillage, Caravan, Quiet sunacquired: April 24, 2012price paid: $.25summary: Great album! A must have for gong fans along with the 3 albums of the radio gnome trilogy.

been searching for this one a while now. Gong is what freedom sounds like musically. Get ready for brain wings!

This is one of those essential purchases. I had the 59p album (it's still in the loft somewhere). It's always been one of my favourite albums. Ironically the booklet contained in this issue references the release of 'The Faust Tapes' at the price of a single as well (probably the most awesome album I've ever heard - to this day). 47 years after the original release, 'Camembert Electrique' still sounds as alive, modern and refreshing as it did the first time I heard it. I was was always known at school for my taste for the quirky and esoteric, hence I have rather a lot of Can, Faust and Gong recordings in my collection. But this one is just superb. Dive in, there's a more than decent chance that you won't regret it.

Considering that this album was recorded at the height of the French student riots in 1968 and released in 1971, it sound as unique and fresh now as it did when I first heard it sometime in the mid to late 1970's. Yes, I'm that old (pushing 60 now) and this album is 10 years younger than that, for its release. All the elements that Gong are renowned for are here from the start and I can guarantee that there's nothing else quite like it from that dim and distant era. Give it a listen and you might be surprised.

Always loved this album. Loved Gong throughout their career (loved seeing Daevid Allen back with the band presenting Gong2032 nine years ago!), but for me, this is their real gem. Yes: the trilogy is grand. Yes: the solo Allen LPs were fine. Yes that Dashiell Hedayat LP was great - Planet Gong too! But this little peach surpasses them all, in my book. I think this is the seventh copy I've owned over the years. Probably won't be the last. Nice Insert and presentation (though 'audiophile' might be stretching things a bit - sounds no better than previous CD versions to me. But it's an easy five stars. Wonderful from beginning to end!

A product of the legacy of 1960s psychedelic movement with comparisons to Pink Floyd in their Syd Barrett lineup and Captain Beefheart. Dissonance, noise, confusion and elements of psychological shaping this album has funny moments and seems to dip into the surreal and bizarre. But not one you'd play on a first date unless of course you both came across it at the same time. The echt album named after tasty French cheese is likely to be of minimal airplay use presently. How can you name it? Psychedelic; 1971.

An album that was originally sold for 50P by Virgin as part of a promo to get the band noticed. That was in 1974 I believe. They had already been noticed by a devoted few which regarded them as something of a cult, the Flying Teapot trilogy saw to that. Some great tracks including "And you tried so hard to get there" a lovely telling refrain, and many others.Try it and see, this was the real heart of the seventies, tripped out hippies trying to keep the movement going and having a whole lot of fun along the way.