By 1975, with the Radio Gnome trilogy just behind him, Gong founder/commune dweller/counter-culture icon Daevid Allen appeared to suffer a cosmic mid-life crisis, complaining of a ‘’wall of force’’ which prevented him from taking the stage.
This 1977 solo release saw a more introspective and mildly irate Allen wrestling with the injustices of an artist’s life, tempered by his perennial sanguine disposition. The glissando-driven Why Do We Treat Ourselves Like We Do? and I Am hark back to Steve Hillage-era flying teapot voyages, given a more Eastern folky vibe with a chorus of tablas.
More interesting are Poet For Sale and Crocodile Nonsense Poem, two spoken-word scat raps invoking the ghosts of Allen Ginsberg and the 50s beat poets. Wildly eclectic as a whole, it’s as quaint as it must have been 30-odd years ago and just as charming.
