I met Matt Gangi many moons ago, when people still used MySpace to communicate about music ideas. He was a DIY pirate making wild noises from beat up old synths, traveling show out of the back of a dusty road worn sedan and playing PBR-soaked basements. His sounds made a big impression on me and stuck with me all these years.
Stoked to see that Matt and his creative partner Eric Chramosta are still in the game – writing quality tunes like this out of their Los Angeles homebase. Get their new, second gesture is LP October 2nd from their own Office of Analogue and Digital. Get the other single from the release “Outside Ones” on Bndcmp.
While we missed out on the release of A, Matt Gangi’s debut release under his GANGI moniker, this track hit our inbox a few days ago and we can’t help but be excited about their forthcoming release gesture is. “Railways nos. 1-27″ is a propulsive piece of sunbaked psychedelia, underpinned by a Grizzly Bear-esque drum beat and a nearly unintelligible backing vocal line that nonetheless carries the song to its mountainous heights. You never know if a band will live up to your first taste, but the ground that GANGI covers in this track is pretty impressive. Definitely give this track a listen, and look out for gesture is on October 2nd.
Los Angeles based GANGI might not be the first name that comes to mind when people talk about west coast psych pop, but on their new record Gesture Is, the group is positioning themselves to be mentioned with the LA elite. Their latest single “Railways Nos. 1-27″ showcases that new prowess. A hypnotic, slow burning jam that features a revolving cast of vocals and gazing guitar progression, “Railways Nos. 1-27″ really benefits from the string section and frantic saxophone solo which help set the track apart. GANGI don’t aim to reinvent the wheel, but this sound has us excited for what sounds Gesture Is explores.
Gesture Is will release October 2, 2012 on Office of Analogue and Digital.
LA’s GANGI have always been a band we really have felt could make some noise in the indie world once they were able to focus their sound and find a more solid identity of what they are. This is not to say we didn’t enjoy the material the duo was churning out, but we just felt that their influences were so expansive that they were still trying to get a better feel for what direction they were going to go. Now, it appears that they are ready to take that next step with their forthcoming sophomore album, gesture is, out October 2nd on their own Office of Analogue and Digital label.
The first song from the new LP was the smooth and driving “Outside Ones” and now we get the sprawling “Railways nos. 1-27″. The track starts off sounding like a Hall & Oates track slow-building, only to explode at the end. The result is a satisfying slice of atmospheric pop. Stream it below.
LA’s GANGI have always been a band we really have felt could make some noise in the indie world once they were able to focus their sound and find a more solid identity of what they are. This is not to say we didn’t enjoy the material the duo was churning out, but we just felt that their influences were so expansive that they were still trying to get a better feel for what direction they were going to go. Now, it appears that they are ready to take that next step with their forthcoming sophomore album, gesture is, out October 2nd on their own Office of Analogue and Digital label.
The first song from the new LP was the smooth and driving “Outside Ones” and now we get the sprawling “Railways nos. 1-27″. The track starts off sounding like a Hall & Oates track slow-building, only to explode at the end. The result is a satisfying slice of atmospheric pop. Stream it below.
Originally posted at Buzzbands on August 13, 2012:
Gangi’s “Railways no. 1-27″ is one of those sound collages that threatens go off the tracks and at any minute but never quite does. The spacey, sample-added excursion is the lead track on the L.A. duo’s sophomore album “Gesture Is,” which will finally be released on Oct. 2. We say “finally” because it’s taken Matt Gangi and Eric Chramosta a minute to wrap up plans for the release, which appeared imminent back in January when Montana Casey’s great video for “Outside Ones” made its debut. Whatever the timing, “Gesture Is” reveals Gangi’s flair for the experimental and cinematic. If there are ghosts in these machines, they sure can make beats and carry a tune.
‘gesture is’ is due out on October 2 via Office of Analogue and Digital
Matt Gangi’s electro-psych evolution has been years in the making. In 2008, when SPIN saw the now L.A.-based artist at CMJ, expectations of strummy freak-folk gave way to dance beats and confident stagecraft, sparking comparisons to artists as disparate as Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Books. Now a duo with drummer and multi-instrumentalist Eric Chramosta, Gangi is set to release his second album as GANGI, gesture is, on October 2 via his own Office of Analogue and Digital label. Following a spooky black-and-white video for multi-layered advance track “Outside Ones,” the second preview of the new album comes in the form of “Railways no. 1-27.” With crunching guitar, looping vocals, live drums, found-sound samples, and even a smattering of honking saxophone, it’s an intricate, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink bit of atmospheric pop that amply displays the pair’s addiction to tweaking old analogue gear. “You’ve got to pay attention,” Gangi sings, and that’s always good advice.
Not too long ago during a free show at the Bootleg Theater, L.A. the Blog came across local musicians Matt Gangi and Eric Chramosta, who play together as the band Gangi packing the stage area and filling the dark space with solid sounds in a live show that deserves respect. Taking electronic music’s signature downbeats and electro-acid fills combined with some impressive live drumming by Eric, and psychedelic guitar, vocals and keyboards by Matt, the duo impressively drew all the technical elements together into a performance well worth experiencing.
Most reminiscent of the pysch-pop sounds of bands like Phantogram and more experimental psychedelic bands such as Animal Collective, Gangi finds a nice middle where they incorporate less of a pop sound, keeping the heavy and fast drums and/or guitar of rock’ n’ roll, while not falling into experimental limbo with enough hard electronic rhythms tempered by the psychedelic lyrics and keyboard to create songs that kept the crowd gasping for more.
Besides the great music at the show, L.A. the Blog was even more impressed watching them put the songs together. Whether it was Eric pounding out the electronic bass lines on drum pads to loop during his own drum solos, or Matt switching from keyboard to guitar while providing the electro-acid background noise through any numerous distortion and frequency devices, their energy held the show together.
We shot some video with our trusty mobile device, and are happy to share. So you don’t judge them by our crappy video, below also find a music video that the band posted to their own site gangimusic.com. You can also find them on facebook and myspace!
If you get a chance head down to the Sunset Junction 2012 Jubilee on Sunday, May 27th, and catch them at El Cid for a show at 5 p.m. You can also check their band page for other upcoming shows. Well worth your time.
By Sjimon Gompers » A call to arms to lay down your arms.
Matt and Eric pose in front of laboring hands from an imaginary revolutionary estate sale
With the seasonal holiday of May Day upon us and the Occupy everywhere mobilizing back into gear, our friend Matt Gangi just finished an uplifting video to support both the 99% and International Workers Day proper. For the video for “Gold” Gangi presents the masses taking it to the streets from footage rich with Occupy dissenters galore. “Time for a hold up, the banks have run dry,” Matt sings you are drawn into his survey of protests clashing with authorities amid his global call to “put your hands up.”
Matt and drummer Eric Chramosta pour hard proletariat sweat into the track about the dreams of the working class revolution while televising the revolution for the revolution. Reflecting on traversing the frontlines, Gangi describes the strong bond of unity shared between the East and West coasts protesters: “The protest in New York, where I shot a lot of the footage, was a demonstration after what had gone down in Oakland with Scott Olsen and ‘New York is Oakland, Oakland is New York’ was one of the phrases being chanted.”
“Experimental” doesn’t quite cut it when you’re attempting to describe certain, uh, “indie” bands. Matt Gangi and Eric Chramosta make a lot of sounds that melt down via guitar/drums/synths/samples into an aural collage that seems aimed at warping any expectations you might have about … what to expect. We won’t discuss their “influences,” either, just note that their genuinely psychedelic music is fully laden with obscure pop-culture referential stuff that has a way of making you nod your head like a cool guy or girl, like you “get” it. It rocks in significant ways, in other words, like, you could dance to it if you felt so inclined. Gangi have a new album called Gesture Is coming out imminently.
GANGI / Photo: Benjamin Gallardo
Matt and Eric pose in front of laboring hands from an imaginary revolutionary estate sale