Severed Heads – Gigapus

A more disparate effort than Severed Heads' more recent albums at that time - you have the ravey pop music of the first track (though 'Heart Of The Party' is not without a certain sense of irony, not just lyrically but in its mournful lead melody), but this quickly gives way to the claustrophobic 'Tiny Wounded Bird' and 'ANIMal', setting the scene for an album that is dense, multi-layered, and with a production that sounds at least 5 years ahead of its time. Some tracks are more filler-y and don't flow particularly well, but even the weakest track, 'Repetitive Strain Injury', has plenty of twists, turns, and, erm, shall we say quirky vocal samples to keep you engaged, or perhaps to grow on you with repeated listens.
OK, so 'Courier' and 'Pure' may just be noodly game music, and 'Snow' is the only track that hasn't aged so well, but then 'About Leah And Adele' and 'Nightime Falls' are some of the loveliest interludes I've heard so far, and nice contrast to the yodelling and faux-biblical translations of 'Cabbaland', the subdued blues of 'The Importance Of Hair', or the druggy headfuck of 'Somewhere Over The Gigapus'.

With this album being unavailable, the stronger tracks are best found on the Bandcamp-only 'Focus' compilation. But even with that aside, I think there's enough interesting (if somewhat jarring) material for fans of experimental electronic music. If you can find a cheap copy, take the plunge, and embrace the mighty Gigapus.

'...but she will become perfect in about another two years' time, and she will definitely find the right man in her life and that life will be full and blossom although this man may not be from this part of the world...'

Some might have said that Tom Ellard had 'sold out' when he remixed Dead Eyes Opened and Heart Of The Party for the dance scene in 1994 and 1995. Gigapus sets the record straight - this is still Severed Heads working it's discordant, unsettling magic. Gone is the pure noise and jarring, grating static samples, though. Speech loops and samples glide and fizz over arrhythmic melodies and quiet, often haunting electro lines. While this is not an album to buy if you like the more clubby sound of the remix of Dead Eyes Opened, if you liked the original or any of the other albums you'll like this.