Fri, April 26, 2013 / Towne Warehouse / Los Angeles, CA

Fri, Mar 15, 2013 / Laurel Canyon Music Revival / Los Angeles, CA

Originally posted at L.A. Record on Mar 28, 2013:

Jared Pittack

Gangi
Gesture Is
Office of Analogue and Digital

Sometimes getting there is half the fun, and this CD is a road trip the likes of which we’ve rarely seen since the Pink Floyd or Zappa albums of old. I don’t mean that things here are classically psychedelic (though Gangi do evoke Dark Side-era Floyd, particularly in the gospel-sounding backups on “Outside Ones,” they just as often evoke present-day indie rock sounds of bands like MGMT and Animal Collective); the grooves on these things do have bite. But this is more margin than meat, and all the better for it—before and after each song reaches its hook, we’re in for some crackle, or musique concrete radio snippets, planned with just as much care as the hooks. And just when we’re finally dancing, the beat ends, leaving us hanging as a guitar gently strums or a wispy synth tendril leaps gently into what suddenly becomes the next song. This lightness, both musically and in the almost muppety tone of Matt Gangi’s dreamlike voice, craftily obscures how dark these tunes’ lyrics are, which recreate robberies and hit home Sartre-inspired factual certitudes. John Lennon once said that “life is what happens when you’re making other plans,” and this album is a strong reminder that even when you’re not “there,” you’re there. Or, as their gospel chorus says in one of the album’s meatiest moments, “Everything that you’ve done is your life.” It’s a wake-up call, but it’s also a big sprinkling of hope.

—D. M. Collins

It’s a bad habit to gravitate towards bands and genres you’re familiar with. I encourage people to lean towards ones who maybe don’t much or any radio play at the moment. The world is full of great musicians, talented ones who aren’t noticed immediately just because they don’t fit the normal fold of what the music world currently wants. This isn’t always a bad thing, though. When you’re an artist trying to get people to look for something different with music, Gangi is quickly rising to the challenge.

The LA duo of Matt Gangi and Eric Chramosta just released their sophomore album, Gesture Is, on Matt’s own label, Office of Analog and Digital. “We have been working on it for a few years off and off,” says Matt. “But we’ve recorded hundreds of songs in that time. Gesture Is is the first collection of these. Some of the songs that might be on future records are very different from these.”

Chramosta replies, “The writing and recording of most of the album’s material seemed to flow out pretty quickly and fluidly. Most of the time spent on these songs was devoted to minor tweaks and remixing and those sort of things.”

As for those who influenced the guys of Gangi to create such different and noticeable music the way that they do, Matt says “We are into at least one band in every decade in every genre. The internet, record shops, and the information bomb.” Chramosta says that “ultimately, some of the differences in our musical tastes and opinions seemed to mutually influence each other- like a positive tug of war of sorts, which I think can be heard in certain places throughout the album.”

The band also recently released the gorgeous video for their song, “Railways Nos. 1-27,” also on their new album. But, last year’s video for the song “Outside Ones” really stood out and I needed to know the ideas behind both the song and the video. “It’s about everything you’ve done is your life is a self proving maximum,” says Matt. Both of the guys gave their takes on the video itself. Matt says “Montana Casey directed the video and did a brilliant job. Montana and I were talking about global surveillance, the work of the bureau of inverse technology and the continued imprisonment of private Bradley Manning- who most Americans haven’t even heard of.” Chramosta says “Montana took the concept and developed it into a more narrative form that the video ended up being.”

OK, enough about the songs. Let’s talk tour! “On this tour we have had a really good time making friends with folks who have heard of our music before,” says Matt. “These friends usually let us sleep on their floor and we get brought into a world of new people who are often pretty interesting.” Chramosta responds, “To be able to travel around and experience all these places and make new friendships is amazing.”

Of course, with every positive comes a negative. “Despite all the great aspects of touring, it certainly comes with its share of difficulties,” says Chramosta. “We once had our trailer jack knifed into a ditch during a freak snow storm in mid October. Not the most positive of experiences but pretty funny in hindsight.”

The band’s favorite city to tour in is Denver because David Mead is there and to the members of Gangi, he is an amazing musician and person. Matt’s other favorite is Albuquerque. “There is an energy in the desert and we have a lot of friends there. Chramosta is also a “sucker for Burlington. Beautiful in the fall.”

Gangi played a show last Wednesday in Philadelphia, however it wasn’t their first show in here. The band performed in Athens, GA last night and is now headed to Austin, TX for a show on the 30th. After that, who knows what these guys will be up to, but hopefully they’ll be back in our town soon.

LA’s Office of Analogue and Digital premiere a video journey & remix of mystic proportions.

The continuing vision quest journeys of GANGI’s Matt & Eric.

GANGI is proud to present their video for “Hindering the Sight of Threatening Events” directed by Dan Plaza along with a remix from Rainbow Arabia. Following up recent videos for “Gold” and “Railways Nos 1-27“, Matt Gangi and Eric Chramosta escape the LA city sprawl of obfuscations from reality to traverse the deserts, foothills and golden waves of grain. Leaving the atmospheres of unforgettable smoggy grey skies, a tribal bongo beat guides the two “through the sky’s strange patterns you can’t forget”.

The direction from Mr. Plaza transposes images of Matt and Eric’s travels with the passing of dry brush, hillsides that are soon contrasted against the Los Angelian city of eternal freeways, industries and eternal night. With the chorus chants of “you all know”, imposed shapes of squares, triangles, circles and other assembled patterns; they return to the world of construction site developments, concrete castles, exchanging their earlier views of a crescent moon now hindered by the metropolitan light pollutions and glow of LA street lamps.

Then we have the premiere of Rainbow Arabia‘s remix treatment of “Hindering the Sight of Threatening Events” that provides a new set of keyboards that coast on a seamless glide into the smooth saxophone sound that has been making a big return to the music world as of late.

The tribal percussion of the original gets reconfigured and traded for drum machine sequencing while Matt’s vocals are treated with a slight echo chamber reverberation. The original sputtering sound effects make cameos in the Rainbow mix while the new keyboard additions create new digitized possibilities. Where the original explores the duality of unfettered nature and city development; Rainbow Arabia turns the song’s transcendent qualities into a transformative experience where we re-imagine Dan Plaza’s nature versus nurture visuals as an auditory tabula rasa development of land into the empirical asphalt world. The droning sustains are traded for rhythmic structures of synthesized diamond encrusted keys build the threatening events from the natural land in metronomic time; sight unhindered.

The new GANGI album gesture is has arrived and is available now from the Office of Analogue and Digital.

The ‘gesture is’ a thumbs up for GANGI’s sophomore effort.

Office of Analogue and Digital, 2012

GANGI’s sophomore album, gesture is, is creative enough to thwart simple categorization. The one time solo project of Matt Gangi (now duo with Eric Chramosta) flies through a variety of musical spectrums, seemingly collecting bits and pieces along the way. A short summation would be to describe GANGI as psychedelic with elements of electronic rock. GANGI round it out with touches on pop music, a dab of hip hop inspired beats, and even a moment of gospel choir.

If grab bag variety isn’t what you’re seeking — think the multi-faceted work of Spiritualized — the gesture is STOP (open palm facing forward), and go listen to something else. GANGI have thrown together an inventive, gapless mix with a cavalcade of psych rock, effects, and random voices that totally aroused my boner usually reserved for Dark Sid of the Moon. “Got what I need / Need to believe”, sings Matt Gangi on “Perfect Citizen” in what could be a throwaway line, but here, it captures the attitude of the gesture is; buy into its spirit, and you will be rewarded.

“Outside Ones”, my new addition to a late night mix, has a mysterious bass heavy vibe, just a slight baring of fangs while remaining soulful with falsetto backing vocals. While gesture is is constructed with diverse sounds most casual listeners are not accustomed to, they’re not above a simple pop song, the stunning “Gold” that serves as a commentary on economic crisis and revolution with a population rising up to the wealthy. “Hey, put your hands up / Give me your gold”, sings Gangi while stuttering the ‘gold’ in a likeable and catchy delivery. It’s refreshing to hear that even among its whirling musical atmosphere, Matt Gangi never forces his melodies into the backgrounds. The gesture is a thumbs up from me.

Purchase: GANGI – gesture is

Originally posted at Earbuddy on October 13, 2012: