Send "GIGI " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 For such a simple word, the title Maintenant-- French for "now"-- is loaded with significance for Gigi. Beyond being an easy way for these Vancouver Anglophones to score some Francophone cool, it serves to contemporize an album that both deliberately evokes-- both in sound and collaborative process-- early-60s Brill Building pop-song production, and one whose recording first commenced some five years ago.On top of enumerating the album's formidable 39-person guest list, Gigi principals Nick Krgovich (of art-popsters No Kids) and Colin Stewart (producer for Black Mountain, among others) are careful to itemize each track's recording date in the liner notes-- perhaps to show their efforts coincided with, or even predated, those of soft-pop peers the Pipettes, Lucky Soul, and Camera Obscura. But then Maintenant feels more an extension of a certain Vancouver-bred pop classicism-- one that dates back to Carl Newman's pre-New Pornographers outfit Zumpano on through to the unheralded ensemble Young and Sexy-- than part of some prevailing, blog-buzzed trend. That regionalist quality manifests itself in the aforementioned supporting cast, which pulls equally from Vancouver-scene mainstays (Duffy Driediger of Ladyhawk, Veda Hille) and K Records kin from across the border (Rose Melberg of Tiger Trap/the Softies, Karl Blau, Mirah), plus frequent flyer Owen Pallett. It's essentially Krgovich's version of the 6ths' Wasps' Nest, one where he gets to upgrade his lo-fi indie-rock heroes from a Motel 6 to a penthouse at the Hilton-- but has them sleep alone. Because Gigi understand that the most important period-era sound to capture here isn't a "Be My Baby" kick-drum boom or a Bacharachian bossa nova swing (though both are in full effect), but rather the sound of repression-- of forcing a smile while your heart sinks, of maintaining appearances while you're dying inside....full text |
| Thestranger |
| T he corporeal Phil Spector may rightly be sitting in a California prison cell, pining for his frizzy wig, but his (ahem) specter continues to haunt indie rock with impunity. Latest to invoke his "wall of sound" production style—and the Brill Building's complementary songwriting—is Vancouver, BC's Gigi, a recording project helmed by No Kids' gawky, golden-throated frontman Nick Krgovich and recording engineer Colin Stewart (the Cave Singers, Black Mountain, Destroyer). Gigi began when Stewart acquired a pair of antique plate reverbs (cumbersome devices from Spector's era that produce their effect by vibrating a sheet of metal). He and Krgovich set out to record a suite of fittingly vintage pop songs, recruiting a chorus of collaborators including Owen Pallett, Mirah, Karl Blau, Bobby Birdman, Rose Melburg of Tiger Trap, and others. And while the sessions happened sporadically over three years, the resulting album hangs together beautifully. The sound—from that first, ubiquitous Ronettes drumbeat to the final fade-out of brass and strings and finger snaps—is spot-on; Stewart recorded the assembled musicians all together, in live takes, those reverbs absorbing any minor flubs in the execution of Krgovich's ambitious arrangements. And the songs themselves are perfectly sweet little pocket symphonies, full of agile, aerial melodies and impossibly broad, inviting choruses....full text |
| Thismusicwins |
| Maintenant has long since been one of my most anticipated releases for this year, but after a series of setbacks (amazon hold-ups, UK release date alterations) its only now, close to a month after i expected, that this 60s inspired masterpiece has finally reached my letterbox. The Tomlab records release is a collection of collaborative recordings made between May 2005 and August 2009 under the command of Vancouver based singer songwriter Nick Krgovich (also of NO KIDS) and engineer and producer Colin Stewart, who upon feeling inspired by the latter's acquisition of two huge vintage plate reverbs five years ago, set about recording an album at Vancouver's esteemed Hive Studios. With the sole aim of recreating the style and inspirations behind the 60s hit parade, the duo collected contributions in one form or another from over 40 collaborators, including Owen Pallet, Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls as well as Katie Eastburn, Rose Melburg and Karl Blau. The purpose of Gigi is rooted in the member's deep respect for the 60s pop, and appears on 2010's release list as a self-described tribute to past times rather than as just another hopeful candidate for the next chart-topper. Maintenant certainly has its flaws, indeed a large part of the album was recorded live into a two track, but in time with this album you come to appreciate, rather than discard them. For example, within such a tightly self-defined genre, variation proves difficult. You can listen comfortably through the album several times without distinguishing tracks individually, but with each rotation, Maintenant ingrains itself deeper and deeper into that part of your mind which tells you that you've known a track all your life. At 15 tracks, with each standing around the 3 minute mark, even if a track goes wrong for you, there's room for manouvre. This is an album filled with loungy instrumentation, lazy brass harmonies and sublime melody which lodges deeper than you think....full text |
GIGI lyrics
|
| |||||||
