Gigi

When Gigi and Bill Laswell collaborated on her self-titled debut album in 2001, the results were a completely unique melding of traditional African sounds with modern electronic music. A contemporary Ethiopian artist had never sounded so progressive while keeping her music firmly rooted in its original culture. “Gigi’s modal melodies and urgently questioning voice rise out of grooves that swirl jazz and funk into the complexities of Ethiopian pop,” said Jon Pareles in the New York Times, “broadening the music without Americanizing it.” Illuminated Audio is a complete reconstruction of Gigi’s debut as an ambient epic by producer and dubmaster Bill Laswell.