Daevid Allen - The Man From Gong: The Best Of Daevid Allen (2006)

Spanning nearly 20 years of his rich recording legacy, this comprehensive compilation traces chronologically Allen's career from his early proto-psych recordings with the Soft Machine through to solo experimental material recorded in New York and Jamaica in the 1980s. The album's highlights include the fantastic Allen-penned, early Soft Machine song 'You Don't Remember', with Robert Wyatt on vocals; 'Banana Moon's mad cap 'Stoned Innocent Frankenstein'; the emblematic 'Tried So Hard', from the legendary Gong debut 'Camembert Electrique'; 'Now Is the Happiest Time of Your Life's gentle 'Only Make Love If You Want To'; the terrific punk-psych energy of 'Floatin' Anarchy' and 'Too Old' and the far darker 'When' from the disturbing experimental album Dividedalineplaybax 80.