GANGI

Originally posted at Radio Free Silver Lake on July 19, 2010:

Gangi has always made fascinating music, and Matt Gangi is a clever songwriter, but the fact that changing musical partners last year having affected no diminishment in the high quality of his live performance just confirmed what a talent he is. Tonight is his first show in many months and I’ll be at the Bootleg Theatre to see it. Echo Curio is throwing caution to the wind and booking the hellcats, Manhattan Murder Mystery. I wish I could be there to see what happens.

Originally printed in and posted at LA Weekly on July 22, 2010:

How Gangi remains Glendale’s little secret is a mystery unto itself. Led by reformed folkie Matt Gangi, whose reedy voice evokes a helium-toned David Byrne, the group specializes in psychedelic jangle accompanied by atmospheric haze and bright melody. A 2008 album, called A, drew comparisons to Neil Young on a more experimental bent — fair enough, but it’s not hard to imagine this group as the more mellow appetizer to a full-course serving of Animal Collective. Lucky Dragons also bears some similarities to that tripped-out Brooklyn ensemble. Members Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara create constantly mutating audio forms using a distinct combination of acoustic instruments and home-wired electronics. They also typically solicit a great deal of audience participation, so be prepared to shake a bean pod for the betterment of the room. Last but hardly least is Swahili Blonde, the recently launched project of former WEAVE! member Nicole Turley which finds Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante on guitar and Duran Duran’s John Taylor on bass, with other instrumental support from members of Warpaint, Corridor and the Like. (Chris Martins)

Originally posted at Sick of The Radio on June 12, 2010:

Hailing from Glendale, CA, electro-folksters Gangi comprise Matt Gangi, Eric Chramosta, and occasionally Lyle Ness and Oliver Hild.  By blending paranoid, echoing samples, dusty guitars and drum machines, Gangi’s music evokes cinematic, wide open spaces. It all seems to make sense, then, when Matt declares “I really want it to sound like an industrial silo in the middle of an open field.” Despite scaring off a prospective producer with this cryptic demand (see their interview with BuzzBands here), Gangi seem to have achieved their vision. On the intoxicating ‘Region One’, Pink Floyd-esque acoustic guitar licks and eerie vocals are shadowed by the hum and grind of background radiation: the industrial silo, looming in the darkness. It is in this atmospheric, sprawling synthesis of psychedelic rock and electronica that Gangi have found their niche. It represents a duality between the old and the new – in the words of Matt Gangi, “we’re surrounded by natural environments and industrial complexes.” The result sounds like Dark Side of the Moon colliding with Endtroducing, via 2001: A Space Odyssey (Gangi and Ness’s educational backgrounds in film certainly shine through).

Following their 2008 debut, A, Gangi featured in Spin Magazine’s Best of CMJ 2008 list. The follow up, pencilled in as Gun Show, is still in the works. In the meantime, check out Gangi’s facebook/a> and the live performance of ‘Waiting On the Line’, below.

Originally posted at Los Angeles Times on March 27, 2010:

This two-man psych-folk band gets by on a healthy backbone of samples and ambient washes that support a dark and rich lyrical world from its eponymous frontman.

Originally posted at The Daily Trojan on January 13, 2010:

Using the night as an excuse to emerge from recording hibernation, the L.A.-via-New York experimental-folk duo Gangi made the most of its short set to showcase a cross section of its sonic abilities. Fronted by sometime-DJ and perpetual sample-maker Matt Gangi and supported by newly added bass player Oliver Hild, the band utilized every keyboard, guitar and synthesizer on stage — of which there were many — to create their masterpieces.

In addition to stripping down to traditional instrumentation for its newly written tunes, Gangi used synthesized keyboard notes, pre-programmed beats and looped sounds from a pedal board-type array to add texture to older, rawer songs.

Throughout the frontline changes, however, new drummer Eric Chramosta’s impressively technical skin-hitting remained constant. Never content with a 4/4 time signature, Chramosta pounds through the heart of the band’s dreamscapes like Zach Hill from spastic Sacramento math-rock band Hella. His drumming style is refreshing in general, but, when placed behind a similarly complex tangle of memorable Gangi jams, it’s impossible not to get sucked in.

Originally posted at Radio Free Silver Lake on January 12, 2010:

Friday, January 8, was the clincher. I was really looking forward to returning to The Viper Room for the first time in about a year, and to see two of my local favorites The Happy Hollows and Gangi. After getting a ticket for this show, Matt Gangi (seen above) contacted me to let me know his drummer, Lyle Nesse, had moved back east and he was performing with a new line up. I didn’t know what to expect and, frankly, couldn’t imagine what the music would be like now. As usual, Gangi began with the familiar sound sample that announces “Gangi”  “Gangi” ..”and now, Gangi”, but once the music kicked in, I noticed an immediate difference. Accompanied by Eric Chramosta on drums and Oliver Hild on Moog and bass, the sound is still like a wall of vibration, fed by sound samples and effects, but there was a real focus on Matt’s vocals, which sounded richer and more varied than I’d ever heard before. They opened with a completely new song which showed off this new musical direction and proceeded with new arrangements for “Waiting On the Line”, “Animals” and “Subject Positions” from the CD, A. “Gun Show” has been given a makeover that made for the best version of that song I’ve heard and they played even more new material that blew my mind. I don’t know if Gangi ever sounded more beautiful. I brought someone who had never heard the band before and she was as overwhelmed as I was, so I was able to believe what I was hearing.

Orignally posted at Radio Free Silver Lake on January 4, 2010:

KROQ Locals Only presents 10 Days of 2010, which is a series highlighting a variety of local bands on the Sunset Strip at The Viper Room, continuing on Monday with The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra and That Noise. I’m looking forward to  The Happy Hollows and Gangi on Friday night, but as you can see by the flyer at right there’s plenty to choose from. I used to attend a lot of the Mr. Shovel Shows here and I’m really happy to see this venue come back onto the indie rock radar because I’ve always found The Viper Room to have some of the best sound in this city.

Friday, January 8

– “First Fridays” w/ Atlas Sound, Tune-Yards @ Natural History Museum

– Golden Animals, Allah Las, Kinch, Jeffertiti’s Nile @ Spaceland

– The Happy Hollows, Gangi, Useless Keys, The Soft Hands @ The Viper Room

– Death Sentence: PANDA!, PILES, Kit, Dunes @ The Smell

– Queen Victoria, 60-Watt Kid, State Champion, Giving Up @ Synchronicity

– Sweaters, Hot Sauce Mentor @ The Echo

DECISION:

I’m going to see The Happy Hollows, Gangi, Useless Keys and The Soft Hands at The Viper Room in another of the weeks best shows. Matt Gangi tells me he is collaborating with a new drummer and I look forward to whatever he has up his sleeve.

Originally posted at Radio Free Silver Lake on May 29, 2009:

Originally posted at Feed Your Head on May 26, 2009:

It was great to have the day off on Monday, May 25, 2009, so I was primed for the Gangi show at Spaceland that night. Also wanted to prepare myself for a week in which I could go out every night, there’s so many good shows…

Originally posted at NBCLosAngeles.com on May 4, 2009:

GANGI’S MAY MONDAYS: It’s the first of Gangi’s Monday nights in May at Spaceland. The show is free, the sounds are folky, a tad fuzzy, and shot through with streams of electronic prettiness. We want to make a macrame owl while listening to the duo. The kind with oversized tortoiseshell beads. 8:30PM

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