Continuing on the path of selfless sonic exploration and initiatory development, Elninodiablo returns with a new EP, “Into The Great Unknown”. Conceived as an interpretation of a post-COVID world, infused with the many contradictory emotions and re-articulated concepts around inner life / outer-world connection the past months of lockdown have brought along, this new extended player from the Berlin-based producer carves out a lane of fresh, trends-emancipated incursions into uncharted territories, stamped with an eloquent will to phrase his heart-of-hearts in the most unambiguously honest fashion.
A ghostly partition of sorts, merging pre-Covid field recordings of a crowded flea market, trams, sirens, trains, construction work and else (especially of the eponymous district of Berlin) with processed vintage samples and live percussion, “Boxhagener” breaks the release in on a distinctly off-kilter note. Oneiric and shape-shifting by nature, deftly moving in the intervals betwixt trip-hop rhythms, electronica envelopes, electric guitar riffs and reels of musique concrète, it reflects a certain idea of Berlin seen through Elninodiablo’s magnifying kaleidoscope.
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The lead-track from the package, “Lunchbox Candy”, kindles a hotter, damper imaginarium of hybrid electronics, passing breaks, grimey step and further spacious atmospherics through the grind to reveal its deep weirdo side to dazzling effect. An ode to queerness it comes with another inspiring music video by film director, Adam Munnings. The track is painted in coarsely bassy, two-step tones and brightly hued Sophie-esque shades of scintillating FX and life-teeming synth variations.
Featuring Oscar Di Tapio on the fevered KAOS pad solos, “Let’s Get Sleazy” forecasts further funky dazzle in the basement, taking us right in the middle of an 80s-informed orgy of solar-powered keys, odd vox stabs and screeching vinyl. One for the dancefloor.
Definitely turned inward, “In-Sensed” was born with Elninodiablo’s intention to “pull the listener inside the psyche of someone who is experiencing loneliness, alienation and anxiety, due to their environment. Someone who is living in a world where technology reigns and true human contact is diminishing more than ever. Their survival mechanism is to look more inward.” Drawing from ASMR- like meditative wares, Elninodiablo puts together a dizzyingly deep combination of voice, human body sounds, field recordings, electromagnetic field sounds, contact mic recordings and instruments such as the kochi chimes and Tibetan bowls as his way to investigate and awaken unexplored mental zones in the process.
Exclusively available through Bandcamp, abstract hip-hop number “Monks On Acid” fuses a converging flux of elements in samples of Adyashanti’s satsangs and Jim Morrison’s poem The Movie, fluttering melodies out a variegated, feet-off-the-ground trip in lysergic wonderlands and via further mind-expanding portals of sound Aldous Huxley or Tim Leary wouldn’t disown.
Elninodiablo
Stephanos Pantelas alias Elninodiablo began his journey in music collecting vinyl. He would play on the airwaves of pirate radio stations, eventually making the move from Cyprus to London, whose electronic scene was booming in the mid-90s. From small bills to top-of-the-range discos, his DJing skills soon earned him a resident position in the booth of some of the hottest queer clubs of the time, including The End, Turnmills and Fabric – providing him with a knowledge in production and jockeying he would soon put to broader use via his eponymous PR platform, representing the likes of Horse Meat Disco, Salsoul Records, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Mulatu Astatke, Tegan & Sara, !K7, Strut Records and more over the years.
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