Solex

Named after a small, Hungarian-made motor scooter, Solex is the project of Amsterdam-based record-shop owner and songwriter Elisabeth Esselink. Formerly a member of Dutch indie pop group Sonetic Vet, Esselink wanted to express her musical ideas more completely; after purchasing an 8-track recorder and a vintage sampler, Esselink began recording songs on her own. Combing the racks of her own store for kitschy records, Esselink took snippets of old records to make new ones, creating her own style of lo-fi techno-pop. Solex's debut, Solex vs. the Hitmeister, came out on Matador in 1998; Pick Up followed a year later. Low Kick and Hard Bop arrived in 2001, and three years later, Solex resurfaced with The Laughing Stock of Indie Rock on Arena Rock Recording Co. Early in 2005, In the Fishtank arrived. For her next album, Esselink teamed up with Jon Spencer and Cristina Martinez of Boss Hog, mixing her sampling skills with the duo's brash vocals. Amsterdam Throwdown King Street Showdown! arrived in 2010. For her next project, Esselink and her collaborator Bart van Poppel sailed through all 12 provinces of the Netherlands, recording with musicians at each stop as well as collecting sounds that would become sampling fodder. The results appeared on 2013's The Sound Map of the Netherlands, a soundtrack to the documentary of the same name. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi