This is one that has been on my radar for a long time, and although it has passed through my hands at work a few times I finally picked up a copy of it from a private collector today. In fact, I bought a handful of records this afternoon that I will soon be transferring to MP3 and sharing over the course of the next few weeks. Plus I’ve got all those records I shipped here from Jersey last week to share with you. Right now you’re probably asking yourself, “Evan, why do you keep buying records? You can barely afford to live. You don’t have to keep trying to fill whatever void it is you’re trying to fill with vinyl. You can, you know, fill it with something else. You can find a new hobby.” To that I have but one thing to say: “Aw.”
Don’t let the “Dashiell Hedayat” moniker confuse you — this is actually a rare, barely-recognizable Gong record from 1971. It features Daevid Allen on lead guitar, Gilli Smyth on backing vocals, Christian Tritsch on bass and acoustic guitar, Pip Pyle on drums, Didier Malherbe on saxophone, flute, and “water music” (sounds to me like someone taking a piss), and Dashiell Hedayat, who is credited with “solo guitar on track I and IV, all lead vocals, keyboards, cosmic-hedayat-rumble and cut-ups”
The “cosmic-Hedayat-rumble” description isn’t that far off, actually. The album’s first side, “Eh Mushroom, Will You Mush My Room?” sounds akin to the works of Sergius Golowin, Walter Wegmuller and the collaborative efforts of Ash Ra Tempel with Timothy Leary. I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s really far-out. Think of the trippiest Gong you’ve heard before (with the great sax and searing, space-y guitar licks) and combine that with some kosmiche keys and a guy singing and speaking in French (presumably) about drugs. It’s Gong minus Steve Hillage plus some drug-addled poet. When I first heard this record I felt the same excitement as when I first discovered Cosmic Jokers, but this isn’t quite that good. Check out Obsolete for yourself. I think you’re going to enjoy it.
For the sake of file size, I’ve opted to use the reissue CD’s track listing, so there are four tracks instead of two.
A small warning printed below the credits on the back cover reads, “Warning: This record must be played as loud as possible, must be heard as stoned as impossible and thank you everybody.” Okay!
Dashiell Hedayat
Obsolete
Shandar, 1971
MegaUpload DL Link
01. Eh Mushroom, Will You Mush My Room?
01a. Chrysler
01b. Fille de L’ombre
01c. Long Song For Zelda
02. Cielo Drive / 17
