Yo! Welcome to the GIGANTIC blog. The primary purpose of this place is to promote music that we’re into, and that we’d like other people to hear too. We want to try and help break new bands and tracks, and also like to dig up old classics that we think need more exposure. Essentially, we want to help makes tunes Gigantic. Of course, we do enjoy throwing out the big pop and electro bangers as well, we’re not music snobs.
31/07/09
Chris Brings The Beat Back
After a successful debut at Gigantic a few weeks ago now, there is much hype surrounding the return of AU‘s very own Chris Jones tonight. We’ve given him control of this post so you can get a taster of what to expect.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
DFA Records can do no wrong in my book – a guaranteed stamp of quality. Holy Ghost! are perhaps one of their lesser-known acts (at least in comparison to LCD and Hercules & Love Affair) but I reckon that’ll change when their album drops. Anyway, this is their latest single. The previous effort ‘Hold On’ was a synth-driven monster of modern disco, but this is a more poppy effort. The video is practically a scene-by-scene remake of New Order’s ‘Confusion’, and that band’s late Eighties output with NYC producer Arthur Baker is a good reference point – this is anthemic, high-energy stuff, with a chorus perfect for waving your hands in the air like… you know.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Like trailblazers Flying Lotus and Hudson Mohawke, LA’s Jason Chung operates in the field of so-called ‘wonky’ – essentially fucked-up instrumental hip-hop with dubby effects, serious bass weight and disorienting rhythms. His new album Drift is well worth a listen and this track is a highlight – when the surging bass locks with the crisp claps, you won’t be able to sit still. Trust me.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
We need some full disclosure here – I live with Connor (aka Defcon) and we’ve been mates for years. HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean I’m biased (much) about his stuff. He’s been making tunes since he was about 16 and this is one of my favourite tracks of his. His sound is hard to pin down, but his main influences come from hip-hop, dub, jazz and leftfield electronica. And in this case, an obscure Greek folk record that he picked up in a second-hand shop, sampled and built a track around. Impressive stuff, all told.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I was at Oxegen this year for a day (to see Defcon’s set) and I went there excited about TV On The Radio and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But in the end, the day was stolen by Nick Cave and these guys. I missed them when they played Electric Picnic, but I’m so glad I plumped for them this time round. They put on a proper stage show with lights, visuals, a troupe of dancers and some genuine showbiz glamour. Which is some feat given the mudbath we were being subjected to. And when they finished their main set with this track, my soaked-through trousers ceased to matter for four minutes. Pure pop perfection.