Once a new technology ceases to be a novelty it can become a handy tool, and once tools come into widespread use it's both possible and necessary to develop one's own style on them. Samplers have gotten to that point, and Elisabeth Esselink (aka Solex) is one artist who has established her own personality on the instrument.
It probably doesn't hurt that she
co-owns a second hand record store, which gives her plenty of source material, but it's her skill at arranging samples to create evocative settings without trading on their recognizability that makes this such a
striking record. She builds her songs out of looped fragments; a jazz vibraphone solo, a guitar lick, a Moroccan-sounding clarinet melody, an uplifting brass fanfare, a driving drum pattern. Her half-sung, half
chanted lyrics often emphasize rhyme over content.
Solex is in the title of each song, and each one relates an episode in the life of Solex. She gets a
snag in her tights ("Solex Snag"), writes a song ("Peppy Solex"), enjoys a morning with her lover ("Waking Up With Solex"). The Solex persona is one
that takes romantic misadventures and absurd encounters in stride and knows how to take care of business. Can a film and a set of action figures be far behind? I can see it now, "Secret Agent Solex."
If you like Solex, check out:
Cibo Matto Viva La Woman
Cornershop When I was Born
For the Seventh Time
Björk Post
