Gigi is a Canadian music recording project based in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, formed in 2005 by the songwriter Nick Krgovich and record producer Colin Stewart after Stewart acquired two vintage plate reverb units and asked Krgovich to write songs —

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

-inspired 1950s and 1960s-style pop music — to make use of them.Harper, Kate (January 11, 2010). "",

Chartattack.com ''Chart Attack'' (stylized as ''CHARTattack'') was a Canadian online music publication. Formerly a monthly print magazine, it was called ''Chart'' and published from 1991 to 2009. Online content ceased to be updated sometime between mid 2017 to 20 ...

. Retrieved July 20, 2010. With 40 musicians from indie rock bands collaborating, the group released an album, ''Maintenant'', on the Tomlab label in 2010, to mostly positive reviews.

History

Krgovich is known for his work as a member of P:ano and of No Kids. Stewart has previously worked as a

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...

for such groups as Black Mountain,

The Cave Singers The Cave Singers is an American band from Seattle, Washington. Composed of former members of Pretty Girls Make Graves (PGMG) after its disbandment in 2007, former PGMG member Derek Fudesco teamed up with Pete Quirk (of Hint Hint) and Marty Lund ...

and

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

. Regarding the origins of the project, Krgovich said, "Colin Stewart from the Hive studios just acquired these huge vintage plate reverb units and he really wanted to use them as if he was recording

The Crystals The Crystals are an American vocal group that originated in New York City. Considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era in the first half of the 1960s, their 1961–1964 chart hits – including " There's No Other (Like My Baby)", ...

or something, so he asked me to write some 'classic'-sounding pop songs to be recorded live off the floor, by a large group of musicians, Phil Spector-style."Hughes, Josiah (January 27, 2010).
Nick Krgovich Talks Gigi Project with Owen Pallett, Karl Blau and Ladyhawk, Reveals Plans for New No Kids Album and EP
, ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

''. Retrieved July 20, 2010. In the end, 40 artists were included as collaborators, with musicians such as

Owen Pallett Michael James Owen Pallett-Plowright (born September 7, 1979), known professionally as Owen Pallett, is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their former pseudonym Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music P ...

Mirah Mirah (born Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) is an American musician and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York. After getting her start in the music scene of Olympia, Washington, in the late 1990s, she released a number of well-received solo albums on ...

Karl Blau Karl Blau is an American indie rock and country vocalist, producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, previously based in Anacortes, Washington for over two decades. A member of the Knw-Yr-Own/K Records c ...

, and members of Ladyhawk and Weathered Pines. The group was one of three to be selected to be part of the first Indie Band Residency at the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (formerly Banff Centre) is an arts and culture educational institution in Banff, Alberta, Banff, Alberta. It offers arts programs in the Performing arts, performing and fine arts, as well as leadership trai ...

in 2008, an opportunity for up-and-coming bands to spend two weeks writing and recording, with access to studios, producers and engineers. (The other two bands were

Ohbijou Ohbijou was a Canadian indie pop band that was based in Toronto, Ontario. The music of Ohbijou draws on pop, folk and bluegrass influences. History Ohbijou began as the solo project of Brantford singer-songwriter Casey Mecija.Sayej, Nadja. "U ...

and the Adam Brown.) The album, ''Maintenant'' (the French word for ''now''), was recorded over three years and released in 2010.

Reception

In an album review,

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

said, "At its best, ''Maintenant'' feels both effortless and timeless—much like the classic pop from which its architects clearly draw so much inspiration." ''

Fast Forward Weekly ''Fast Forward Weekly'' (''FFWD'') was a news and entertainment weekly which provided news, alternative viewpoints, entertainment information, review articles and specialized advertising. It was distributed throughout Calgary, Banff and Canmore ...

'' found the sound to be "like a sampler from a long-forgotten '50s record label, spotlighting ballads and upbeat twisters that should have been floating on AM waves for the last half-century." ''Chart'' magazine's reviewer praised the "varied voices", which "ensure once the retro-kitsch has worn off, listeners will stick around." The critic Tom Harrison, of ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they ...

'', was mixed in his review, writing, "Krgovich and Stewart don't quite get it right as there are too many singers and players to manage, but that is part of the charm." The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review noted that the album "succeeds in every way a project like this should: that is, it manages to fulfill a fantasy (i.e. one in which

Rose Melberg Rose Melberg is a musician and songwriter from Sacramento, California, currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She has performed both as a solo artist and as a member of Tiger Trap, The Softies, Go Sailor, Gaze, Gigi, Imagina ...

is transported back to the early '60s, where she is the lead singer in a stellar girl group) without sounding hokey or gimmicky," and in a generally favourable review,

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

wrote, "Gigi understand that the most important period-era sound to capture here isn't a "

Be My Baby "Be My Baby" is a song by the American girl group the Ronettes that was released as a single on Philles Records in August 1963. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, the song was the Ronettes' biggest hit, reaching number ...

" 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."Berman, Stuart (February 26, 2010).
Album Reviews: Gigi: Maintenant
,

. Retrieved July 20, 2010.

Discography

* 2010: ''Maintenant''

Track listing

# "No, My Heart Will Go On" (w/ Chorus) # "The Hundredth Time" (w/ Duffy Driediger and Ryan Peters) # "Dreams of Romance" (w/ Zac Pennington) # "Alone at the Pier" (w/

) # "Everyone Can Tell" (w/ Ryan Beattie) # "One Woman Show" (w/

Joey Cook Joey DeAnn Cook (born March 30, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter from Woodbridge, Virginia who finished seventh place on the fourteenth season of ''American Idol.'' She toured with indie rock band Mammoth Indigo in 2013. Early life Joey Co ...

) # "I'm Not Coming Out Tonight" (w/ Marissa Johnson and Sydney Vermont) # "Some Second Best" (w/ Chorus) * # "I Can't Bring Myself to Smile" (w/

Bobby Birdman Robert John Kieswetter, better known by his stage name Bobby Birdman, is an American musician. Kieswetter is originally from Nevada City, California, and lives in Los Angeles, California. He has released albums on Hush Records, Not Not Fun, Fryk ...

and Katy Davidson) # "Strolling Past the Old Graveyard" (w/

) # "The Marquee" (w/ Katie Eastburn) # "Impossible Love" (w/ Chorus) # "Won't Someone Tell Me?" (w/

) # "I'll Quit" (w/

) # "'Neathe the Streetlights" (w/ Nick Krgovich) * missing from vinyl release

References

External links

Gigi
at

CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gigi Musical groups established in 2005 Canadian indie pop groups Musical groups from Vancouver 2005 establishments in British Columbia