Gargantuan

Gargantuan is the debut studio album by English electronic duo Spooky, released by William Orbit's Guerilla Records in March 1993. Having established their place at the forefront of the progressive house scene, Spooky recorded the album in two London studios using analogue production. The record is largely instrumental and incorporates rigid percussion and rhythms with melodic house phrasings. The single "Schmoo" reached the UK Singles Chart, but Gargantuan under-performed commercially. It was however well received by critics, and today is regarded as a landmark album in the history of progressive house and British dance music. After the album went out-of-print, Spooky re-released it themselves in 2006. Background and composition Spooky, a duo consisting of Duncan Forbes and Charlie May, formed in London. After William Orbit discovered the duo in a record shop, he signed them to his Guerilla record label in the early 1990s. While on the label, the duo became renowned for being at the forefront of the progressive house scene that emerged in the aftermath of the "post-rave comedown", joining fellow acts like Orbital and Underworld in re-casting house music in an energetic live environment. Their debut album, Gargantuan was recorded at Boundary Row Studios in South London and Guerilla Studios in North London. May engineered the sessions with Nick Hale, while May and Forbes produced and mixed the album together. Biographer Sean Cooper describes Gargantuan as a progressive house album that fuses "deep, melodic house phrasing" and rigid rhythms with thick analogue production. The record is largely instrumental, and characterised by inventive "electronic layers" and pulsing grooves, with a melodic and percussive emphasis. Rubert Howe of Select described the album as "trancey" in style, and believed the record was perhaps "for relaxation purposes." The dark "Aqualung" features "dripping, cavernous echoes". A tribute to the producer Paul Oakenfold, "Land of Oz" features a sample of the band Can. The closing track "Orange Colour Liquid" features an ambient style. Heather Sian Wildman and Valerie Harrison provide vocals on the album, while Laura Lee MacMahon's voice appears on "Aqualung".