She's got a girlish voice with an unplaceable accent, a talent for lyrics that capture a moment in time as clearly as videotape, and a penchant for self-referential song titles. She's Solex, aka Elisabeth Esselink, and you can thank her for one of the more offbeat albums of 1998. The basic Portishead/trip-hop sound is a starting point -- "Solex In A Slipshod Style" (yes, the word "Solex" appears in every song title) is built around a dingy, dirge-like loop, slow but persistent beat and echoing, happy-sad vocals, but it's never quite trip-hop...just reminiscent thereof. "Waking Up With Solex" follows directly, and it's far more idiosyncratic; a treble-intensive, looped and decaying slide guitar sample and hip-hop beats carry the song along until it stops abruptly at the bell-ringing, almost reverent chorus. "Rolex By Solex" combines a drum-n-bass beat, delicate guitar and several layers of Elisabeth's voice, adding some distortion and woodwind samples as the song comes to a slowed-down close. "Solex All Licketysplit" combines a bunch of cheery, melodic samples, a driving beat, and vocals that sound like Bjork singing for the Go-Gos (which, in general, is a pretty close approximation of Ms. Esselink's voice). I've barely scratched the surface of the unique sonic combinations you'll find on Solex vs. The Hitmeister; you probably haven't heard much like it lately, so it's just the thing to spring-clean your tired CD player.
Solex Solex vs. The Hitmeister Matador CD
			Review by Solex vs. George Zahora

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