Bottom of the Hill
November 16, 2001
Photos
Review by Squid
We were so intrigued by Elizabeth Esselink, aka Solex. A Dutch record store owner who works with samples she finds in her own store? Rad! As electronica shows go, this one was right up there with Mouse on Mars, and for similar reasons. Even though Esselink works with samples, she brought an extremely well-rehearsed band with her that served to churn out one quirky sixties-styled pop gem after another. We kept waiting for a misplaced sample, a song that went on too long, a cheesy cliched melody, but it just never happened. A really pleasant surprise. Wish you were there.
Dœlek were a trio of two djs, one rapper from Newark, NJ. It's always pretty exciting to for Squid when we bust loose of our indie trappings with some beats. When Resident Soundman John commented, "They told me to mix it like My Bloody Valentine", she figured she was gonna like what came next. Rapper Dœlek reminded Squid of Kid Frost, without all posturing that got in the way of the message he was trying to get out there. Speaking of Rap, it ain't normally Daz' thing, she doesn't have much patience for it. But there are several reasons she enjoyed Dœlek, one being their definite trip hop element, the other being the most excellent DJ, Joshua. It was well-attended but not insanely packed with people, so she was able to focus and enjoy the music without being pushed around. She felt Dœlek himself had a cool stage presence, too. Dizamn, she even bought the cd, and when Squid last checked, she was still loving it. Dœlek should be admired as risk-takers: where it would've been easy for them to play it like a straight hiphop collective, they consciously transformed their beats and samples into moments of psychedelics and noise. They are a challenge to notion that people can't enjoy several genres of music...at once. Plus, Squid has never heard anyone scratch over a Suzuki Violin Method Record. 'Go Tell Aunt Rhody' never sounded so crazy hip, for real!
Kevin Blechdom rocked her laptop with aplomb, delivering cybernoisy pop hits about such varied topics as the beauty of really bad music, good boyfriends that are interested in having sex with her versus bad ones that weren't, and the challenges of interspecies dating. In other words, descriptions of a typical night in San Francisco. But maybe that's just us.
Solex
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Dœlek
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Kevin Blechdom
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