Originally posted at Hey! Student on November 5, 2008
sneaky goat
Allow me to be sentimental for a minute. I first heard Gangi driving across the Bay Bridge, heading back to San Francisco after an afternoon of baseball, sun and beer. I was sort of cramped and stuffy back there, and it was a little strange to have a tape adapter hooked up to someone’s Macbook, but somehow this music fit perfectly with that.
I would say these are like tossed-off, airy psych jams. The vocals are very pleasant, and the fairly lo-fi production values work well. If you’re looking for some guitar-based music to score a lazy afternoon, this is the ticket.
There was a point in time where I thought I wanted to be a music critic, and in some ways this blog was a good way to see if I would actually enjoy that. But no, I don’t find it particularly great to write about music. THESE SONGS ARE CATCHY. Gangi r gud!!
I’ve been a fan of Matt Gangi’s music for something like two years, having completely randomly stumbled upon his MySpace page through friends. He’s an amazing songwriter and his sounds are completely 21st Century, but rooted firmly in the psychedelic era of the 60’s. He’s got an amazing ear and his partnership with Lyle Nesse on drums/drummachine/synth forms a killer duo. I’m so glad to have seen them play a small show at the studio/rehersal space/party house Inciting HQ last night – a complete treat.
Originally posted at SPIN.com on October 24, 2008:
BEST OF CMJ:
When onetime folky Matt Gangi hit Manimal Vinyl’s showcase at the Cake Shop Tuesday with his band, aptly called Gangi, the fluttery shirts, shoestring headband, and acoustic strums I expected were nowhere to be found. Framed by shimmery curtains and Christmas lights, Matt and his mallet-wielding drummer Lyle Nesse occupied the stage with self-assurance and opened each song with a sound sample that segued into pre-recorded dance floor beats, synth, and rhythm guitar to form a backdrop for Gangi’s reedy vocals. At times the band’s sound recalled the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s psych-pop, and at others — particularly during “Animals” — Massachusetts duo the Books. But when Gangi ventured into the crowd, hand raised fervently above his head, comparisons seemed petty next to the charming enthusiasm of a musician putting aside freak folk archetypes and finding his own voice.
Originally posted at BeatCrave on October 15, 2008:
LA based duo, Gangi, has taken off on another DIY your. After appearing on LA Record (and in our Know Your LA Bands series before that), Matt Gangi and Lyle Nesse have been demanded by fans to take their musical information bombs around the nation. Touring with Rainbow Arabia and invited to a CMJ showcase again, they will continue to promote their album, A.
Tour Dates
10/16 Poughkeepsie, NY @ Vassar College
10/18 Providence, RI @ Firehouse No. 13
10/19 Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands
10/21 New York, NY @ Cakeshop CMJ Manimal Vinyl Showcase
Originally posted at Denver’s Westword on October 10, 2008:
Gangi
Gangi is a two-piece band from Los Angeles. It played music that incorporated elements of tribal rhythms but had clearly moved on to the next stage of its creative development. The sound produced by the duo was surprisingly rich and lush, and with Matt Gangi’s near-falsetto vocals the band reminded me of Bob Dylan, Mercury Rev and later-era Flaming Lips. Layered samples of organic sounds and human voices provided texture, and the guitar drove the melodies in widening circles. Indian and African music samples rounded out Gangi’s sound in unexpected ways.
Back in early July, we did a feature on Gangi, an L.A. band by way of New York with a knack for creating infectious and colorful psychedelic pop music, as heard on their self-titled debut, A. Since then, Matt Gangi and Lyle Nesse have kept busy – playing shows, shooting their first video, and planning their upcoming US tour with Rainbow Arabia, which now includes a date in Bloomington(!)
It seems we’re not the only ones taking notice, too. The band was just featured on the cover of L.A.’s biggest music publication, the L.A. RECORD, where you can find a rather entertaining interview with the band. You can now also pre-order the Cure tribute album, Perfect As Cats, from Manimal Vinyl. Have a listen to Gangi taking on the Three Imaginary Boys cut, Fire In Cairo.
10/8 – Salt Lake City, Utah – Urban Lounge w/ Rainbow Arabia, and Palace of Buddies
10/9 – Denver, Colorado – Rhineceropolis w/ Rainbow Arabia, Pictureplane and BDRMPPL
10/11 – Iowa City, Iowa – Public Space One w/ Rainbow Arabia
10/12 – Kansas City, Missouri – Record Bar w/ Rainbow Arabia
10/13 – Chicago, Illinois – The Empty Bottle w/ Rainbow Arabia 10/14 – Bloomington, Indiana – Spirit of ‘68 presents Gangi at The Cinemat w/ Rainbow Arabia, The Eastern Seaboard, and Paul Revere
10/16 – Poughkeepsie, New York – Vassar College w/ Rainbow Arabia
10/18 – Providence, Rhode Island – Firehouse No. 13 w/ Rainbow Arabia
10/19 – Brooklyn, New York – Glasslands w/ Rainbow Arabia, Hecuba, Dinowalrus and more
10/21 – New York, New York – CMJ Manimal Vinyl Showcase at The Cake Shop w/ Rio En Medio, Hecuba, Rainbow Arabia, and We Are The World (All bands featured on the Cure tribute album)
10/23 – Baltimore, Maryland – The Windup Space w/ Rainbow Arabia, Hecuba, and Red Headed Temper
10/24 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Inciting HQ w/ Rainbow Arabia and Hecuba
10/26 – Richmond, Virginia – The Triple w/ Rainbow Arabia
10/28 – Atlanta, Georgia – The Drunken Unicorn w/ Rainbow Arabia
10/30 – Houston, Texas – The Mink Backroom w/ Wicked Poseur and Rainbow Arabia
10/31 – Austin, Texas – Rancho Relaxo w/ Rainbow Arabia
11/2 – Santa Fe, New Mexico – The Process w/ Rainbow Arabia
11/3 – Phoenix, Arizona – TBA w/ Rainbow Arabia
Gangi came into my life as I impatiently waited for Casteldoor to start their set at The Scene in Glendale. All L.A. concert goers know that bands never start on time, but this night things were running over an hour late. I was in luck though because I walked in just as this great band was about to play. Their music was intoxicating; I started dancing as if my body had been taken over by a goddess of higher enlightenment and my life’s vision was starting to get hazy. There was more sound (and heart) coming out of these two guys than I had heard out of any sized band in a long time. That’s it, I was addicted to the Gangi drug.
WHO ARE GANGI?
Let’s start this off right, the band’s name is Gangi: sounds like GAN-jee. According to Wikipedia “Gangi is a city in the Himalan region of India. The Indian name, Gangi, is another name for the revered Hindu goddess Durga.” But that has nothing to do with what we are discussing here. Now, back to the music…
Gangi is fundamentally pop rock, but not in the “I love you” kind of way that the Jonas Brothers are pop. These guys are talented musicians and are masters at creating sound, They use all sorts of samples, beats, sound clips, styles, themes, and experimentation to compose their songs. I believe that lyrics are of the utmost importance in modern music, but Gangi’s music is so good, I don’t even think about the fact that I have no idea what they are talking about. I don’t doubt Matt is exploring the damnation of human kind or the need for a change in worldly thought, but I couldn’t confirm it.
I think there is a similarity between Gangi and The Black Keys. Not that these bands sound anything alike, but their fundamental foundation is the same. Each band relies on two men to deliver the words, sounds, emotions, and urgency that their songs exude. They both oversimplify bigger issues and include seemingly nonsense to draw people in and make them think for themselves. Now there is no denying the differences between these artists, The Black Keys stay true to their solid rock sound and Gangi plays around with psychedelic late-60s pop and retro-rock.
Gangi played the CMJ festival in 2007; was featured on the cover of September’s L.A. Record; and is currently on the Large Hadron Collider Tour, crossing America with Rainbow Arabia, Hecuba, and others. Gangi records under the indie label Office of Analogue and Digital.
LISTEN UP!
Gangi, “A” Full LP – $10, purchase online through iTunes or Myspace, or in-person at a show
FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE:
“Waiting on the Line” Video/Performance
“Animals” Video
WHY YOU SHOULD LOVE GANGI, TOO:
***Go see them live, you won’t be able to stop dancing!
***The band is always playing live shows, so your need for Gangi won’t go unfulfilled for long.
***Gangi is a perfect example of great music that you may never hear on the radio. Stop listening to formulated music and start exploring the sound of musicians who speak their mind.
UPCOMING SHOWS:
Oct 21 2008 @ 8:00P
CMJ Manimal Vinyl Showcase at CAKESHOP New York City, New York
Oct 23 2008 @ 8:00P
The Windup Space w/ Rainbow Arabia, Hecuba, and Red Headed Temper Baltimore, Maryland
Oct 24 2008 @ 8:00P
Inciting HQ w/ Rainbow Arabia and Hecuba Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 26 2008 @ 8:00P
The Triple w/ Rainbow Arabia Richmond, Virginia
Oct 28 2008 @ 8:00P
The Drunken Unicorn w/ Rainbow Arabia Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 30 2008 @ 8:00P
The Mink Backroom w/ Wicked Poseur and Rainbow Arabia Houston, Texas
Oct 31 2008 @ 8:00P
Rancho Relaxo w/ Rainbow Arabia Austin, Texas
Nov 2 2008 @ 8:00P
The Process w/ Rainbow Arabia Santa Fe, New Mexico
Nov 3 2008 @ 8:00P
TBA w/ Rainbow Arabia Phoenix, Arizona
Don’t worry L.A.ers, Gangi will come back home very soon!
GANGI Gangi’s “Animals” boasts a refrain as catchy—though far less annoying—as Gwen Stefani’s b-a-n-a-n-a-s, with the Los Angeles-based duo drawing out, recoiling and jamming together the song title’s namesake into a playful run-on sentence. It’s completely addictive, as is most of Gangi’s Office of Analogue LP. Titled simply,A (perhaps the first in a 26-part series?), the record is a pleasing swirl of fairly straightforward songwriting that’s been artfully sliced, diced and re-imagined by its curious inventors. Its tracks swing on a pendulum of neo-psychedelic folk, some dripping in reverb, others recalling similar ventures into contemporary electronic noise bombs in the vein of Animal Collective. Each listen reveals new layers, with information samples from media sources (New York Times, Google, etc.) papered between band-generated contributions. Gangi’s music is out there but not so bizarre that it’s unapproachable. In fact, once digested, it’s hard to get it out of your system. Also, check out their version of “Fire In Cairo” on the forthcoming Perfect As Cats: A Tribute to The Cure, out Oct. 28. The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 10 p.m. Tickets: 24Tix.com (with Rainbow Arabia, Palace of Buddies and Navigator)
• Also Wednesday: Neva Dinova, McCarthey Trenching (Kilby Court); Kate LeDeuce & The Soul Terminators (Burt’s Tiki Lounge);DJ Flash & Flare (W Lounge)
Originally posted at Feed Your Head on Friday, September 12, 2008:
I was glad that the Amoeba shows always get me home early because I knew that Thursday night was going to be a marathon. I wanted to see two shows and four bands. On September 11th Gangi and Lions of Panjshir were playing at Tangier amd The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra and Avi Buffalo were at that legit stage space, The Unknown Theatre, off Santa Monica Blvd…
I got to enjoy some time with Matt Gangi and Lyle Nesse before the show and share some thoughts as Lyle tinkered with their equipment. He explained how much of their sound is blended together on stage in front of us as opposed to just pushing an on and off switch, out of which comes a prearranged back up track.
And watching them onstage you realize how much work both of them have to do to create their sweeping soundscapes. Lyle becomes a whirling dervish of activity, practically dancing while seated. Matt, a figure of intense concentration, playing guitar, playing samples (headphones half on, half off), even drums and then singing with precision, the difficult melodies he composes for himself, creates an hypnotic atmosphere. I think these guys take what they’re doing very seriously.
They opened with “Ground”, my favorite, and continued with the song “Commonplace Feathers”, which they were recently in New York to shoot a video for, and “Animals” among others. Watching the audience reaction and seeing that phenomenon I’ve witnessed a few times, where the audience rushes the stage after the set to grab the band’s CD’s, I could see that this band is on to something. They’re about to leave on their first cross-country tour which I feel sure will bring them legions of new fans.
![Gangi 2 Lost Summer [GANGI]](http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y150/Saltlick/SXSW%202007/Gangi-2.jpg "Lost Summer [GANGI]")
