Best of The Big Chill

$Gong Gong - Mary\'s Spring$

After returning from our very first Big Chill we thought we’d contact the artists who made the biggest impression on us over the weekend and start a new feature in the process - ‘The Best of The Big Chill’.

Put simply, we asked half a dozen artists to provide us with a compilation/mix of material that influences them (Both past and present) and a few words about their experience whilst at the festival.

To kick off the series we present Gong Gong - Jean-Christophe Baudouin and Thomas Baudriller. A French power duo who quite simply blew us away.

Programmed straight after Quiet Village on the Castle Stage on Friday evening we stuck around after reading their biog in the programme and seeing as though we pretty much like most things Gallic we thought we’d give it a go… Boy, are we glad we did.

Put quite simply, their live show was amazing. A mix of breathtaking musicianship that takes in drums, bass, samplers and sequencers using literally hundreds of sounds to create a live electronic experiment. This, with the addition of some stunning visuals combined to create what was for us THE performance of the whole festival. Think along the lines of Jean-Luc Ponty mixed with Bill Laswell and Material adding a touch of Kid Loco and your not even close to the broken clash of genres these French maestros concocted.

Jean-Christophe from the group had these words to say about Gong Gong’s time whilst performing at The Big Chill:

‘For us it was really fantastic. With a very bad trip before performing, looking at this terrible rain coming down from nowhere as we installed our instruments behind the stage. A few hours before, when we arrived and saw the sun setting behind these beautiful hills, with big stages, beautiful persons and decoration, we had felt proud to become part of it. By chance, we started to see people come towards the stage with less and less rain… The show was a great moment. We always take pleasure on stage but this moment was special to us. We only played twice in London and love the English audience, always welcoming to us, but it is still rare as it was impossible to have a large audience a few minutes ago. It became a fabulous moment to have these people braving the weather. The festival was a nice place to discover, with a rare soul, or spirit with things for everybody, like a huge tent for children! and a mix of arts. Mixing arts is a thing we try to do with our installations on stage with two video makers so this we appreciate.‘

We managed to find this video clip which gives you more of an insight to just how good these guys are musically:

The chaps have kindly whipped together a brilliant little Cosmic Disco exclusive mix that includes the likes of DJ Food, Hifana, Homelife, Cut Chemist and Cornelius. Click the buttons below to download or stream.

Gong Gong’s latest album ‘Mary’s Spring‘ is available in the shops now. Pick it up and listen to the band Justice wanted to be.