GOGO PENGUIN Announce debut album for Blue Note Records and national tour!

(Press Release)

It’s been an astonishing couple of years for Manchester based trio GoGo Penguin (drummer Rob Turner, double bassist Nick Blacka and pianist Chris Illingworth). Their trademark mash-up of minimalist piano themes, deeply propulsive bass lines and electronica-inspired drums has seen them shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and fuelled their exhilarating live shows from Manchester to Montreal and Paris to London. 

They’ve written and performed a new score for Godfrey Reggio’s cult film Koyaanisqatsi and collaborated with noted choreographer Lynn Page for a Gilles Peterson-curated night at the Barbican. And in the midst of all this they’ve signed a multi-album deal with Blue Note Records, the most famous jazz label on earth. Their new album is called Man Made Object and it’s the sound of a band confidently pursuing their own path. “The title is partly inspired by my fascination with ideas of robotics, transhumanism and human augmentation,” says pianist Illingworth. “We’re recreating electronic music on acoustic instruments. It’s like a man-made object that has become humanised and it seemed like a good album title, one that also means something different to each of us, and hopefully to each listener.”  

Indeed, although they're predominately an acoustic piano trio, GoGo Penguin’s music draws from many areas of contemporary electronic music, one where you can hear arcade game bleeps, glitchy breakbeats, hypnotic Aphex-style melodies, grinding bass lines and a rumbling low-end. It has been described as “acoustic electronica”, a term which perfectly sums up their modus operandi. “Many of the songs on this album started out as electronic compositions that I made on sequencing software like Logic or Ableton,” says drummer Turner. “I’ll then play it to the band and we’ll find ways of replicating it acoustically.”  And it is that ability to synthesis the seemingly disparate influences of electronica, jazz and classical music into their own unique musical DNA that gives GoGo Penguin such an instantly recognisable and compelling sound. One that is set to reach an even wider audience with the release of Man Made Object on February 5^thand with a busy international touring schedule taking in dates from Coachella in California to Tokyo, New York to Paris, Berlin to Seoul and way beyond.

Man Made Object is released on 5^th February on Blue Note Records

The single All Res – featuring mixes by Matthew Herbert, Dabrye and Stray is out now.

http://gogopenguin.co.uk

06 FEB    Cardiff The Gate                                      

12 FEB    Norwich Arts Centre SOLD OUT                                         

13 FEB    Coventry Warwick Arts Centre                              

16 FEB    Glasgow Oran Mor               

17 FEB    Aberdeen Lemon Tree                               

18 FEB    Gateshead Sage Gateshead                          

19 FEB    Leeds The Wardrobe     - SOLD OUT                            

20 FEB    Manchester Band on the Wall  - SOLD OUT               

21 FEB    Manchester Band on the Wall - SOLD OUT                           

23 FEB    Birmingham Glee Club                

24 FEB    Bristol The Lantern   - SOLD OUT                                                

25 FEB    London The Village Underground  - SOLD OUT  

05 MAY   London Koko – extra date by special demand!                   

“It's obvious why the Manchester clubs are jumping to this band.” The Guardian

“The members stayed locked in their grooves, three young men making music with jazz instruments, rock dynamics and circumscribed dance-music strategies. You’ll soon hear about them.” New York Times