GONG GONG GONG - Phantom Rhythm Remixed LP

Highly recommended.

Tom Ng was the mastermind of one of my favorite bands of the past decade-plus-change, OFFSET: SPECTACLES. If you've spent any time in the store the past 12 months you've heard me try to entice you into the "phantom rhythm" world of OFFSET SPECTACLES as they combine the Velvets with Suicide, Wire and P.K. 14 to create music-induced trances.

Ng's current outfit Gong Gong Gong, who are clearly traversing similar musical territory - stark and repetitive blues-guitar grooves with minimal accompaniment and sparse melodies

On Gong Gong Gong’s raucous debut, 'Phantom Rhythm 幽靈節奏,' the minimalist Beijing duo created a drummer-less sound that was more than the sum of its parts, inspired by back-porch blues, Sahelian guitar music, New York no-wave, Cantonese lion dance percussion, and seemingly most incongruously, techno.

With 'Phantom Rhythm Remixed,' Gong Gong Gong bring to life a concept they’ve planned since the release of their acclaimed first LP, curating their favorite China-connected electronic music producers to remix 'Phantom Rhythm' in its entirety. The globe-spanning collaboration features Yu Su (Vancouver/Kaifeng), Zaliva-D, Simon Frank, Howie Lee (Beijing), Mong Tong, Scattered Purgatory (Taipei), Knopha (Xiamen), Wu Zhuoling (Chengdu), Angel Wei (Copenhagen), and P.E. (Brooklyn). The LP traces a common thread, organically expanding the palette of Gong Gong Gong into ambient club tracks, thumping dance music, cinematic soundscapes, and bit-crushed psych.