Gigi Masin

A multi-instrumentalist and composer of slow, contemplative, and mostly quiet material, Gigi Masin — a native of Venice, Italy and a longtime radio DJ — slowly generated a rapt following through obscure recordings like Wind (1986), Les Nouvelles Musiques de Chambre, Vol. 2 (a split album from 1989, shared with This Heat’s Charles Hayward), and The Wind Collector (1991). “Clouds,” from the middle release, gained attention as a sample source for tracks by To Rococo Rot (“Die Dinge des Lebens”) and Björk (“It’s in Our Hands”), as well as Nujabes’ remix of Five Deez’s “Latitude.” In 2014, the upstart Netherlands-based Music from Memory label compiled scarce and previously unreleased recordings from across the span of Masin’s active years. Titled Talk to the Sea, it was initially released as a double vinyl set and appeared on double compact disc and as a digital download — both with extra material — in early 2015. Around the same time, Masin was part of a new recording as one-third of Gaussian Curve. That group’s album, Clouds, appeared on the same label. ~ Andy Kellman