- Kinetic techno for dancing, inspired by dancing.
- As a dance music producer and an alumnus of both the New York City Ballet and the Alvin Ailey Theatre, GiGi FM is interested in how humans engage with music through movement. She calls her work "gestural electronic music," and on her debut EP Magnetite, she explores how we can use dance and music to connect with our surroundings.
"Since the beginning of time, humankind has always taken communal rituals in dancing as the best attempt to tune into the underlying essence of the universe, which was born out of sound and constant intense vibrating atoms," she recently told RA. Magnetite's atmospheric techno is made from ritualistic, propulsive percussion, but it's the EP's stripped-back, almost modest nature that makes it hit so hard, every discrete element shaking and reverberating into the empty space around it.
On "22 Tear Drops," tectonic bass slowly shudders to the surface, like the dying quakes of an aftershock, and this fleeting show of strength becomes one of the most delightful moments on the record. "Ketu's Dance" has a feverish synth, but notice how subdued it sounds, wriggling like an eel in the shadow of the kick drum. Only after two minutes of coaxing from the drums does this synth lead start to flicker into higher and louder notes that resemble a timid joy. It's like dancing in front of an audience for the first time.
Brittle and roomy, Magnetite can be skeletal at times, but that's its best quality. The music simmers tantalizingly, beckoning the listener to dive in. On "Senstronaut," a song made using MYO motion sensors, staccato kick drums follow GiGi FM's own body movements. It sounds as if she were trying to align her body with the rest of the percussion, creating a harmonious call-and-response dynamic.
Magnetite is doubly impressive because of this understatedness. GiGi FM avoids unimaginative clichés that usually come with this territory, like vaguely spiritual touches meant to achieve some imagined state of transcendence, or overwhelming organ notes to present the grandeur of space. Instead, her music embodies the same unassuming, eternal power that attracts us to objects like the sea, a mountain range or an oak tree.
Tracklist01. Senstronaut (MYO)
02. Manas (PST)
03. Ketu's Dance
04. 22 Tear Drops