Review of Giant Tank's show at the Tron, 16th March 2003:
"[...] electric toothbrush snare, trumpet, drums and two basses – these latter four comprising Giant Tank, about whom I had overheard implausibly good things for a band who pimp themselves as 'remedial improvisation' (that bloody is funny, I don't care who else can't see it). They won me over, I think because they were more structured than I expected, which allowed them to build then proficiently dispense some pretty awesome tension.
On a Discogs note, I finally mumbled hello to a surprised Operator, yet another Giant Tank fan ("I was sick of jazz wank improvisations. But these guys are different, they just make noise.")" David Blane - Discogs.com
Giant Tank official website: http://www.gianttank.com
Listen to an extract from Giant Tank's performance at the Cafe Royal on 27th November (streaming audio).
This live
improvisation features Giant Tank's core musical line-up of:
Douglas Fairgrieve (Worse Things Happen at Sea) - Bass
Rhian Thomson (CK Dexter Haven) - Computr
Joseph Rotheray (Daddo / Droogs) - Drums / Percussion
Robert Fairfoull (Idlewild / Degrassi) - Bass
Alasdair Robertson (Bajengas Ensemble) - Trumpet/ effects/ voice
The text below is taken from "Further Giant Tank PROPAGANDA - magazine pamphlet series 1" which was given away at their gig at the Cafe Royal on 27th November 2002.
A man on the escalator is touching a woman. He is whispering to her. "Giant Tank have returned to the cold and wilds of Lothian and to the beasts." She is pleased. It is like fire to her loins. And now she is smiling because she can feel represented when GIANT TANK perform live to a public audience on Wednesday 27th November 2002. "GIANT TANK are always new again" she whispers to the man, which gives him great pleasure.
"You see, I am French, and I am unable to sit well with the common policy of agriculturing the wills and minds of people. I feel constricted and disobedient I must be incredibly obstinate or else I shant bear to look at myself ever again." And now he is smiling because the woman he is touching is on fire; she is not prepared to surrender her will, or not use her voice and instead she is on fire. The man is reminded of artist collective GIANT TANK.
Personally,
I do not find the French at all amusing. I met this guy who said that "GIANT
TANK is red blooded and a whole bunch of noise. I believe that it can be romantic
to want to piss in someone's ear with sand, or to let someone piss in your
ear, with sand. A thing like this should be celebrated and its perpetrators
may be revered as national heroes or icons and I think you might think that
too. Its avant spirit and incredible Will should be unmatched in the flakey
world of the new music as art scene of the 21st century, which in all honesty
is a little diluted and not very new at all. And ill conceived. And on the
other hand, GIANT TANK is an incredible achievement of human engineering,
made without the aid of a single german craftsman or bonded jew. It
is also true that people can communicate with their eyes. I know that when
some people look at me they are thinking 'how can I hurt this guy the most?'
Nevertheless I thoroughly disapprove of using science as a means of making murder easier on the mind of a killer so more people than ever before can be killed than ever before. I think that's a misuse of science and of human minds. Personally I prefer the notion of language in the service of self determination, and communication rather than conducting myself in acts of incredible violence or surrendering my will in obedience to the preservation of the status quo (like, for instance, a crusty punk does)."
That's what the guy said.
The girl in the que (sic) is holding hands with her friend and they look lovely together.
The girl tells her friend that she has heard of a wonderful race called GIANT TANK
"They sound incredible. It is often said that local people in local scenes tend to want to make themselves seem like something important and that they like to copy themselves and over a period of time, say ten years or so, copy themselves over and over. It is something like narcissism or maybe a thrombosis. Or you could say that these people are like the polio of a scene. And that so are some journalists.
GIANT TANK are not always local people or part of a local scene and are not like a disease and have instead been awarded the position of "outstanding". Because it's only fair.
It is also worth noting that I have been to every dead end that I can stomach now and that there is no more time for people who are the dead end."