Gang Gang Dance LP

yes its vinyl only for now - beautiful gatefold cover!

NOT APPEALING, DUDE. FIND BETTER BANDS TO TRICK ME WITH.

jefferson airplane, screwed and chopped?

it's real cool
probably was my favorit until god's money came out

Gotta say their press release has my interest piqued:

GANG GANG DANCE SET TO RELEASE SAINT DYMPHNA ON OCT 21
Named after the patron saint of outsiders, taboo subject matter and general disorder, Gang Gang Dance have completed Saint Dymphna - a stunning follow-up to the critically acclaimed God’s Money. The album is set for release Oct 21, 2008 on The Social Registry in North America (and in the UK, Europe and Australia on Warp). Finally! After three years of complex and sporadic recording, complete with jetsetting, breakdowns, an acclaimed Whitney Biennial appearance, plus the Retina Riddim DVD+CD and RAWWAR EP, the band have yielded a true masterpiece to add to its canon. We couldn’t be happier to throw this one out and let the world become enamored again.

If you'’ve seen a Gang Gang Dance show since 2005, you know that Lizzi Bougatsos, Brian Degraw, Tim Dewit and Josh Diamond have taken an even dancier, inclusive direction that continues to emphasize the ritualistic elements of their music while upping the transcendent aspects. This is apparent (times ten) on Saint Dymphna. The record opens with “Bebey” – a preview of coming attractions that is like an organic, eastern Aphex Twin with spinning percussion, face-fuzz ambient textures and oral rebirth. The track melts into “First Communion,” which is a great representation of the new, more-accessible-than-ever version of the band. After a dreamy introduction, the unit pummels in with a truly global punch – we’re talking Brazilian guitars, punk snarl on the vocals and a beat that resembles the omnipresent sound of reggaeton flooding the NYC streets during summer months.

Blue Nile” touches on 80s techno, trip-hop, interstellar travel and Hot 97 R&B without really sounding like any of those things. “Princes” is the real shocker of the bunch. The first appearance of London-based MC Tinchy Stryder and his “Oh shit! Gang Gang!” toast will cause more than a few moments of “Did I accidentally switch records?” before the conclusion that this stuff is smashing apart genre conventions in a way that few bands have been willing to experiment with. The song plays like the weirdest Grime track (or the weirdest Gang Gang Dance track for that matter) you’ve ever heard. Either way, it re-emphasizes the group’s club potential, experimental success and beyond all, true understanding of good music no matter what label critics decide to obsess over on a given day.

The arc and trajectory on which Gang Gang Dance has propelled themselves since their inception at the turn of the century can only be described in terms of evolution. Four individuals with strong ties to the art community and almost boundless creative energy orienting themselves into a musical collaboration, the direction of which has been almost as unpredictable as it is focused. Their ambition and individuality did not go unnoticed through 2007 as they were approached by The Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art to be included in their 2008 biennial, an offer rarely extended to musicians. For the exhibition, the four again chose to incorporate visual manipulation into their performance; utilizing film projections, a number of participants dressed in ceremonial masks – all elements combining to create a spectacle that was by all accounts breathtaking.

Like God’s Money, Saint Dymphna is envisioned as a LP experience, although each track is more than strong enough to stand alone. The production is pristine cinematic headphone candy with 70s Eno intricacy and 00s Timbaland immediacy that will firmly hold your attention while Gang Gang Dance continue to push things forward. The album will be preceded by the Single “House Jam” that is backed with a remix of the track by Hot Chip, and accompanied by a free digital download of a remix by XXXChange. Highly recommended and well worth the wait!

Live Dates:
July 24th at M Room in Philadelphia, PA
July 26th at Bowery Ballroom in NYC
July 27th at Middle East in Cambridge, MA
Aug 16 at Central Park Summerstage in NYC

Track Listing
HOLY COMMUNION (3.05)
BLUE NILE (3.10)
VACUUM (4.13)
PRINCES (4.26)
INNERS PACE (4.16)
AFOOT (3.25)
HOUSE JAM (4.45)
INTERLUDE (NO KNOWN HOME) (1.16)
DESERT STORM (5.10)
DUST (5.30)

St. Dymphna's is the bar i interviewed them at!

Can't wait for this. Love this band

the xxchange remix is actually quite nice
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/142084-premiere-gang-gang-dance-house-jam-xxxchange-remix-mp3-stream

It's going to be great of course

apparently the drummer has been shot?
http://earlboykins.blogspot.com/2008/07/tim-dewit-from-gang-gang-dance-shot.html

That's insane

tim's already bragging that he is off painkillers btw
and he maintains thats a great bar too

Hahahahaaa

I should have included this in my anticipation thread, dagnabbit. From Uncut:

"Saint Dymphna is a kind of super-produced, precision-tooled, pop and dancefloor-primed rebooting of tribal psych. I’ve been playing it all week, and the constant ebb and flow makes it quite tricky to identify separate tracks. But on the other hand, it is a record that lends itself to a great landslide of references.

So amidst all the contrasting beats, from the fervid drum circles to programmed sputters that recall a goth-tinged Timbaland, various bits of “Saint Dymphna” make me think of contemporary New York bands like Outhud, or a friendlier Black Dice. There are elements of Bjork, quite late Can, Yoko Ono, and a fantastic grasp of how variegated global rhythms can mix with ultra-modern western electronica that makes me think of the Sun City Girls on DFA (or, God help me, the sort of fusion that Transglobal Underground always strived for).

The outstanding track, though, is called “Vacuum”, and features a prominent melody that seems to closely echo the siren riff from My Bloody Valentine’s “I Only Said”, hazily reconfigured over a backing that’s somewhere between ambient dub and kosmische synthprog. The hyper-creative drift of “Saint Dymphna” as a whole is pretty gripping, but this one’s the keeper."

Excited. When is this coming out?

this album is going to be a big one

this album is really fucking good.

have ppl downloaded that song w/ tynchy stryder?

Excellent record - very close to the live GGD experience sonically. My only complaint is the seemingly reduced presence of Lizzie B's vocals throughout. Otherwise fucking rad.

live ggd experience minus all the things that make it really awesome = me sitting at laptop with headphones listening to saint dymphna thinking about the girls that go to ggd shows and being pissed off but also kinda happy that im listening to pretty rad new music from original ish band from nyc

is surfboard = nu-nu-nu ilx steve shasta?

have ppl downloaded that song w/ tynchy stryder?

― t_g, Friday, September 12, 2008 9:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it's on gorilla vs bear.

This album is pretty amazing. My first exposure to them and I'm absolutely loving it. It's all over the place, but in the best possible way. Outstanding production as well.

Yes, this is totally brilliant.

Yeah I don't get the people complaining about this record at all. It's fantastic. As good as God's Money if not better.

keep meaning to pick up the album, the tinchy track is sick

Parts of this are suspiciously Excepter-ish... people are talking...

About what?

I'm intrigued by it. House Jam is cool. Liked God's Money and one or two other things. Like some Excepter as well. Have they finally hit their stride on the new album?

I'm so amazed at how beautiful this album is. It's like driving through a rainforest hard up against a coastline, and every time you turn a corner you come across an amazing new vista. Except that happens every twenty seconds or so.

Right now this is duking it out with The-Dream and Luomo to be my album of the year. I think it might win.

What is The-Dream?

i have a dream that all artists will get threads titled solely "LP"
wherein the actual LP in question just changes over time

hmmm is it really that good? should i try to slsk?

i have spent some time with GGD and they are great people, but i can sense some of what others say about them-- ie, that Lizzie and the guitarist are fashionista scene-climbers who care more about being cool than anything else. (of course, this criticism is suspect, as it comes from the mouth of former collaborators with the two of them. ahem).

anyway, does anyone love Angelblood as much as i do?

this album is so well sequenced and very listenable. the ebb and flow mentioned upthread is very otm. you have spent time with josh and think he cares about nothing but being cool? dude is so nice.

What is The-Dream?

― Alex in SF, Tuesday, October 28, 2008 1

The very late December 2007 r'n'b release by Terius "The-Dream" Nash, songwriter and producer known for "Falsetto" on his own cd, and for co-writing "Umbrella" among other songs.

Interesting recent Melena Ryzik feature on Gang Gang Dance in the NY Times-- It says they still have trouble paying their rent and they want to get their music heard by a wide audience-- "Ms. Bougatsos is ready for the attention. “There’s no such thing as selling out in my mind,” she said, adding that she would love to have her music featured on a TV show soundtrack: “A Jeep commercial, a tampon commercial, anything,” she said. “We’re a band, we make music, and that’s what we want to be known for.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/arts/music/21gang.html

i dunno, i listened today again and liked a few songs, but i'm not ready to crown them yet. perhaps repeated listens will help.

Wait there is a coronation coming up?!?!

not from me!

"First Communion" is great. The Hot Chip remix of "House Jam" is interesting in that you can hear her lyrics much more clearly. They're... hippy-ish. Anyway, love it.

One of the best of the year!

i can't even imagine that being said about Josh.
but for serious, the Tinchy Stryder track shoulda been a b-side.

the tinchy song's great!

yeah, the only dud is the spoken word piece.

Seriously, one of my favorites for the year.

A handy pop cousin to Eric Copeland's 'Hermaphrodite'. Totally acecakes.

“A Jeep commercial, a tampon commercial, anything,” she said. “We’re a band, we make music, and that’s what we want to be known for.”

this is sad.

what do you do for a living that's so incredibly noble, internet poster Shakey Mo Collier?

I work for an energy efficiency engineering firm during the day and play music by night. Because music doesn't pay. And that is sad. That's all I was referring to.

it would be a pretty rad tampon commercial though shakey

Yeah I got what Shakey meant: good luck to Gang Gang Dance (and they may well make excellent radio jingles) but the implication is that their desire to do commercials has been forced upon them by their financial circumstances.

ah, sorry for the snark, shakey!

haha yeah fair enough!

I'm just saying you can look at the downward trajectory of how musicians make a living in the 20th century and its fairly depressing - at first you could make a living by playing live constantly (weeklong engagements, gigging nightly, etc.), then you could make a living selling records/tapes/CDs, etc. Now the only way to make a living is to attach your music to some shitty product.

seriously. even touring is cost-prohibitive thanks to gas prices. if any band sells out, more power to them, IMHO.

Yeah, and even that's for just one song's worth of download money anyway. It doesn't seem right that genuinely talented musicians have to do it as a hobby instead of a profession.

itll be awesome when theres a band w/gang gang dance/excepter style sensibilities that has more conventional awesome songs and singing - this is by no means a criticism of said bands - btw are there any bands like that

so this new Gang Gan Dance LP strangely sounds a lot like http://www.greenplanetmusic.com/images/TheLostScrollsOfMoses.jpg

Animal Collective?

And GGD is def moving in that direction. There's some super SONGS on this rekkkkkid.

so this new Gang Gan Dance LP strangely sounds a lot like: mad professor - the lost scrolls of moses

o wait i misunderstood - yah i guess animal collective

but i was thinking like more pop and stronger singing

kate bush?

I was waiting for that (or someone to say Sioxie and the Banshees.)

I definitely hear a little Siouxsie.

new stuff u guys awesome new sensibilities dont u see

"itll be awesome when theres a band w/gang gang dance/excepter style sensibilities that has more conventional awesome songs and singing - this is by no means a criticism of said bands - btw are there any bands like that"

This is basically what I'm always looking for. I do like that there are several bands (Gang Gang Dance, Animal Collective, Air France) that are closing in on this space from different directions. But I don't know of anything right in that interzone just now.

wish I woulda seen the whole show at Santos last friday, they were dope but they didn't go on until 2am and I had to work the next day. it was ridic to have Growing go on before them, they shoulda been either first or last on the bill imo.

by the way who were the djs that night?? holy trainwrecks. painful.

totally love this album. so good.

by the way who were the djs that night?? holy trainwrecks. painful.

mostly leo fitzpatrick, i think.

"itll be awesome when theres a band w/gang gang dance/excepter style sensibilities that has more conventional awesome songs and singing - this is by no means a criticism of said bands - btw are there any bands like that"

This is basically what I'm always looking for. I do like that there are several bands (Gang Gang Dance, Animal Collective, Air France) that are closing in on this space from different directions. But I don't know of anything right in that interzone just now.

― Tim F, Wednesday, October 29, 2008 8:38 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I think "summertime clothes" from the new ac album may be the best contender for this so far.

i listened to this album for the first time today and not much more can be said that hasn't been said already. one of my top albums of 2008 without a question and i've only listened to it once. it's like one of those albums that just comes at you out of nowhere and blindsides you. this reminds me of what i felt and thought when i first listened to studio

Yeah, Studio is a good reference point in feel if not in style.

I think "summertime clothes" from the new ac album may be the best contender for this so far.

― mizzell, Wednesday, October 29, 2008 8:53 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"Summertime Clothes" is gonna pwn all when it is released!

jeez not everything is goth, guys

xp and those guitar licks that breeze in around the middle of the first song are more than edging towards studio territory, no?

Yeah there's that same corny spanish guitar sound (see also the last track on the Lindstrom album).

man the transition from the first track into the second one i could listen to on repeat for hours.
also the production on this is like shimmering prisms in flight. haha i need to stop, bottom line is this a great fucking record.

""itll be awesome when theres a band w/gang gang dance/excepter style sensibilities that has more conventional awesome songs and singing - this is by no means a criticism of said bands - btw are there any bands like that"

whoever it ends up being they had better have some uncommon surnames

saw these guys with of montreal tonight. was pretty awesome all-around.

Seriously, one of my favorites for the year.

― Bomb Bomb Iran (san frandisco), Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7:04 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^ this

by the way who were the djs that night?? holy trainwrecks. painful.

mostly leo fitzpatrick, i think.

― mizzell, Thursday, October 30, 2008 12:52 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^ lolz

"itll be awesome when theres a band w/gang gang dance/excepter style sensibilities that has more conventional awesome songs and singing - this is by no means a criticism of said bands - btw are there any bands like that"

This is basically what I'm always looking for. I do like that there are several bands (Gang Gang Dance, Animal Collective, Air France) that are closing in on this space from different directions. But I don't know of anything right in that interzone just now.

― Tim F, Wednesday, October 29, 2008 8:38 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^ el guincho

Yeah I thought of mentioning El Guincho. I think he's slightly subtler in his use of zany rainbow coloured samplestuff than the others - or perhaps the better way to put it is that side of him is more subtly blended into his other influences.

The better parts of The Beta Band LP catch this vibe a bit, I think.

El Guincho is kind of shit live compared to Panda Bear

love how amazingly clear the production is on this

Probably worth mentioning High Places as falling into this area as well. Their album is v. pretty.

is the el guincho worth listening to? you know, considering my tastes.

i love the gang gang dance album - the word springing to mind is crystalline, it just seems to have endless angles and facets to it, plus it's crystal clear sonically, you can hear EVERYTHING - but i pretty much hate all the comparisons here...beta band, panda bear, animal collective ugh. don't see the similarities at all, they're all so bloodless while GGD is full of life.

Chromatics maybe?

So am I the only person who thinks their new album is a lot duller than their earlier ones? (Haven't read the thread, so maybe I'm not...)

i've never heard their earlier albums and really want to now! have been meaning to check them out for years now

El Guincho album is great

the vocals are a deal breaker for me on this one, they seem silly, not very thoughtful, quite annoying

lex I think the el guincho record is really good, but if you didn't like person pitch it's probably not for you

I think it depends on why you don't like Person Pitch frankly.

i didn't like person pitch because...well, for one there are those awful wimpy vocals, so hand-wringing and timorous. beach boys harmonies leave me cold at the best of times but these are even more of a drag, so slow and irresolute, refusing to resolve into anything attractive. also i'm sure like the entire album is out of tune? or at least disorientating in a really unpleasant way, like you're hearing it underwater. i don't care if this was the intent, it sounds shitty. the music just sounds like muddied-up found sounds, not even arranged well, it's a total mess. and there's nothing else, it's all detail and no groove, cake decorations (the kind that taste really horribly sweet if you try to eat them) without any cake. it actually made me feel nauseous to listen to and is seriously one of the worst things i've ever heard, my dislike isn't just reaction against the baffling praise for it.

which is why i'm confused that it's being brought up here... st dymphna is so bold and clean and precise, everything which person pitch wasn't.

I suspect you might like El Guincho. In a lot of ways it's Person Pitch minus the Beach Boys plus groove.

especially since both st dymphna and el guincho are both very percussive

Hmmm, I guess I need to listen to El Guincho again.

ok well a friend told me to give el guincho a chance a couple of weeks ago so i guess once i make copy deadline tonight (hollow laugh) i'll dig out the promo

listening to st dymphna now, is it that feeling of randomness which makes people compare it to person pitch? both have a load of ingredients but st dymphna uses its random/unexpected quality in completely different ways, every new sound is an extra spark which builds on what was already there to good effect, as opposed to just something else to throw haphazardly into the mix

Honestly I haven't spent much time with this new one yet so I won't comment on it, but everyone who hasn't heard "God's Money" should go listen to it.

i've enjoyed Saint Dymphna over the last couple of days. They way they akwardly stack sounds is super appealing, however 'crass' some of them are (this in terms of pitch wheel keyboards and weird casio bass). Im not all too keen on the girls bizzaro-accent yells, but that is countered beautifully by tinchy stryder using a robo filter.
My only other prev. contact with them came in the form of that Retina Riddim DVD/disc, which i thought was great. The audio disc with that, btw, runs to the exact playing time as Music For 18 Musicians. Im yet to figure the significance of that tho.

"is it that feeling of randomness which makes people compare it to person pitch? both have a load of ingredients but st dymphna uses its random/unexpected quality in completely different ways, every new sound is an extra spark which builds on what was already there to good effect, as opposed to just something else to throw haphazardly into the mix"

Well obv I don't hear Person Pitch that way at all, that album feels obsessively structured to me (any shifts in sound are quite deliberate and really there's not many of them, where the track changes directly completely it's more in the sense of it effectively becoming an entirely new song), whereas Saint Dymphna has this sort of frenzied chaos that could end disastrously but doesn't, not because there's a secret structure but because by glorious happenstance none of their moves fuck up. They're like an insane gambler who really should lose a round just to learn a lesson, but for some reason always wins.

The comparisons spring not from any strict similarity but because kaleidoscopic, dance-not-dance hippie-dippie sample-pop seems to have turned into a miniature movement within indie over the last twelve months after having been out in the cold for about seven years (the elephant in the room is The Avalanches); for better or worse, Person Pitch is the flashpoint for this development.

Lex I'd say the likelihood of you liking El Guincho (who I really really like, though not as much as Saint Dymphna) could depend on what you think of Manu Chao.

"itll be awesome when theres a band w/gang gang dance/excepter style sensibilities that has more conventional awesome songs and singing - this is by no means a criticism of said bands - btw are there any bands like that"

This is basically what I'm always looking for. I do like that there are several bands (Gang Gang Dance, Animal Collective, Air France) that are closing in on this space from different directions. But I don't know of anything right in that interzone just now.

― Tim F, Wednesday, October 29, 2008 8:38 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^ el guincho

― jaxon, Thursday, October 30, 2008 2:38 AM (14 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I disagee because it seems that songwriting and singing are the two things that el guincho is weakest at. I haven't heard the record much, but I def wouldn't consider it having more conventional awesome songs and singing than the others listed here.

Agreeing with the opinion of El Guincho's weak singing up in here. Oh my god, that dude's half assed yell is so detrimental to my enjoyment. His vocals follow the same kind of pattern (you know the one) that feature so heavily on AC's 'Feels', but just sound so fucking LAZY.

tim, i really wouldn't place gang gang dance in that mini-movement at all - they seem much more to be in the NYC punk-funk tradition, the comparisons springing to mind are out hud, !!! and liars (and ESG too? i don't know a huge deal about them but for some reason i've conflated ESG and GGD for ages). really can't see how they could be classed more with animal collective and their ilk - the scope of their music is so different, macro not micro.

i can def see the avalanches/panda bear connection, if only cuz i have a v similar visceral negative reaction to both, but surely that places GGD at even more of a remove from this continuum?

Yes there's obv a punk-funk resemblance. And Gang Gang Dance are taking ideas from grime, reggaeton etc. whereas I think Animal Collective/Panda Bear are now vibing off techno primarily. But Animal Collective circa 2007/2008 are very different to Animal Collective circa 2003, 2004 or 2006. The live show I saw last year in particular sounded a lot like Gang Gang Dance in places.

If you're thinking of Animal Collective in generalist terms (i.e. "their ilk" - Rings, Ariel Pink etc.) then the comparison wouldn't make sense.

By way of comparison, it's a bit like saying "No way is Bjork glitch techno, have you actually listened to "Army of Me"?" - the question is basically: "which version of this artist are we talking about?"

GGD don't really sound like ESG, who are totally minimal (though not "minimal").

x-post Lex you're in danger of implying that liking something and disliking something else is clear evidence that they're stylistically dissimilar. When often we can have wildly divergent attitudes towards quite similar music. It's okay to say "Gang Gang Dance are a bit like Panda Bear and The Avalanches in places but I like them." Also the only Avalanches song you like is the worst song on their album so I don't trust you on them.

I mean, I can totally see why you would like Gang Gang Dance and not Panda Bear or Animal Collective, but that's more about the constellation of your tastes rather than the constellation of these stylistic approaches in some objective sense.

i meant that GGD are even less like the avalanches than they are like panda bear, and that i can see the avalanches/panda connection cuz i dislike them in much the same way.

i don't hear any techno ideas in panda bear? like, at all?

Ha if "I'm Not" was on a Total comp no-one would bat an eyelid. But the AC live show I went to was much more electronic - Tobias in another thread compared the show to Underworld. I wouldn't go quite that far myself but I can see what he's getting at. The new AC album due in a couple of months is supposed to run entirely with that sound, although you can already hear it on several stretches of Strawberry Jam.

(again, I suspect you're operating on a slightly - and quite legitimately - outmoded notion of what Panda Bear/AC's aesthetic is. It would be like if I assumed all Digital Mystikz was crappy slow-slow-slow dirge-step because I'd only heard Loefah and Coki tracks. Which would be a reasonable assumption but not actually correct)

Re The Avalanches, I think stuff like "Dust", "House Jam" (if you ignore the vocals), "Interlude" and "Blue Nile" are very much in the vein of Since I Left You - loose, dancey grooves, lots of overlaid trebly samples and sounds, a general stardusted feel...

Again, the comparisons here aren't meant to be "oh my god they are the same thing" and more about sketching out a loose phenotype of PLUR sample-pop inclinations in what we might call "indie" in an expansive sense (i.e. stuff that's not totally dance, not totally hip hop, not totally chart-pop) - I'm throwing Air France in there as well who I think you really would like Lex (if you don't already).

To put it in reverse terms, would we be astonished to hear stuff like The Avalanches' "Electricity" or "Extra Kings" or "This Flight Tonight" on Saint Dymphna? I don't think so.

it's been at least three years since i listened to any animal collective so you may well be right! and i only ever listened to the avalanches album twice, when it came out, and don't recall any of the track names, sorry - i just think the difference is that GGD's production is cleaner, you can hear everything going on, whereas my visceral problem with the avalanches and panda bear is how messy and cluttered the music is, it ends up as discordant mush. which is why i can't hear it as techno at all, it's not pristine enough.

Lizzi's wish for Gang Gang to score a douche commercial will be realized, mark my words.

lol

tampon commercial i thought, not douche commercial
do they even make douche commercials anymore?

garret morris to thread

http://www.discogs.com/image/A-193237-1129499104.gif

Tinchy Stryder?

For some reasons parts of this album also make me think of the first Isolee album. And not just because both have tracks that reference Loveless.

not sure what the question is but yeah tinchy stryder is on the track Princes

And that picture is of Tinchy Stryder as well.

oh I get it. for some reason that image doesn't show up for me

gotta say, i think the gang gang dance have a lot of this in their sound...

http://srsly.tv/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/dcd84.jpg

i mentioned that in another thread, too.

also, telepathe sound so much like gang gang dance on their first ep it's scary. i'd be willing to bet ggd came along first, though

"First Communion"-which sounds like a tribal version of Justice jamming with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah practice space

wtf?

Right now, I could listen to "Vacuum" forever.

it was cool to see that song live cause i didnt't realize the main riff was guitar.

'Blue Nile' sounds quiet Prefusey

hey look there's an LA version of GGD
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/147194-pitchforktv-rainbow-arabia-let-them-dance-video-premiere

Tinchy doesn't really work for me or feels un-necessary on 'Princes' but the music is awesome

"First Communion"-which sounds like a tribal version of Justice jamming with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah practice space

haha where is this nonsense quote from?!

i think tinchy sounds immense on 'princes' (it's a slightly reworked version of his 'mainstream money' verses which people should check) (haha slight mystery: i interviewed him about a month, maybe more, ago, and asked him about working w/gang gang dance (before i'd heard the track)), and he said that there had been plans to work with them but nothing had come of it in the end. i assumed the rumours i'd heard were false - so i was obv v confused when i finally heard 'princes'. so i'm not sure whether he misheard my question and thought i was talking about someone else, or whether gang gang dance just used vocals he'd already laid down...)

haha where is this nonsense quote from?!
http://www.straight.com/article-168984/gang-gang-dance-credits-right-its-rise

another band doing the dubby, worldy, noisy thing is SF's Mi Ami
http://www.myspace.com/miamiamiami

a lil less on the sampledelic side of things, though.

Wow this is amazing. So much going on! I'm on the penultimate track and already want to go right back to the start to listen back to spot more things. The Tinchy track works I think, because his flow is in someways better suited to being part of the murk than right upfront, and on Princes it sounds like another sample being woven in and out.

Wait to to you hear the last track though!

I'm loving this.

Hecuba is the L.A. gang gnag

If anything is going to beat Portishead for me this year... it could be this record. I've played it at least a dozen times this week, and it hasn't gotten the least bit old.

"The audio disc with that, btw, runs to the exact playing time as Music For 18 Musicians. "

Doubly weird, then, that the start of their song "Nicoman" is exactly like the start of that very Reich piece.

wow this album is great! loving the uh kaleidoscopic-ness and the 'computer incarnations for world peace' vibe

anyone hear that brian degraw solo lp?

http://printedmatter.org/cover_images/82969.418.jpg

i have been a huge fan of these guys for years so i duno if most people just picking up 'saint dymphma' would be into it, but it still is a great, weird record. almost reminiscent of one of yamataka eye's side projects (lift boys, etc)

show tonight was sooo much better than cmj

although I can admit the possibility that the other show might have gotten that good if I stayed past 3am. the super housey encore was the best bit

I saw this tour a few weeks back and they were excellent. Too bad I plunked down $15 for the new LP and it's no God's Money.

i like st. dymphna but i was pretty well blown away by the live set. hard to describe without making them sound hokier than they are (indie-tribal, trance-rock, whatever). the show was really well sequenced -- dmr is otm about the encore, they saved that final extra gear for the peak.

Too bad I plunked down $15 for the new LP and it's no God's Money.

Are you kidding? I love God's Money, but the new album is ten times the strength of God's Money, easily the best music they've put to tape.

These fuckers need to play Glastonbury next year, they'd be perfect in some tent somewhere.

yeah i was thinking they'd be big at bonnaroo. hippie kids would dig it.

"Are you kidding? I love God's Money, but the new album is ten times the strength of God's Money, easily the best music they've put to tape."

I don't think the material is terribly lacking. But the new record does a lousy job of showcasing the drummer. He's so good and his input is so understated on this record. It's a shame because live they were awesome.

"I don't think the material is terribly lacking. But the new record does a lousy job of showcasing the drummer. He's so good and his input is so understated on this record. It's a shame because live they were awesome."

This is OTM and I hadn't really thought about it because there is so much going on in the album its easy to forget about the drummer. However, the parts were the drums are more pronounced definitely kick ass, so I totally get your point.

songs that are more sort of drifty-dreamy on the album really cooked live, which definitely had a lot to do with the prominence of the drums. i mean, i like the vibe of the album. but the energy of the live show was a whole other thing.

this album i feel like is the black dice album i never knew i always wanted except with tinchy stryder bonus track that could never happen but here is also that yknow

I played this recently in the company of my dad who has a pretty narrowly defined classic blues/soul taste continuum and he called it "interesting"
My album of the year anyway

I wish GGD left the Tinchy song off of the album. When ilm revisits this thread in a few years, you will all agree with me and curse GGD for time-stamping this wonderful album. The rest of the album is great, though. I'm not sure I'd say it's better than God's Money. This album seems a little too current and blog-influenced. Whereas God's Money was like their own planet, this album's more like...oh. They live in New York and want to be cool RIGHT NOW. :/

ENDLESS COOL

are those brooklyn accents for reals? didn't know if they were kidding during the spoken moments at the show

When ilm revisits this thread in a few years, you will all agree with me and curse GGD for time-stamping this wonderful album.

This is missing the point really. As Tim mentioned upthread, the album (and especially that middle section) is awash with UK garage influences, among others. The xylophone hook on Inners Space is pure garage, and there's bits off of dubstep in here as well (although I think dubsteps blends much more easily into the overall warp and weft here). It is totally natural that someone like Tinchy turn up on here.

Considering Tinchy's been knocking round for nearly five years already, he's hardly a flash in the pan in any sense. Unless there's a kind of 'experimental indie rock = timeless, other stuff = fad' snobbery at work here that totally goes against the vibe the band are going for.

Also several references to reggaeton.

I actually like the fact that they don't seem much to care about blending together "timeless" and "fashionable" sounds - again, this is what always seemed unique and marvelous about The Beta Band at their best (The Beta Band pulled a similar stunt of releasing a 2-step garage track at the tail end of 1999). Capital I indie (which Gang Gang Dance) usually spends far too much time strenuously avoiding pop music fads.

Although if you want to be really shocked check out the rap track on Jim Moray's album!! That makes GGD look very subtle.

Haha I was going to mention the Beta Band (Hot Shots II really) but thought that would be too corny indie fuxx. What I liked about Hot Shots II was that it sounded really fucking ancient but at the same time like something that couldn't have emerged at any previous moment. Saint Dymphna is similar in that regard.

I'm not trying to over-emphasise the garage influences here, they're an equal ingredient alongside dozens of other things, but to criticise GGD for "time-stamping" a record that is very consciously of it's time seems to be missing the point. See also the synth stabs on House Jam that seemingly come straight out of The Way I Are.

Yes, this is totally brilliant.

― Tim F, Monday, October 27, 2008 8:47 PM (1 month ago)

Fact Magazine calls it

http://www.prefixmag.com/news/fact-magazine-picks-gang-gang-dances-isaint-dymphn/23767/

I've never heard of Fact Magazine, but that seems like the exact list a mid-level indie fuxxor from the US would make.

i'm being dismissive of these albums, but - it has your Animal Collective-ish bands (Ponytail, Gang Gang Dance, High Places) american indie-with-a-good-story (No Age, Jay Reatard, Deerhunter) run-off from Burial last year (The Bug, 2563, Flying Lotus) "good times" from New York (Vampire Weekend, Hercules and Love Affair, MGMT)

*disclaimer - i would probably consider myself a mid-level indie fuxxor from the US

anyone else think Tinchy's rap might've worked better on 'Inners Pace"?
the sloppy drums on 'Princes' are still buggin' me but i like it OK

calling the bug album "run-off from burial last year" is one of the lamest things i've read on ilm, which is saying something

"I've never heard of Fact Magazine, but that seems like the exact list a mid-level indie fuxxor from the US would make."

Fact is basically the UK version of XLR8R.

this album is terrible y'all are nuts

Hahaha

calling the bug album "run-off from burial last year" is one of the lamest things i've read on ilm, which is saying something

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 10 December 2008 00:29 (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

mightnt be strictly correct, but the sentiment is spot-on.

uh re the sandwich post i mean, not lex.

re ggd: i gave them a go in i dunno, 2004 and decided that they were bad ny dj/spookyrupture toss, and then reconcurred with myself from afar upon seeing subsequent riddim n grime waffle. i saw them live this summer as well, and it was all soundscapes maaaan. (okay, though.) i'm gonna put this album on now.

"decided that they were bad ny dj/spookyrupture toss"

Nonsense.

i absolutely love saint dymphna. what else should i get?

God's Money

And the Rawwwwar EP or whatever it's called.

And then you can probably stop.

i saw you guys talking about this in the SF thread and was intrigued. then i bought the album on a whim and now i am bummed i missed that show.

thanks for the recommendations alex.

not a single bad track on SD that's for sure. Rawwwwar is my pretty much what it did to my head. it almost dares you to like it.

Brilliant record, but I've heard they can be awful live. Should I try to see if this is true or not?

nonsense in 2004? i don't know, it mightve been, i didnt have a lot to go on. i took into account the context, and the reception, and the little label the record store man wrote.

I think it depends on the price haha. The previous SF show sounds like it was crappy, but I thought they were pretty good this tour.

the previous SF Show was horrendous... it was at the Independent and they had a major equipment malfunction after 10 minutes followed by a huge temper tantrum. Did not get a refund either! fukkerz.

fukkerz artistes

i have seen this band 3-4 times, none of these was disappointing in the least. did they play the independent twice? i remember seeing them there a few years back and i dug it

oh shit, they've played here a bunch. this was their first SF show... it was like fall 2005. with tussle.

Wednesday, October 5th, 2005 according to SFBG 8-days calendar archive.

omg, this is funny tho... <3 google:

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:-h5dWg8y8NsJ:lowerhaight.tribe.net/thread/1028dd95-22d1-4800-bb77-28b4f27a6f45+%22gang+gang+dance%22+tussle+%22the+independent%22+2005+tribe.net&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

(scroll down past ads following OP)

lololol

unfortunately i feel the need to respond to this.
we(GGD) were flown to SF to play that one show, therefore we were gauranteed a backline and a soundcheck(not unreasonable considering that without a backline our instruments dont make any sound). we arrived at the venue four hours early on the day of the show just to take extra precautions........soundchecks often "magically" disappear from certain venues list of priorities. anyway.....we arrived to find the promised and necessary backline nowhere to be found.....waited two of our four precious hours for borrowed amps to arrive from the very gracious openers. we set up our equipment with a more than adequate amount of time left to soundcheck, but for some unknown reason the "soundperson" at the independent spent roughly 1hour and 45minutes of those two remaining hours running around on the phone, talking to me about his collection of music equipment, asking me if i listened to captain beefheart, and generally being an absolutely passive aggressive condescending prick. so we were left with fifteen minutes to check and during those fifteen minutes encountered more problems than we've ever had on a stage. the DI's that the prickman gave me were all fucked and cutting out, he wouldnt listen to a single thing we suggested, and he sat at the soundboard talking on the phone until finally he approached the stage and told us we had to "get things moving" and that he had to start soundchecking the other bands due to a "lack of time". i told him straight up that we werent going to be able to play if he didnt help us figure something out....that it actually technically was not going to work....and he pointed to his watch and began "helping" us move our useless gear off stage. come showtime.....we made a decision to just play in hopes that something would miraculously occur and the crappy amps and DI's would decide to work. what else could we do? when you have the majority of the staff at a venue yelling at you to get on stage, yelling at you to play when your onstage, yelling at you because your scowling at the fact that the sound is fucked(even though you had told them that before),etc,etc,etc....and your onstage in front of a roomful people whom you so very much want to play to and share your music with, and that very same audience begins yelling "play already!"....and no matter what you try you cannot get anything to work......well, emotions tend to run a little high and sometimes we cant all be so cool as to laugh it off and go with the flow and pretend that its a very comfortable and welcoming and patient situation and just try, as one of you put it, to" stick it out and figure out what the problem is". we stuck it out for four hours earlier in the day and we were completely disrespected by the alltime worst soundperson we've ever dealt with.
so.....while i am not trying to write this as a 'fuck you very much for your comments' type thing....i do wish you would be a little more understanding. had you been through the frustrations of our day you may very well have given up at that point as well. i apologise for the fact that so many people came to see us.....and didnt really see us at all, but it really was out of our hands by that time.
and if you are still unforgiving, then yes, fuck you very much.
------------------"keys boy" uffing it all---------BDG/GGD

they could still give a refund! lammmmmme

refund probably the venue's decision too, no?

I've seen em once when it was just ok and once when it was super good (both in the past 2 months)

"i took into account the context, and the reception, and the little label the record store man wrote."

The little label had refs to spooky/rupture on it? Sounds far-fetched.

no your honour, if i recall correctly the label vaguely referred to new york, world music mixology, tapes, dub, and so on, which to my then mind appeared more theoretical in intention than the generic organic noize band blurb that was fashionable at the time. future "riddim dvd" type releases only seemed to bear this inference out.

Bummer about the sound guy but maybe an hour long noise set on broken gear would have been a better "fuck you very much" than just walking away?

calling the bug album "run-off from burial last year" is one of the lamest things i've read on ilm, which is saying something

Well, if the Sandwich dude means 'this year's broadsheet-friendly token dubstep-affiliated album' then he's right. I think he's just being lame though.

am i the only one who likes this revival of the shittest thing i got off of slsk?

GGD reminds me a lot of "Waking the Witch." Also, whoever described the sound as "stacking" upthread is otm.

I'll be fucked if "House Jam" isn't the best song I heard all of last year.

http://www.myspace.com/flirtyfishing

newish thing from lizzy

http://www.rcrdlbl.com/2009/03/02/exclusive_new_download_i_u_d_911

http://www.rcrdlbl.com/2009/03/05/exclusive_new_download_i_u_d_daddy_aaron_warren_of_black_dice_remix_

++friday night at 8 o'clock++

123 East 12th Street

HEX MESSAGE + MIKE FELLOWS + BRIAN DEGRAW

playing live music

++T&S++

taxterandspengemann.com

who's going to see that at Dingwalls on June 1? Long overdue, especially after they had to cancel earlier in the year after the fire in Holland

^see them

I was really excited for the original gig, and really gutted that they had to cancel, but now I'm not so sure. Partly 'cos it's a Monday and I have stuff to do on Mondays, partly 'cos everyone else who'd come with me is going to see Tenniscoats that night, which I actually have a ticket for already - I think I'd rather see GGD, but part of me thinks I should use the conflict to decide going to evening class is best. Listened to the album again to try and get enthusiastic, but it didn't quite work, not sure why.

Listening to Saint Dymphna on Spotify right now...I get it, I get it. It's so eclectic: I can hear these really well-executed touches of Afro-pop, UK garage, new wave, but mainly it reminds me of Black Dice if they actually lived up to James Murphy's description as a 'pop band'.

New album, s'il vous plait?

itsa comin: http://stereogum.com/635141/gang-gang-dance-eye-contact/news/

I'm so excited for this. 3 years seems like a long time between drinks with these Brooklyn bands.

That one fire really stopped then in their tracks like *forever*.

you guys should seek out Kamakura in the meantime—nice stopgap EP

Yeah I really like Kamakura.

Not heard of them, where are they from?

It's the 15 minute single track EP Gang Gang did for <a href=https://www.southern.net/eu-shop/index.php?artists_id=1649&typefilter=artists_id&main_page=index>;Latitudes</a>.

Interesting.

Oh duh, not a band then!

hence my posting it in the GGD thread—and referring to it as an EP :)

New album is great — even richer and fuller than the last one i think. A couple songs, including a disco track, are the poppiest stuff they've ever done

ordinarily what you just said would scare the shit out of me but after House Jam i'm cool with them doing disco and pop.

whaaaaaat!!!

this sounds so so so rad

That ReleaseRPM track with Lizzie on it is terrific by the way. Psyched for this.

i love their poppier stuff

It's the 15 minute single track EP Gang Gang did for <a href=https://www.southern.net/eu-shop/index.php?artists_id=1649&typefilter=artists_id&main_page=index>;;Latitudes</a>.

rah this is really strong, completely passed me by!

yesssss

um this album is BLOWING MY MIND

every song is so BIG

oh god i typed 'Gang Gang Dance' into my favourite dupecheck to see if it had leaked and the results were o_O

Wow, didn't realise it was out so soon. Really excited about this. Does it merit its own thread?

i haven't heard it but, yes, yes it does.

so excited

someone start a thread!

this is on my 'most anticipated 2011' shortlist easy

yeah it merits it's own thread... before it's even leaked. wtf? NO!

it's more interesting/informative to keep threads rolling imho and as someone who's also anticipating this, but feels like ilx has gone to sh!t pretty badly in the last few years I can't condone the retardness (despite being guilty of it myself here now & then...!)

Yeah heaven help we start a thread anticipating a record by a band whose last album was one of ILM's top 5 of that year. Of all the things to get weirdly meta about.

it's funny how arbitrary the new-thread-for-new-album process is - both of the new amerykah albums have been anticipated and adored on an old general badu thread dating back to 03, i believe, w/no problems!

have people on this thread heard the new album Eye Contact yet? that's all I want to know...

Yeah, as an ilx user since when it was just ILM, I can't see why anyone would have a problem with a thread for an anticipated album.

Only just caught on to this band though, so great stuff on the last album especially Vacuum, but then I've always been an MBV stan.

have people on this thread heard the new album Eye Contact yet? that's all I want to know...

yes. it's really excellent.

Really looking forward to new Gang Gang, one of my fave bands for sure.

Xpost how has this been allowed to happen? How have you heard this?

the usual, sent a promo #thelastremainingperkofmusicjournalism

Argh!

lex i envy u so bad

aw man i gotta wait until may for this

damn professionals!

yah maybe you wont have to wait until may why because things leak why because of various reasons

i don't do leaks!

oh man but then how do u keep up w/ new music. release dates are for albums when they are old now.

http://pitchfork.com/news/41730-hear-an-11-minute-new-gang-gang-dance-song/

cover art is OMG-level awesome

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/GGDCoverArt.jpg

fuck I was almost feeling like apologising for griping but... Lex makes the point fine.

Threads are random enough (entertainingly so) round here without bisecting a perfectly good one with history because "Top 5 on ILX in..."??

That's not a "process" (wait, there's a process?) it's just a weak sauce justification for mindless forking.

but if you're a real lover of requiring the search function to go back in time and aping what 99% of every other forumblog does then... hurrah?

2nd half of this song is OMG-level awesome

yes, i am digging this new track v much

love the prog drums on glass jar

not really feeling this on its own but then again it's an 11-min intro, not a single.

and cover is a super-rad photo but too high-res for an album cover. sorry i'm not trying to shit on this :( still love these guys and can't wait for them to bring their awesomeness back to sf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R7k1_kOqvk

2011, the year everyone tries to sound like The Knife in some way.

This has leaked and it's amazing. "Romance Layers" is the Gang Gang slow jam i didn't know i needed

Listening now. It seems incredibly ponderous for the sake of being so.

Okay, "Romance Layers" is reasonably good.

Love this band

yeah so this like the most cutting edge shit released since like 2008 or something

I love it. It's so...dense. Who's singing on "Romance Layers?" Anyone know?

Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip

Ah. I don't know that band but it's a good fit for that song.

"Mindkilla" still my favorite though

mindkilla sounds like die antwoord

not heard this yet but was listening to the ill blu mistajam mix the other day &wondered if the new gang gang might end up occupying a slightly more boho end of the same territory, confirm/deny? or maybe it sounds like a posh version of mr bungle who knows.

this new stuff sounds promising!

I've not heard any of the new stuff yet and while it wouldn't surprise me at all if Gang Gang Dance turned out to be influenced by Ill Blu or UK funky in general, I think calling them different ends of the same territory would be stretching it given that scenes barely overlap at all.

Only on my second time through this, but initial impression is PRETTY AWESOME.

Not really a major new direction or anything, seems more like expected evolution from St. Dymphna. I recognize "Adult Goth" from when I saw them last year, not sure if they were doing any of the rest of this then. But anyway, this feels like a total summer jam album.

MindKilla is excellent

"fear is the mind killer" dune reference? is liz bougatsos a bene gesserit?

ugh. Liz is overpoweringly bad, both live and on this. Seeing them live and her fkng awful drumming ruined this band for me. This sucks and her screeching is awful.

oh please

Sounds like spurned ex-boyfriend talk. Liz is one of the more distinctively awesome things about this band.

Blinded by hype.

Btch, leave the drumming to the drummer.

. . .

her voice is pretty fucking annoying

this record is still jam central tho

Romance Layers is my joint

Hype? Really? I've actually seen less press on this one than the last one.

Haters gonna hate I guess.

www.factmag.com is one of several sites that hype GGD

Who gives a fuck?

thanx for the stopping by milrac

I <3 MindKilla

settling on Chinese High as my #1 jam from this, summer vibes is right on

love when chinese high gets real drifty and serene. also dig the synths on sacer.
liz seems pretty inoffensive and reigned in on this record, but she still may be the weak point, since the tunes are lacking compared to the music (assuming she writes the melodies /lyrics, maybe she doesn't). none of the tunes on the new one grabs me as much as house jam.

I love Liz's vocals, sort of disembodied faux-Bollywood vibe. Only as far as Mindkilla now but this is insanely good so far.

^^^^

Lol mindkilla actually does sound a bit like Ill Blu.

It's fantastic all the way through but the last couple of tracks are just wow. Think 'Sacer' might be the real gem here, the way her voice swoops in and out of those weeping synths. Over the first half I would say they were filtering 80s and 90s American r&b through their weird kaleidoscopic global psychedelic banger prism as opposed to the grime and 2-step on the last album but Mindkilla really does feel like they're going for some kind of organic Ill Blu vibe.

(hah - xpost!)

Also love the robotic voice right at the end. LIVE FOREVER.

it's the voice at the start that i love. I CAN HEAR EVERYTHING. IT'S EVERYTHING TIME. if that's not the most accurate and concise summation of GGD!

What do you think of Romance Layers lex? iirc you're not a fan of Hot Chip?

I DO BELIEVE YRC

i like several hot chip songs, i'm not a hater! his voice is decently buried here

Yes! I had such fears about how high his voice would be in the mix.

Still stuck on the earlier comment that describes this album as "ponderous." Gang Gang Dance are pretty much the NY equivalent of Basement Jaxx for fuck's sake. How many more one-off ideas do you need?

can't believe you guys needed to go as far as listening to the music to cosign my insight

insightful

After some driving last weekend I can confirm that this is a fantastic windows-down sunshine day album.

also good for running!

Listened to this; it is indeed awesome! My favorite track is actually "Adult Goth"--kinda reminds me of an Ace of Base that I would still be listening to...

http://drownedinsound.com/news/4142572-stream--gang-gang-dances-new-album-eye-contact

"Adult Goth" reminds me of 90s Marianne Faithfull

the lp smells so lovely & sounds so good.

~positive~energy~

probably the greatest interlude band in the world. last side is even lusher than the rest. romance layers has become my favourite. sacer is a toddler singing about cultural capital. there are so many reference points w/ this record starting to list them is ridiculous. much better than the previous album.

what i don't understand is this: how come it's so easy for me to love this band, and with animal collective i have to resist some urge to hate? they seem to be working in fairly related fields.

I also love GGD and can't stomach AC so there ya go. Perhaps it's the cloying tweeness?

xp I also wouldn't say this one is MUCH better than the last - the last one is pretty great.

I listened to this a couple of times on the stereogum stream over the weekend. Definitely a step toward a wider audience, but so rich and lush it just carries you away. I ended up loving the track that sounded like contemporary r&b and appreciated how the last track was a proper high-intensity finale. All in all a record I look forward to hearing in the flesh on a proper stereo.

The new live show is astonishingly good. Saw them last night and they really use the album as a jumping-off point for these ridiculous epic melting-pot jams. Chinese High was progged out to about three times the length with a twisty, chewy acid line and what sounded like a widdly keytar solo over the top and it somehow managed to sound amazing.

Also they know what they're doing with the funky influence - Mindkilla replaced the rave synths with XYLOPHONES and kept threatening to turn into Crazy Cousinz's Inflation. They also played one ridiculous piano-driven house tune that I've never heard before.

Yeh last night was immense. One of the new tracks is on the 4AD video sessions thing

xp- re: piano house tune If that's the one I'm thinking of they were closing shows with it on the St Dymphna tour. Don't think it's been recorded afaik. Kinda bummed that I missed them here a week or so ago.

They were so great at ATP on sunday. Otm about the funky influence.

This album better live up to expectations the way you're all talking about it. (Still can't quite get over that stupid name they have.)

Pretty sure you'll like it Ned.

could be my end of year fave based on first listen

altho at the same time idk if it's actually superior to the last album (maybe just by virtue of being dancier generally)

It's better than the last album.

mdc otm about ggd live - terrific terrific show

last two albums are v similar in quality for me - depends how much you prize songs qua songs cuz they haven't bettered "first communion" and "princes" in that regard. but then songs qua songs are not really the point w/ggd.

I think the second one is maybe a bit more... stoner-y than this one? Princes and First Communion and maybe House Jam excepted.

Sorry, St Dyphmna, I mean. No idea if that's the second album or not.

faintly dissapointed with this as a follow up... just me?

ok, but feels mostly a retread with less gutsiness, tunes and energy. feels overcooked.

lovin this tho the vocals really, really perplex me. my favorite bits are the instrumentals and when those wandering, improv-like vocals kick in i just end up spending all my time trying to block them out and listen exclusively to the background.

the synths & production on eye contact are just much richer, I think it feels much more epic. I can't get over how good the vinyl album smells. combined w/ the great art & production they're really taking this "everything" shit seriously.

I can't get over how good the vinyl album smells

THIS.

i was going to post a comment about how the record even SMELLS like 4ad (or what i imagine 4ad smelling like...)

Sorry, St Dyphmna, I mean. No idea if that's the second album or not.

Matt, this new one is their fifth iirc.

fun interview
http://www.dummymag.com/features/2011/05/12/gang-gang-dance-interview/

realised i didn't even know what the band looked like til today

Ned, what did you end up thinking of this?

I do really feel like we have plunged into this cohesive vortex and it actually has been a paradigm of oneness.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.celebrityrockstarguitars.com/rock/images/derek.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.celebrityrockstarguitars.com/rock/tufnel.htm&usg=__h3li9Nv3sQUjxlir3jNWCfXazfo=&h=180&w=175&sz=6&hl=en&start=0&sig2=M88YQ1DxG06OhlclV07rDg&zoom=1&tbnid=VFMuGDcnQeENjM:&tbnh=144&tbnw=140&ei=DP3aTc2gEqnv0gHB3f3PDw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dderek%2Bsmalls%2Bspinal%2Btap%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D606%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=369&vpy=286&dur=806&hovh=144&hovw=140&tx=60&ty=54&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0

When you take that bus....you get there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yjd1hLJSKg

now I am feeling these groups of young kids who are playing all the things that influence me, like Aaliyah and early Ashanti. You know, like all the singers I actually give a shit about. I mean I don’t listen to any new bands … I’m an R&B girl!

R&B girl, in the Burzum t-shirt, second from the left:
http://www.metal-archives.com/images/2/5/0/5/25050_photo.jpg

BTW I love this band and their new album is one of my favorites of 2011, just poking a little fun at the amount of taking-themselves-entirely-too-seriously NYC hipster horseshit being peddled in that interview.

i haven't really wrapped my head around the new one yet but these guys are just on another level

i haven't really wrapped my head around the new one

me either, the rest of that statement i'm not sure about. i like the sound & vibe, but little of it is sticking for me. taking more tips from kate bush than ever before? probably, but i wish she had some stronger melodies to go w the style. not dismissing this by any means, as it seems like an album that will reward investment, but it's a little underwhelming out of the gate. do like "mindkiller".

and boggle @ people calling these tracks "windows down summer jams" (or w/e). most of this sounds like late night candlelight to me.

probably, but i wish she had some stronger melodies to go w the style

I can see why you think this, given that we're used to singers being upfront and centre and the absolute focal point of the music but that's not really why she's there. I know that comparing female singers to one another is the most terrible misogyny, but it really is difficult to hear the way her voice swoops up and down without thinking of early Kate Bush. But really her function is closer to when Alison Goldfrapp would warble over Orbital tracks, it's about an emotive silver lining running through the sound rather than a melodic focal point in its own right.

What I like most about her vocals is how she mostly, from what I can tell, sings a string of syllables and only lapses into recognisable English with phrases that give the most evocative impact - "I care for you like a mother", "hush little baby don't say a word, mother's gonna buy you a mocking bird", "here I go, watch me roll", "lay your hat down" etc etc.

I'd say the most immediate thing about the record as a whole is its sense of peaks and troughs, kind of coasting through the slow jams and then suddenly being swept up in the white-knuckle ride moments. And also how natural it sounds - with these elements of punk and psychedlica and Asian pop and funky and grime and dubstep and 80s rnb all and Kate Bush and Liz Fraser all melting together - I can't think of another band who sounds like this, and I can't think of another band who could pull it off.

Never really got round to exploring the first two albums properly, but since seeing them live it's really helped me get a feel for the sound of this one. I love the moogy playskool synthwork on tracks like Chinese High for example. It's real sunshine pop, and I agree with Matt DC about the "white knuckle ride" thing, i.e. just when you think they're coasting, they suddenly and unexpectedly blossom into loveliness. As for her voice, it's as much an instrument and an essential element of the sound as opposed to a strong focal point, lending an Arabesque/Far Eastern quality to their tribal dance.

Don't be disingenous, Matt. It's not "most terrible misogyny" to compare the sound or quality of one female vocalist to another - it's misogyny to imply that female musicians (vocalists included) can *only* be compared to, and more importantly influenced by other female musicians (and a hugely limited set of them at that.)

I agree, though, that her voice works best as a texture, an instrument in the mix, a set of emotional layering rather than providing *the* focal point. The music surges about, no one piece more important than the other - or rather, the focus shifts from one to the other, which provides that sense of movement, of change, of being on a fairground ride from one bit to the next.

Yeah I was being tongue in cheek, given that Kate Bush is #1 in the list of lazy comparisons to make I kind of needed to cover my back on that one.

it's really weird actually reading the lyrics printed in the packaging

Printed lyrics? Just... why? I like not knowing, I think it would spoil it to hear them distinctly.

Kinda like MBV that way. That what you project you think they're saying is probably more important than what they sang.

given that Kate Bush is #1 in the list of lazy comparisons to make I kind of needed to cover my back on that one.

ah, it's okay, i went there first. you're allowed.

yeah the lyrics make you realise that providing that sort of focus/meaning is unwanted here really - as matt says it's all about piecing your own meaning together from the fragments you hear

This isn't really a new thing these days though, is it? Cocteaus, MBV, Animal Collective, Ariel Pink and dozens of other bands kind of thrive on keeping their lyrics ambiguous. Suits me fine as I'm not really a lyrics fan 90% of the time. Mind you, I really wouldn't want any of the above printing their lyrics on the inner sleeve.

when I did a mini-interview thing with Lizzi a few years back she said, iirc, that Kate Bush was her #1 vocalist, so YOU'RE OFF THE HOOK LADS.

Well I just saw a video of these guys burning some money at Primavera Sound Festival
They are one of my favourite live bands
But New Yorkers burning money makes me puke in my mouth

Not to mention it was like $3 jesus h

Ya rlly. If you're gonna burn money, it better be, like, a million quid or you're just taking the piss.

Well I just saw a video of these guys burning some money at Primavera Sound Festival
They are one of my favourite live bands
But New Yorkers burning money makes me puke in my mouth

― Forget the rest / this breast test is best (Ówen P.), Saturday, June 11, 2011 1:36 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that's what kills me about these guys--there's essentially nothing likeable about them afaict but they're so damn good at what they do.

like in that video they're taping over all the logos, and then the other day i was searching for interviews and i found one where lizzi takes the writer to her favorite downtown boutique stores.

should go on tour w/ crystal castles

I seem to remember an interview from a few years back where they were complaining about not being able to make rent and stuff. Now they're burning money?

$3

their set from pitchfork is streaming right now. in case anyone else is inside right now. lizzie's bra seems to be half over her shirt and half under.

I was really impressed until the 15 minute dance spree around the stage

this shit is hot

crazy ethiopian jazz jam during mindkilla

that last jam was sweet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWHEdFkMhMY

so, no more Gang Gang?

from his FACT interview

Gang Gang has been blown apart for the past year due to several 2013 factors but we are just beginning to get back to it and to figure out how to approach the next record. All we know is that the writing approach is going to be extremely future or extremely past. We are either going to try to write in way that is completely unlike what we have done for our most recent record, or we are going to do a massive rewind and take it way back to the start and approach it with a completely improvised recklessness. Both are very appealing to us. Our next record could sound like Albert Ayler or it could sound like Madonna.

Thought the point of GGD was that it should sound like Albert Ayler and Madonna.

i both vote and predict Madonna

music! is the healing force of the universe!

hey mr dj put some ayler on

hot track.

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/cdn.beggars.com/fourad/site/images/releases/packshots/5acbbd596eea8.jpg

new album kazuashita out in june

( infirma terrae )
J-TREE
Lotus
( birth canal )
Kazuashita
Young Boy (Marika in Amerika)
Snake Dub
Too Much, Too Soon
( novae terrae )
Salve On The Sorrow

what have they been doing in the interim?

produced by Jorge Elbrecht. interesting.

ogmor -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toFq2pkoCFE

brian put out this record in 2013 - one of the finest songs of that year!

xps sweeeeeet exciting news :D

I guess he's not in the band anymore, but their former drummer put out this great electronic record: https://dutchegerm.bandcamp.com/

I saw Brian open for Animal Collective in December 2013. He performed inside of an LED linen beehive. It was cool but wearying after only 20 minutes. Psyched for this new record, didn't realize it'd been so long since their last. I remember Eye Contact getting a lot of praise at the time.

this is a track off the new one in case you haven't heard it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIvCVYX__9c

pleasant but underwhelming imo

Urgh the noughties are back already are they

Looking forward. Loved Eye Contact and have stanned for these folks since the Social Registry days. I've read BDG produced it - not this Jorge cat - but either way loving
the kinda-Cure vibes of the single.

yeah, I'm into this one

Oh wow, I thought they were pretty much done but I played Eye Contact recently and it still sounded like nothing else.

oh shit...

gang gang

Lotus is really good

agree bud, nice tune

New one "J-Tree" is a lovely lil groove. This is feeling like it'll be a sweet summer album.

loving the smooth vibes on the new tracks, J-Tree is especially gorgeous

Some background https://www.stereogum.com/1994986/gang-gang-dance-2018-interview/franchises/interview/

the way the pipeline protest sample comes in on J-Tree is the most beautiful thing. super excited for this album

Looking forward to this. Always have time for this band

Sample killed me on j tree

I just love their **sound** don't know how to describe, but the tone works with me, pretty much no matter what.

The new one gets better and better the more you hear it.

Eye Contact still sounds like the future

everything posted in the last few days is correct
j-tree rules

Yeah excited for this one.

Highly recommend the beedeegee record by degraw

It’s cool how much their sound changed when all their gear was stolen. Not that it’s cool the gear was stolen

psyched for this

Inspired by all the love for gang gang I’ve purchased eye contact and saint dymphna, my favourite. I already own it somewhere but I’m dying to spin house jam

Damn is dymphna good. Like their pop record.

Also vacuum sounds like Mbv mashed with hip hop

house jam is an all time high for me

^^^

Oh shit gang gang

also ^^^^

Dymphna and Eye Contact are two of my favorite albums of the 2000s, easily. I'm always happily surprised when I go back to them, they're so good. (Also the two GGD shows I've seen are two of my favorite shows of the 2000s.)

Jealous of the shows moth. I forgot to go to the eye contact show :-/

Sooo good. They closed out one night of Big Ears that year, and they played so long they actually got shut down because it was 3 a.m. Everybody was still dancing and no one wanted to go home.

Damn son

Gang Gang Dance - Ottobar - Baltimore, MD - August 5, 2009 (full video)

Shit

Saw them at the Eye Contact and boy was it good.

Eye Contact tour*

Thru and Thru is a masterpiece fuiud

They were amazing on the Eye Contact tour. The news stuff is lovely but here's hoping the new album has the sort of rollercoaster moments that both that and Dymphna had.

Listened to SD this week in anticipation (first time in maybe seven or eight years?) on way better speakers and headphones than I had back when I first heard it and I don't think I really appreciated how much space there is in the sound on Vaccum. It's like rattling around in a tank of noise.

Same here bud. Just rolled it with some new Sony headphones and damn it sounded good. I think sd and eye contact are their masterpieces. I’d be happy with just a good record with no frills at this juncture

For a band that's all about finding exciting new frills that seems like the wrong approach to me.

What I mean is they’ve made enough dope records to just put a solid record. Anyway love the two new singles and imagine they’ll as per usual drop Bombs

I’ve been a fan since their first lp but I’m just happy they’re producing new material

Love how Chinese high goes from little
Mermaid to like lounge family sitcom music

haha i can't believe there were people this into their shit show they called a live show. They were the worst band I've ever seen live other than the chromatics, and I saw them at their 2009 peak. Awful hot mess.

You could replace Lizzi with a 10 year old who had no drumming experience on those tom drums and they could keep the same rhythm she has. Maybe the bad-ness of it is the appeal but it's lost on me.

Owch

lotta negativity on ilx today

The one time I saw them live was at a festival and their sound problems were so bad that they managed to finish I think 3 songs in a total of an hour.

Haven’t seen them live but I love their records.

Can’t stand for this dissing

The two new songs sound to me like the best thing they’ve done since saint dymphna

Then again they were pretty much inactive for 7 years, I thought they had disbanded already.

saw them around a year after saint dymphna came out?

cool show i really enjoyed it

The first time I saw Lizzi play was with her drum-duo side project, and I liked her energy but musically it was a lot of undistinguished thumping. So I was surprised the first time I saw GGD how well her drumming worked in the confines a more structured band. Like I said upthread, both times I saw them they were totally in sync and on point, their sets were seamless.

Yeah saw em 2010 and they slayed, it’s almost as if there are variances of quality across performances depending on context

I think this band has the best futurism

Don’t sleep on the beedeegee album which is a continuation of the strange pop distortions of saint dymphna. Features the gang gang singer as well on “rain man”

I like st the most cuz it flows as one song so brilliantly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9xfTw5WkfE

this one just sounds like 'more Eye Contact' but that's not really a bad thing

Went in one ear and out the other tbh

So this album totally rips!

J tree album version is different. Which was unexpected

different how?

Actually they’re not different. Just find it weird iTunes downloaded J tree twice. Gotta delete that

Damn this is good. Smoothest ggd yet

Gorgeous record. Shame there seems to be so little hype for it.

Sure I made the exact same post in the Melody's Echo Chamber thread.

You’re my main man kitchen

New album is totally magical.

Haven't sat down with it to give it a proper listen yet but after sampling it by having it on in the background while doing stuff, I'm already liking it quite a bit (though I fear the two advance singles may be the clear highlights)

this isn't as mind-blowing as Eye Contact but it's a nice progression on their sound, love the balearic vibes. J-Tree, the title track, and Salve on the Sorrow are probably the highlights for me so far

Title track rules - the moment when the 90s breakbeat comes in is just so shameless.

The entire thing feels like it's singlehandedly trying to rehabilitate billowing gap year hippy Buddha Bar music via depth and phenomenal textual detail.

Yep, i’m also reminded of the swooshy first discs of Northern Exposure 1 and 2.

JE’s involvement means I’ll give this a second and third listen

Tim F otm

I think it’s their smoothest record yet

can't tell if that is a compliment or not

Totally is

It sounds really lush to me

Digging this a lot. Not as arresting as Eye Contact or St. Dymphna, but gorgeous and groovy and totally welcome.

ama today at 4pm est

Wicked

some thoughts:

kazuashita sounds like enya/loreena mckennitt mashed with drum and bass

love the use of guitar on this, from spindly to serene

sounds like a logical extension from beeDEEGEE and eye contact

this sounds like Grimes

I think you have that backward

Grimes like sounds this

no, there's definitely a Grimesian note in Lizzi's vocals that wasn't there before

lotus definitely has a grimes esque chorus

ama was really cool. also their user name was a riff on beedeegee. don't sleep on that record

"other people definitely like to say that but i have no idea where those artists get their inspiration from. i'd like to think that we have contributed to the general landscape in some way over the years though yeah. I do remember Grimes once saying Lizzi was an important vocalist."

these Beatles, they sound just like Oasis

boy i really like this record

Yep, i’m also reminded of the swooshy first discs of Northern Exposure 1 and 2.

― Tim F, Saturday, June 23, 2018 4:12 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh my god otm

One of the best records this year easily.
Lush and gentle but with the trademark weird interludes this band is good for. When the record started I was like “oh shit, gang gang!”

lol also this album reminds me a bit of Bel Canto circa Magic Box.

never heard of that band or album but now I want to

this is the hazy sound of my summer

spoiled by riches with music this year but this may be the best record i've heard this year. perfect length, delivers in every way sonically...so good

Would anyone happen to have a spare DL code for this :)

I've been loving the tracks on YouTube, need to hear the whole thing properly.

I know a way you can do that without ripping anyone off

ysi?

Lol Noel. Could probably help you despite paying for the record - share the love iirc

I'm dithering over buying the FLAC on Bleep because it doesn't cost much less than the CD, and I'm put off buying the CD because it doesn't come with a download, unlike most CDs they stock, which feels a bit mean in this day and age.

So I'd just like to hear it and get enthused enough to go for one or the other.

Ross, thanks. Hit me up with an email if you feel so inclined.

hey Noel, just saw your post (sorry)

i could likely help you if this is still needed, let me know (no computer at home but can do this at a friends this weekend)

i still think these are valid points

kazuashita title track sounds like enya/loreena mckennitt mashed with drum and bass, or something like delerium would do but more gnarly

sounds like a logical extension from beeDEEGEE and eye contact

especially the beat programming which is a lot like beeDEEGEE

-- im interested in how their sound evolved when their equipment was stolen years back, and possibly a thread about that at some point. Saint Dymphna seems like an outlier in their career now, but there are definitely sounds on that which seem to pop up on the new one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLrbPDhuaFs

Ross, did you see this? https://www.stereogum.com/1994986/gang-gang-dance-2018-interview/franchises/interview/

no, thanks :)

this is a really great record

I wrote off Kazuashita when it was first released; it seemed so slight compared with the absolute mindfuck of Eye Contact. That was a big mistake. I've relistened several times in the last couple of days, and Kazuashita really is quite a beautiful album. Lotus has such an enveloping atmosphere.

Anyone know what GGD have been up to in the ensuing four years? I hope they have some new music coming. I need this in my life right now.

They're on a track with Meditations On Crime and Harper Sound called 'Crime Seed' released a few months ago. It's OK - A+ yalping from Lizzi tho

(Harper Simon)

they played in nyc during the omicron wave and i chose cowering at home to going out and checking it

seems pretty obvious in retrospect that they were light years ahead of their former contemporaries. All their stuff holds up really well, in general for 10+ year old records, and specifically compared against some other records from that timeframe …

kazuashita was a very good follow-up to eye contact, it's a similar vibe just chiller overall

Thanks for the intel nashwan and vapor. Glad they're still making music!

Just listened to Crime Seed, it was pretty inconsequential imo.

A recent-ish (December last year) performance here: https://issueprojectroom.org/video/gang-gang-dance