Customer Reviews

Gabin

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those of you who may feel a bit tired of the ordinary deep house sound, this is it! I really love house, but have the past years moved towards the other genres held in Electronica. If you like a sound with real nice harmonic beats with not to much vocal on it I suggest you check this out. The style is french, but not french house or disco house as we saw/heard it a couple of years ago. This release is far more interesting. It contains a very smooth wellproduced sound. You can either play in the background while dining or simply play while having drinks with good friends or your loved one. The first track "La Maison" puts you in a nice atmosphere and my first impression was "am i walking in the streets of Paris right now?". The first track has a smooth chilling bossa nova beat while a harmonica and other lovely instruments appear. The next track "Une d'Histoire D'amoure" is well chosen as the follow up. Stand outs? No, it's actually quite impossible for me to point any stand outs. The keywords for this release is: if you like a wellproduced but different houserelease containing both moody chilling tunes, bossa nova rhytms and surprisingly beautiful up beat tunes with french and spanish vocals, then you will not regret purchasing this one!

As a CD that playfully weaves together jazz influences, mellow house, and chilled electronica, the debut from the French act Gabin is a record for almost any occasion. Jazz lovers will nod their heads in approval for "Gabin Vs Cal's Bluedo," which tastefully gives an electronic update to Cal Tjader's instrumental. Those who want to get their disco on will find a home with "Doo Uap, Doo Uap, Doo Uap," which samples the familiar lyric "it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing," as well as the housed-up "Mille et Une Nuit des Desires." And listeners who want to set a romantic tone for the evening will find pleasure in the lovely "Urban Night" or the finale "La Maison." This is classy stuff; French electronica with laid back vibes and occasional nods to jazz. But don't mistake it for the blandness of Kenny G.; this is well-crafted mellow pop that provides a soundtrack to urban sophistication.

Gabin is a swirling, sensual mixture of chill out, jazz and house that almost sounds like one of the best Hotel Costes or Ibiza chill out records. That's because Gabin seem to effortlessly move among different styles while at the same time remaining consistently strong a groove filled. The first track "La Maison" envelopes you in a warmth of a glorious sunrise. The delicious melancholia of "Terra Pura" sounds like Massive Attack meets Peter Gabriel. The track "Doo Uap, Doo Uap, Doo Uap" is so catchy that it is definitely this year's answer to St. Germain's mega hit "Rose Rouge" or Mr. Scruff's "Get A Move On." No wonder Hotel Costes DJ Stephane Pompougnac has included this track on his latest "Hotel Costes Volume 5" where it is arguably the best song on that CD. Pop this CD on and let it truly take you on a very moving journey.

Gabin, named after iconic French film noir star Jean Gabin, offers some jazzy house, with an unmistakable European flavor -- and it's not just the singing in French and Spanish, either. "La Maison" and "Azul Anil" are obvious crowd-pleasers, with smooth deep beats and melodies that instantly transport you to a Mediterranean beach party. "Doo Uap, Doo Uap, Doo Uap" takes the chorus from Ella Fitzgerald's "It Don't Mean a Thing If You Ain't Got that Swing" and loops it into a house stomper. As well, Gabin explores their downtempo side with "Urban Night," perfect for late, late night strolls under the streetlights. Not all of the songs are entirely successful, but the majority are -- and that's good enough for me to buy my ticket!

Updated Track List:
01. Maison
02. Histoire d'Amoure
03. Doo Uap, Doo Uap, Doo Uap
04. Delire et Passion
05. Sweet Sadness
06. Mille et une Nuit des Desires
07. Urban Night
08. Gabin vs Cal's Bluedo
09. Azul Añil
10. Terra Pura
11. House Trip
12. Maison (Di Bittista's Dream)

This is another in the ever expanding line of modern music that is variously called 'house' or 'lounge' music. Essentially it is a mix of modern beats, samples and mixes often set to and overlay of music composed on instruments that would sound right in the old 1960's lounge music, keyboards, accordian, harp, saxophone, etc. It's actually pretty cool, no...make that very cool and real easy to listen to. What makes gabin's work stand apart from a lot of the other offerings in this genre is that the mixes, samples and sound patterns are very artfully juxtaposed over some pretty great beats and rhythms. If you really are unfamiliar with the genre do what I did when I was and click through the numerous albums and groups mentioned and displayed here on amazon and listen to the samples. Mind, there is nothing terribly important about any of this music. In fact its greatest problem is that it is ultimately rather banal; the kind of music that is really great to have on in the background whilst doing repetetive tasks, but if you haven't played it for a couple of weeks you will have forgotten completely what each of the tracks sounds like. This stuff is like cotton candy or a floral pattern, if you know what I mean. Having said that I will Definitely buy more stuff by gabin because, while it may be just cotton candy, these guys spin some pretty good floss.

electro jazzy, french pop, ambient house?? rhythms from your stock house to bossa nova. vocals in french and spanish - "une histoire d'amoure" featuring joseph fargier sounds remarkably like the gypsy kings. "la maison" sounds to be the expected fav, with the slightly shorter version getting my vote. "urban night" with it's stark melancholy sax (courtesy stefano di battista) will park you in the desolation of an urban night. i particularly loved ana carril obiols in "azul anil" - simple but addictive. an unmistakable european flavour, pretty well mixed up with only a few less than stellar tracks. at the time of this review selling for a couple bucks??? it's one of the best buys out there...

Tracklisting:
1 La Maison (5:55)
2 Une Histoire D'Amoure (feat. Joseph Fargier) (3:59)
3 Doo Uap, Doo Uap, Doo Uap (feat. Stefano Di Battista) (7:21)
4 Delire Et Passion (feat. Ana Carril Obiols) (6:06)
5 Sweet Sadness (5:19)
6 Mille Et Une Nuit Des Desires (feat.Ana Carril Obiols) (5:44)
7 Urban Night (feat. Stefano Di Battista) (6:25)
8 Gabin Vs Cal's Bluedo (4:09)
9 Azul Anil (feat. Ana Carril Obiols) (6:27)
10 Terra Pura (5:16)
11 House Trip (6:40)
12 La Maison (Di Battista's Dream - feat. Stefano Di Battista) (5:03)

I bought this because of how much I loved Gabin's latest work (Mr. Freedom). Conversely to that CD's originality and all around fun, this one plays like bad elevator music. This is terribly, terribly dated, bad music.

Gabin's wonderful remix of the famous "Doo Uap, Doo Uap, Doo Uap" brought the song to the top of the European Hit lists this past summer, and was the sole reason for myself to pick up the CD while travelling in Italy. However, the rest of the CD will not dissappoint either. The numerous French and English sung lyrics, ranging from mellow jazz, new age and even Moby-ish gospel, fill over a full hour of listening pleasure. While I admittedly do not know much about this group (it appears they are Italian), I certainly hope that this CD will be just as widely received here in North America. A very talented band!

This is one those RARE CDs where every song is a perfect gem. If you like the titles that are recommended because they're "like this" -- then you'll LOVE this one. I gave a copy to a friend who is a school teacher and she said how she would rush to get in her car at the end of the day to switch this on because "it feels like climbing into a warm, relaxing bath." Plus, it has a great mix of medium- and fast-tempo tunes too--all winners!!!