Ame Son – Catalyse

Ame Son - Catalyse

Duration differences (simplified titles)

Correct original BYG Records LP durations

A1. Seventh Time Key 6:11
A2. Eclosion 5:25
A3. Coeur Fou 8:15
B1. Reborn on this Morning Of... 3:26
B2. A Coupe de Hache 4:33
B3. Hein, Quant a Toi 6:39
Total 34:28

German BYG Records / Metronome LP durations
A1. Hein, Quant A Toi 6:42
A2. Seventh Time Key 6:12
A3. Coeur Fou 8:12
B1. Eclosion 5:36
B2. Reborn This Morning On The Way Of... 6:20
B3. A Coup De Hache 6:55
Total 39:57

Spalax CD & BYG/Charly CD restore complete tracks, as per the Metronome issue.
For the Spalax CD the longer Metronome tracks were ripped from my vinyl copy.
BYG/Charly CD seems to be all culled from master tapes, and as such reveals some extra details/clarity in the music.

My copy has a formidable skip in the beginning of track B3 (A Coup De Hache). There is no evident physical jump of tone arm/needle, it just goes properly right through the groove. Shrink opened and the record played directly. There is nothing to see on the disc itself at the spot in question, even under extremely bright light. It appears as if it was cut that way from the original source. Anyone same issue? Thank you!

My copy is off centre as well, but otherwise the sound quality is decent.

The comment " Everybody knows in France SACEM logo appears only during 1972." is heavily questionable, as there are numerous BYG 7" records that are supposed to have been issued in 1971, that have SACEM on the labels! And as far as I know, those were not pressed in different versions!

Why notice 1970 as pressing year instead of nothing if you don't know. Everybody knows in France SACEM logo appears only during 1972...? Before this year it's notice BIEM, and you can check original press on centre label. So please, just leave it empty. I already saw this mistake many times for example on some New Rose Rds press. Even there is had 3 or 4 different NR centre logo during life of the record label, sellers notify original issue year. Something wrong!

Got my copy of this, off centre pressing by quite a bit. I'm no audiophile, but this must affect the sound quality I am guessing.

One of the most collectable albums of the Gong family of bands. The Metronome LP is the complete vinyl edition of this classic album. The French BYG Records release missed one track and truncated another, rendering the cover info nonsensical! By the way, although this German release has German lyrics inside the cover, all the vocals are French or English, same as on the French LP!

Ame Son was once Daevid Allen's when he was denied entry back into England. The band was, from my understanding called Bananamoon at the time, and had nothing to do with the all-star lineup that recorded the album by that name in 1971 (aside from Daevid Allen, naturally). The band was changed to Ame Son after the departure of Allen, and they struck a deal with BYG/Actuel. Unsurprisingly, the music isn't too different from that of Gong. Similar type of psychedelia, with vocals that sound just like Allen, except the vocals are in French and English, and nothing sung about Pot Head Pixies and the like. Plus flute is dominate, no sax. It seems that BYG/Actuel wasn't the most reputable of record labels. The vinyl isn't the best of pressing, and they had a habit of mistyping names and song titles. Plus my pressing, a first pressing with the "BIEM" rights was missing "Reborn This Morning On the Way Of.../Unity", although both the album and label states the song is there, meaning side two actually starts with "A Coup de Hache/Le Sable Mouvants". I have no idea if later pressings (with the "SACEM" rights) or the German pressing on Metronome included it (turns out the German pressing on Metronome actually features the track in question, meaning I should seek out that one). Regardless it's still a decent example of psychedelia, although it's obvious to anyone the production isn't that great. Still I recommend this album, particularly to Gong fans.

Update: looks like the later orange label pressing still is missing "Reborn This Morning...".