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 ***** ("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.