By José Gandour. Photos from the Ela Minus archive.
The rhythm is exploding in my head. After several days of doing homework, listening to the entire first album by the Colombian artist. Ela Minus, TOcts of rebellion, I can't get the sound of T out of my headhey told us it was hard, but they were wrong. The moment it reaches my memory, almost without being able to react, something in my body marks the rhythm of the song, activating a slave-like movement, whether in my head, my hands, or the heel of my left foot. This is dark music made to thrill, reflect, and keep you dancing., It is music of resistance against all calamities, Here are twelve sound cuts that become weapons against the unease and mediocrity that surrounds us.
She, in her initial identification documents, Her name is Gabriela Jimeno, and she was born in Bogotá. As many of her fans know, she was the drummer for a teenage band called Ratón Pérez, which made waves for several years in the Colombian capital. Gabriela then received a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston and took private lessons with Terri Lyne Carrington, a legendary drummer who used to play with musicians of the caliber of Herbie Hancock. Even amidst the seriousness of the academy, She found her niche in techno. She began going to parties in Boston alone, to counteract the rigor of her formal education. There is a text that, when read, makes understanding his music easier:
. "Back then I didn't even drink or do drugs," she says. "I just went for the music, danced by myself, and went home.".
That's the point. Let's go back to the album. From the moment you hear it, the need to dance as a method of escape is unleashed. That's what you understand when you listen to his music. His work is not mere entertainment, something that can be played at a party, celebrated for a couple of minutes, and then forgotten. This is art that combats the dictatorship of forms, customs, and uncomfortable impositions. The aggressiveness of sound machines against oppression.
And speaking of machines, Ela, as part of her education, specialized in musical synthesis, where he learned to build and design synthesizers. . After finishing her studies, she moved to New York and got a job doing hardware musical for the Critter and Guitari company. Through this group, he fulfills and achieves his desire to make Acts of Rebellion without using a single computer-generated sound. What we hear over the course of forty-one minutes is its own resonant universe. Every detail, every second, belongs to it in its origin., She is solely responsible for creating the extraordinary noise that her work produces.
His album, released by the prestigious American record label Domino Music, The label, which features artists such as Hot Chip, The Kills, Beth Gibbons, and Arctic Monkeys, has recently received rave reviews from renowned publications like The Guardian, NME, Pitchfork, and others. All of these comments are well-deserved., Because what Ela Minus has done is solid, it has a well-rounded, forceful textual and instrumental discourse. Recordings such as Megapunk, The sky belongs to no one o Dominique (even the oasis of tranquility that one feels in Do whatever you want, all the time) are magical pieces that move the listener because they contain a value, an expression of courage, an impulse to reflect. Each song is a flag that expresses discontent and dissatisfaction, Each tune is a statement against the established order, which, despite what potential detractors may think, still invites you to dance, because, and this becomes clear when you listen to this album repeatedly, In this case, movement is a valuable tool of rebellion.
