Tell me what I need to know about Gigi Masin

ooh, didn't realise this had been released now

so good

some of this is really good but some of it sounds distractingly like the most dated parts of 90s trip-hop, the melodies and pad sounds are great and this is probably better than like 80% of anything I'll hear all year though

Haha, definitely had the same thought re. dated '90s touchstones. There's a LOT of good stuff though.

"Khalifa golf club" is the standout jam imo

He did a live thing the other day and I was surprised by how much it reminded of *something*... but I couldn't put my finger on what it was (Gottsching? Eno? Papa M? Fennesz?)

If you have time, listen to the first 7 minutes of this and please tell me what other artist/works it sounds like (RIYL?):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm9r0vIZYUw

ISO slow, heavy reverb ambient guitar over soft drum machine?

the chords themselves (through the first 2 minutes, at least) sound quite a bit like "Sugar for the Pill" from the reunion Slowdive album

ok, that was a terrible reference. the rest of it sounds nothing like that, sorry

haha awesome - that's a cover of 'small hours' by john martyn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYLVM560Fok

+100000 points to NickB!

First seven minutes sounds particularly electric Windham Hill-y to me (Peter Maunu, Danny Heines come to mind). Also reminds me of that Jakob Bro guy on ECM. Not hearing any Eno or Ashra at all.

<3, thx NickB... not familiar with that track at all!

If you don't know the two Gaussian Curve records that Gigi did with Jonny Nash and Young Marco, they definitely mine that soundworld, as does some of Jonny Nash's solo stuff (e.g. 'Exit Strategies' from 2015). Also try the album 'Surface' by Santilli that came out last year.

this Youtube is awesome, thanks

that Santilli album is madly underrated

Gigi Masin is my top new musical discovery from lockdown. Just what I need right now.

What type of music do you call this? Is it Balearic? And more recommendations in this style would be appreciated (I've checked out most of the names mentioned above)

music from memory has a great catalog with lots of stuff in this vein

the gaussian curve albums are nice. 'uneven paths' and 'outro tempo' are very good. i don't think i've found anything as deep and beautiful as the stuff on talk to the wind tho tbh.

I’d also check out Jonny Nash + Suzanne Kraft. Jonny Nash and Masin did an album together iirc

ah yeah both in Gaussian Curve

Lots of good things in this thread (although it goes back twelve years and is fairly all encompassing)

During lockdown Test Pressing have been releasing daily Stay In & Chill playlists on Spotify which are a veritable treasure trove of downtempo gems

You might also like some of the Claremont 56 releases - there's another Spotify playlist here which gives a flavour

Thanks! I've been listening to a lot of Music From Memory lately (they were how I found out about Gigi)

Do people rate the first Gaussian Curve album higher than the second one? Because after listening to both back to back during a bout of insomnia, I think The Distance (second album) is superior, if only for the gorgeous "Suspended Motion."

Agreed 2nd is my favorite

Would also recommend Steve Hiett, Vini Reilly/The Durutti Column and Wally Badarou in terms of other '80s people with a similiar-enough sensibility if you haven't heard any of them yet

Suso Saiz too

For sure--looks like the MfM bases are covered, though

Figured it was worth highlighting

xps talk to the sea lol. i've got memory worms

Thanks for the recommendations! Those Test Pressing playlists are an absolute goldmine

I like the second Gaussian Curve album best too. I've also been feeling Gigi's albums with Tempelhof.

The first album from Young Marco (other other guy in Gaussian) is nice too, though a little clubber. Still chill though.

Love the second Gaussian Curve album.

Clubber? Clubbier.

Young Marco's a great DJ but I've not been too impressed with his solo productions. I'll check it out though.

yeah I love that first album biology

Do check out his wonderful Welcome To Paradise Italian Dream House comps tho if you haven't already xp

both of marco's lps are excellent

'Suzaku' off Biology is a gorgeous summery synthpop thing and was well ahead of curve on that sort of YMO-ish tip afaicr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQakVMy6fHo

i think they're both comparably great, but i may actually prefer the first gaussian curve album!

I’d also check out Jonny Nash + Suzanne Kraft. Jonny Nash and Masin did an album together iirc

Jason Kolar's Modified Perspectives on the stroom label is similar to gm's sound, w/o any drum programming. really nice.

I'd not heard Suzanne Kraft until now. Perfect.

And I'm probably being daft but is Kraft a Johnny Nash pseudonym?

Sheeeiiit: Talk from Home was only released on vinyl and is currently going for around £80 on Discogs.

two different people, they've made several albums together. i would recommend nash's label in general to gigi lovers: https://melodyastruth.bandcamp.com/

several releases i should say

Lewis "L'amour" - its not the closest sounding stuff the way Jonny Nash and Suzanne Kraft are, but it has the same sense of otherworldly stillness as Masin's more song-structured releases

In a similar way, K. Leimer and Beverley Glenn-Copeland slot alongside this stuff for me - not as lush but atmospherically similar

Bit off topic but Diego Herrera (Suzanne Kraft) was also in a really good band called Pharaohs who out some great records like the album In Oeland on Mark Barrott's International Feel label. Lush neo-tropical sounds but quite uptempo - kind of a (Japanese) Mariah vibe?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caoUAfVO2Ys

On more of a Gigi tip, I've really been enjoying the album La Calle Roja by Pablo Color which came out last year:

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

Missum is indeed just utterly beautiful, even when not hungover. I totally get the Lewis comparison Boxedjoy, and am glad you dished it out.

My rockist stan is looking for a name for this kind of stuff. New Age isn't cutting it. I'm cautiously distancing myself from it but my unconscious just barked 'Digital Pastoral' at me.

absolutely! watching some of his live performances further confirmed that for me. he has clear access to a certain channel.

new album is out! definitely a lot more rhythm as advertised. the drum patterns are great. there may be computers involved, idk, but the feel is very synth-heavy. lots of space and reverb around everything as per usual. 'the age of sampling' has huge snare 80s industrial beats, dark synth pads and processed vocals - approaching the feel of that new boards of canada album in a way. some of the other tracks have more of a house/tech tempo - gigi doing dj tools - not a bad thing at all. definitely more propulsive than i'm accustomed to with his music. the beats themselves i like, they're spacious and organic and unfussy. and ofc the endless drift of his pads and trumpet playing stopping time above the rhythms. it's nice to hear him do something a little more dancefloor-oriented - 'deception dance' is a technoid heater that could really work in a dj set. but still unmistakably him.

this is not at all what I expected to hear abt the new one!

i don't think it's going to be my favorite release of his though it's likely a grower. i hope it opens some more doors for him this late in his career.

the only thing i'm not really loving about this is that there is a lot of very noticeable sidechain compression around the beats, presumably to give them a lot more presence. especially noticeable on "movement" and "the age of sampling". awful fluttering in and out of all the lovely pads and ambient float in 'movement'. i don't know how this all came together but it sort of feels like maybe the idea to make a beat-heavy record wasn't gigi's or something. or if it was, the execution is off because gigi isn't really a beats producer. any drum machines that have appeared in his work previous to this were just another instrumental element, not the backbone of a track.

this is the only gigi miss i've encountered so far. and there's still some good stuff on it (the more ambient pieces). as far as the beat-heavy tracks go, i still really like "dance of deception". but i have to admit that overall i'm a little disappointed.

that multi-artist release from late last year, "Implodendo in una accecante oscurità" - which seemed like it might be a minor entry in Gigi's discography, since it isn't a full-length album in his own name or anything - is just about his masterpiece afaict, including the early stuff. i do really love his shorter "songs" from that period, where he sang (i miss his beautiful, breathy singing voice), but the way the Implodendo tracks stretch out comfortably in another dimension for a full hour plus is him at his best imo.

yeah, this is a weird one. I generally like but don't love most of his stuff with a few exceptions (eg love the rod modell collab) but was intrigued by the beats because, well, I like beats. but this is a strange release. fwiw I've only given it a cursory listen so far, buy yeah, I'd agree that it doesn't seem like a great fit for him for whatever reason...