Low Kick and Hard Bop (25th Anniversary)

Matador Revisionist History celebrates the 25th anniversary of Solex’s Low Kick and Hard Bop. The album returns to us newly expanded with long-lost cut “Mr. Crockpot.” First released in 2001, this was the third album by Amsterdam-based songwriter and one-time record shop owner, Elisabeth Esselink. Here, her sampler-driven found-sound retro-futurist style came into full stride with hooks sourced from dusty vinyl, TV, radio, and street noise. A generation later, ‘Low Kick’ remains an ebullient work of retro-futurist pop – layered breaks splitting turf with bluesy riffs, girl group grooves, and surrealist swagger. Way back then, The Wire called it “A dizzying array of elements and exuberance,” and we dare you to argue otherwise. “Solex’s Elisabeth Esselink takes you into her Dada-esqe, cut, paste, and fold sonic dance party,” writes Matador founder Chris Lombardi. “She reconstructs a million shards of sounds and styles into a kaleidoscopic musical masterpiece.” As the compact disc was the dominant physical format of that era, Matador never got around to releasing Low Kick on wax. This is a situation Matador have chosen to remedy as the record strides toward its third decade, with a first-time vinyl pressing.