Tell me what I need to know about Gigi Masin

I made a post on Instagram yesterday gushing over Clouds and Gigi commented that we might get a new Gaussian something (album?) at some point

"Thanks!! A lot!.. Gaussians? they could come back suddenly.. who knows?! 😎"

So, that's awesome. Maybe this was known but it's news to me.

Paolo mentioned this over on the ambient thread but think it'd fit here. Romeo Poirier - Hotel Nota. Lots of warm bubbly glitch, the overall aesthetic of which sorts of edges into Masin territory at times.

https://sferic.bandcamp.com/album/hotel-nota

calypso is crazy good. can't believe it took me this long to get to it. he really is one of a kind.

My favorite album of the year

I wouldn't have got through 2020 without Gigi Masin but it wasn't Calypso I was listening to

That's fine but do you not like Calypso?

I'm not answering for boxedjoy but I will say I typically get more out of Gaussian Curve than Gigi solo

hard disagree. i like gaussian curve a lot but i think his solo material is on another level. his new album doesn't throw out a welcome mat, it's kinda restless overall and is very much in a high-mid register eq-wise but it's such a rich, tense bridge between ambient concepts and experimental / jazz facility w/ the kind of elegant, intuitive phrasing that makes his music so compelling, i still think he's head and shoulders above the genre he's sort of given birth to over the past decade.

My favorite album of the year

― Evan, Saturday, December 26, 2020 4:10 AM (seventeen hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol something i agree with Evan about ;)

!!! Is this surprising?

Winky face acknowledged however am I known for my dumb opinions?

no no i just disagree with you sometimes on those dang politics threads

sorry didn't mean to be weird

Oh! I sometimes post on those, and if so it’s usually a dumb joke or shitpost.

well anyway calypso is cosmic bliss and kind of mysterious and sad and it's perfect imo. one thing that comes to mind, apropos of not much, and i don't mean to be *that guy*, but i feel like people might not realize gigi has experimental music bona fides, has collaborated with people like charles hayward, and that's kind of part and parcel with with his solo work too... feel like that comes through more on this album idk.

Sorry for making you feel weird. It was just a mini-rollercoaster for me. "I'm finally established enough here after 11 years to have recognizable opinions?? Wow neat because I've never really felt a par-...oh I see he is simply confusing me with someone else."

Anyway, I agree he has experimental credentials that contribute value to his music, but I'm not sure it's an entirely unique feature vs. other artists that do the same (many of which are also on the wonderful MFM label as a broad example). To me it's actually his moving melodies that help him stand out among that pack of minimal experimental musicians, not the other way around (AKA experimentation making him stand out among ambient artists).

http://offtherecord.net/off-the-record-mix-series-20-gigi-masin/

Ha... looks like a mistake in the formatting but it reads as if Gigi passive aggressively pivots and asks himself about new solo music in the middle of answering about the prospect of new Gaussian Curve material.

Thanks for sharing though I was just yesterday wondering what might be coming next from him.

I shoulda put bjork and to rococo rot have sampled him and he sounds like Blue Nile in the title to get people to post.

― jaxon, Friday, July 22, 2011 2:26 PM (nine years ago)

i'm glad i did a quick command+F before posting! spotify "recommended" the to rococo rot song, which led me on a quick search to see who else had sampled "clouds" (1989?) and who was the first. to rococo rot was apparently the first (1999), and it's much more of a blantant rip than bjork's. bjork's sounds vaguely inspired by it. the to rococo rot song is more on the Vanilla Ice side of sampling practice

whenever a old jaxon threads or posts come up im always thinking "this guy has very similar taste to me but ten years ahead of me"

jaxon was/is the best

haha, i don't have that specific thought with jaxon (or anyone else), but definitely feel that with tons of old posts (including this one). it makes me wonder, sometimes, about how word spreads, out networks of recommendation and that kind of shit, and how much it might feedback on itself.

i'm high sorry

i guess this is a bad thread for me to make that kind of comment on, because it sounds negative, and gigi masin rules and although i don't currently listen blue nile much, i also didn't listen to talk talk that much until a few years ago and now mark hollis and i are close, so i realize that's probably in my future. i just meant, in general i've "been thinking" (ie, not really and not that hard and not all that often, in fact this is probably the 3rd to 4th time i've thought about it) about feedback mecha -adsfasdfl

(the poster went to go find a candle)

still jam the new album all the time.

i think it's my favorite at this point.

I agree, it's so good. the sense of depth/space in some of those tracks is really impressive

https://angophora.bandcamp.com/

getting some Gaussian Curve/Gigi Masin vibes from this Angophora album, posting it here because one of the members is Santilli who is mentioned upthread

I agree, it's so good. the sense of depth/space in some of those tracks is really impressive

― I like signing up to dead sites (sleeve), Thursday, March 25, 2021 12:05 AM (three months ago) bookmarkflaglink

it still offers up new details for me from time to time, especially on headphones. i find myself not wanting to listen to anything else when i want to chill out.

Best album

i've listened to this album over 100 times. extreme safety blanket material for me.

i never look at the track titles but glancing at it now i realize it could be the tracklist of an alternate dimension smashing pumpkins album lol

i'm annoyed at myself for not mentioning suso saiz when i was listing riyl-gigi's. he shares his experimental bona fides (and mediterranean background) and is one of the only ambient artists that rivals gigi masin for subtly, tenderness, endless relistenability etc. his new one, resonant bodies, is so lovely

https://www.soundohm.com/data/products/2022-09/vahine_-_front_cover_rgb-1-jpg.jpg

Widely-loved electronic maestro Gigi Masin returns with ‘Vahinè' – a mini album of beautiful and distinct music that is unmistakably his, sounding better than ever.

Masin always pours his heart into composing, but here it takes on a potent new level of heavy emotion – as it’s a tribute to his late wife, who sadly passed away last year.

“There is a Tahitian dance called ‘Aparima’. It consists of graceful, sinuous and fascinating movements, which tell you stories and legends about love or tradition. The ‘Vahinè' are now dancing, the Tahitian females, with smiles and gestures that could be symbolic or descriptive but are always gentle, harmonious, charming. I was watching this documentary, it was almost 4 in the morning, but I couldn't sleep; I was in front of the television for hours, my wife had passed away the day before, and I was watching hands and arms swaying.

I told myself that maybe it’s so, at the end of the road it’s possible to realize dreams, and I’m sure that she is finally able to dance like never before, and is able to move without any impediment, with no suffering, free to make all the movements that she couldn't make for so long, turning to me with a smile and a wink. So, in the clouds, you will discover and see an extraordinary 'Vahinè', because she will move and dance and smile until the end of time.” Gigi Masin

A future-retro dreamscape where stripes of early evening sun pour through partially closed venetian blinds; kalimba, piano and steel pans meet on the incredibly evocative ‘Marilene (Somewhere in Texas)’.

The Balearic/Italo house heart of ‘Barumini’ throbs throughout a celestial epiphany, whilst ‘Shadye’ is a sun blinded ambient mirage where angelic voices and electric guitar intertwine, before more heavenly music ensues on the trance-like ‘Malvina’.

A heart-wrenchingly beautiful evocation of transitioning to the other side, ‘Valerie Crossing’ is Gigi’s compelling and inspirational take on death, with a vivid evocation of something spiritual, existential and metaphysical. His exemplary approach shows decease not as a cause for despair, but a philosophical and poetic exploration of where souls go, when they leave their earthly bodies.

Masin closes with ‘Vahinè' – a twitchy, levitational piece of sublime deep techno, which transmits high strength vibrations of powerful emotions. On both this track, and the album of the same name, there’ s no pseudo intellectual ambient posturing with cod academic angles tagged on; This is music of real substance, coming from a real place. It’s saturated with feelings, but turns mourning into affecting art, and even a beacon of hope.

https://d1rgjmn2wmqeif.cloudfront.net/r/g/330258.jpg

Posted both images because it's hard to tell which is the official artwork?

Really gutted to hear about his wife though...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2i3CAnlzFc

great news/sad news, thanks for the revive

you're very welcome!

map

wow. saving this for the weekend.

awful news about his wife, poor gigi

btw just in case any here missed it, he makes a guest appearance on the excellent new ron trent album alongside jean luc ponty amongst others...

https://rontrent1.bandcamp.com/album/what-do-the-stars-say-to-you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOqYk8LGuCM

^ video is the track that gigi is on, 'admira'

The single is really beautiful

It's out!

Interview: https://player.fm/series/lost-and-sound/gigi-masin

this is liquefying me

"marilene (somewhere in texas)", i'm voting yes for reverb

He is such a sweet guy

hello barumini, the best track in a future lindstrom set