Gondwanaland (Australian band)

After releasing the lp Terra Incognita (1984) the duo were joined full-time by percussionist Eddy Duquemin and the group name was shortened to Gondwanaland.

[3] Gondwana is a continental landmass of the prehistoric Mesozoic era which included Antarctica, South America, Africa, India and Australia.

[1][4][8] It contained a bracket of aggressive, up-tempo numbers followed by two extended compositions, the first of which, "Ephemeral Lakes", later became a regular choice for meditative ambient music compilations.

The group "achieved its strongest combination of ambient and avant-garde experimentation on [this album], with tracks like 'Highway' and 'Deja Vu' evoking the vastness and loneliness of Central Australia".

[1] Gondwanaland's next album, Wide Skies (1992)[4] came after touring northern Australia and includes guest performances by Bobby Bunuggurr, Cleis Pierce, Maroochy Barambah, Andrew de Teliga (Sirocco), Blair Greenberg, Pee Wee Ferris and Carl Zhang.

[4][15] Gone were the earthy good time romps and quiet moments of reflection, now complex panoramic chord clusters enveloped the arrangements in an almost overwhelming evocation of the sky and all that happens in and under it.

[11][16] By 1994 McMahon formed another band, Gondwana, with an emphasis on rhythm and increasingly dominant bass and experimental didgeridoo sounds.

[4][19] The latter two albums feature another McMahon innovation: the mouth-held use of a geologist's seismic sensor to amplify the growling subsonic didgeridoo dynamics.