Family - Anyway (70)

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01 - good news bad news
02 - willow tree
03 - holding the compass
04 - strange band
05 - part of the load
06 - anyway
07 - normans
08 - lives and ladies
09 - today
10 - song for lots
11 - today (edit)

Gong – Shapeshifter (92)

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PT2 ---> Download

1 Gnomerique
2 Shapeshifter
3 Hymnalayas
4 Dog-O-Matic
5 Spirit With Me
6 Mr. Albert Parkin
7 Raindrop Tablas
8 Give My Mother a Soul Call
9 Heaven's Gate
10 Snake Tablas
11 Loli
12 Can You: You Can [live]
13 Confiture de Rhubarbier
14 Parkin Triumphant
15 Longhaired Tablas
16 Éléphant la Tête
17 Mother's Gone
18 Éléphant la Cuisse
19 White Doves
20 Gnomoutro
21 Goddess Invocation Om Riff [live]

For their first album of new material in over 20 years, the real Gong (i.e., one led by Daevid Allen and containing a number of players from the classic '60s-'70s period) offer — well, much of what made them so popular in the first place.

There's an impish sense of humor to the lyrics, Gilli Smyth's deeply echoing space whisper, stunning sax and flute work from the criminally underrated Didier Malherbe, and plenty of trademark glissando guitar from Allen himself.

Goddesses are invoked, gnomes are mentioned, and rhubarb is eaten, among many other things.

Guitarist Steffi Sharpstrings fills what was Steve Hillage's role with plenty of post-punk energy, but really it all revolves around Allen's personality and some stunning music.

Time's been kind to Gong.

Their pioneering space rock ways found a home with the ambient crowd and their music shows they've listened to what's gone on and incorporated it into their sonic journey, which is part prog rock, part jazz, and part just out there. "Can

You: You Can," a live cut from 1992, with its wonderful improvisations, is a prime example, although even better is the long closer "Goddess Inovation/Om Riff," where they hammer to infinity and beyond.

Veteran Pip Pyle shows a light, steady touch on the drums, Allen is even more inventive than before, and the refusal to take themselves completely seriously keeps it floating along.

Having this band together before recording in the studio was obviously a good idea; they mesh perfectly, and it's good to have a classic back, energetic and full of ideas.

Faces - Shake Shudder Shiver BBC Sessions (70)

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1 What'cha Gonna Do About It? 2:16
2 Jump Back
3 Baby Don't You Do It
4 Shake
5 Sha-La-La-La-Lee
6 You Need Loving
7 Hey Girl
8 E Too D
9 One Night Stand
10 You'd Better Believe It
11 Understanding
12 All or Nothing
13 If I Were a Carpenter
14 Lazy Sunday
15 Every Little Bit Hurts


A solid compilation of 1965-68 BBC performances. It's heavier on their early mod years than their later psychedelic ones, which are essentially only represented by three songs from a 1968 broadcast (of which only one, "Lazy Sunday," is an original).

Still, this has energetic (and, by the standards of BBC archive tapes from the 1960s, good-sounding) versions of the early singles "Whatcha Gonna Do About It," "Sha-La-La-La-Lee," "Hey Girl," and "All Or Nothing," as well as a few first album-era songs, highlighted by "You Need Love," the template for Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love."

"Whatcha Gonna Do About It," from a 1965 broadcast, is a particularly incendiary performance, about the equal of the hit single version.

As for songs that are otherwise unavailable on Small Faces releases, there are just a couple, and they're good ones. "Jump Back" is a heavy mod-soul cover of a song first done by Hadda Brooks, and later covered by Gene Vincent, though the Small Faces most likely learned it from Rufus Thomas' soul version.

One thing's for sure: although Steve Marriott is given the songwriting credit in the liners, he did not compose it (it's been credited to both Brooks and Thomas on other reissues).

There's also a mighty fine cover of Brenda Holloway's soul ballad "Every Little Bit Hurts" from 1968, with P.P. Arnold (uncredited on the sleeve) on backing vocals. This does miss some BBC cuts that have shown up on bootlegs (notably a cover of "You Really Got a Hold on Me"); perhaps good-fidelity tapes could not be found. What they did find blows previous bootlegs of Small Faces BBC sessions away, soundwise.