What The New Big G Album Says About The State of Music

Big Gigantic came onto my radar shortly after the release of their album The Night is Young, and even though they’d had a presence in ‘the scene’ for years, it was an establishing album. A real banger, mixing funk, electronic jazz, and even, at parts, carried the heaviness of the dub step albums of the time. Big G just released their newest LP Free Your Mind and though you may be disappointed in the direction the duo has taken things, you may want to prepare yourself for the 20’s…

At first listen, both albums are not much different in overall sound, TNIY flows in and out of the punchy beats, sax riffs and soul singing that became Big Gs signature sound and though the album lacks diversity in that it can be somewhat repetitive in the ways the electronics are patterned, it’s overall a solid album. Fast forward, here we are today listening to FYM, and this album shows a natural progression of the band, now more diverse in sound featuring a larger variety of artist, giving a much more complex feel to the album. This all sounds good and nice but the reality of it is what we’ve lost is the dirty heavy punk rock element of their music and all we’re left with is this synth-y, pop-y, mainstream version that lacks the character and intensity we started listening to Big G music for in the first place. The reality is the Big G is just adapting as they see fit and though it’s a nice mix up to have them throw on some rap beats or giving a beautiful voice a few more lyrics, I am left with the feeling that this entire music genre has lost its lure.

So maybe we were a bunch of goons, headbanging to dub step back in 2011, maybe molly was a lot of fun. I’m pretty sure we’d did some shit we’ll regret (like that Odesza phase) but maybe that’s why we don’t, because seriously, molly is a lot of fun. But now we’re all like thirty or some shit, so we’re all stuck in this weird stage where we all still want to party and yet we don’t, because partying, like EDM music, is really only something we can stand so much of, like twice a month and only on a Friday or Saturday. It seems like at this point in our musical lives, we are at a crossroads, the heads are going fully festie so get ready for the Phish stories, the EDM crowd will stay true and go down in glory like Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler but that’s a lost cause like the 80s hair metal before it, Rap will still be the staple though it’s much like nineties country to me (Kendrick=Garth Brooks), and the kids seem to be on this Billie Ellish so much that I’m starting to think she’s the new Bowie but I’ve lost my radar for good music long ago, now I just hope for something new.