Gang Gang Dance - Kamakura

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release
Soundclips

4...according to our Brian on Thu 02 Sep, 2010.

These screwy New Yorkers return for more experimental rhythmical fun. This limited Latitudes job comprises of one quarter hour long track that sounds at one point like old embryonic proto-electronica being kicked down a rusty fireescape round the back of a Bohemian thrift store in the 80s. Once the first few minutes of live drums subside, the overall feel is that of a kaleidoscopic mixtape, at various junctures tribal, ethereal, a bit clubby, quite druggy and wonderfully disorientating. It manages to contain most of the elements that make them a contemporary force to be reckoned with - a bite-size sonic collage that'd work as a primer for new fans & is a welcome stop-gap for established fans alike!

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One track, 15 minutes. Recorded in August 2007 at Southern Studios, engineered by Harvey Birrell. Limited pressing of 1000
hand-numbered, rubber stamped CDs and 1000 vinyl.

Gang Gang Dance define the ultimate 'world music' for the now, and possibly for an unknown tomorrow. Utilizing avant garde sensibilities and cut-and-paste assemblies, they approach music as pure sound. Lizzie Bougatsos' vocals are often non-verbal communications . words as sound rather than any immediate apparent linear meaning or message. As interest grows in the indigenous music of many cultures of the Far and Middle East, especially in hybridized fusions of the familiar Western forms with local historical folk forms, so Gang Gang Dance are the logical product of an outward looking NYC in the global age: Middle Eastern percussion and keyboard stabs collide with Far Eastern instrumentation, and elements of Western pop and dance. The inclusion of grime and dubstep elements are of particular interest here since Gang Gang Dance are approaching these genres, familiar to anyone in the UK, from the position of outsiders, and thus treating these genres as indigenous folk music, as exotic as gamelan or throat singing to anyone who has not heard them.

The polyrhythms and vocal styling of these British urban genres stands here as another part of Gang Gang Dance's vision of music in the 21st century, combining the musical idioms of the world we inhabit to create music that suggests a world we have yet to discover. In many ways this recording, tracked prior to the release of the 'St. Dymphna' album bridges the gap between the rawer, almost cut-up approach to their earlier albums and their more polished and highly-evolved present sound.For Fans of: Black Dice, High Places, Boredoms, Telepathe

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