It's Friday night. You just got back from work and the weight of the week is still chained to your ankle. Pretty soon you will be going out for your favorite Friday night activity, but in the meantime you need some good music to help you relax, and break free. Solex has a quick tempo, lots of ear-popping sounds, and a dark humor. Solex is your own personal chain smasher.

The only band member, Elisabeth Esselink, is a record shop owner in Amsterdam with a wicked talent for unearthing catchy sounds from the bottom of her bargain bin and stitching them into a seamless audible quilt. Most people who listen to Solex for the first time do not realize that most sounds other than her voice are sampled from her record collection. While many artists have created entire albums in this method, few have done it as precisely and musically as Ms. Esselink.

Download some mp3s on the Solex website. There is also an mp3 available at Insound.

While Solex has evolved since 1998's "Solex vs. The Hitmeister", the essence of her music remains the same up until 2004's "The Laughing Stock of Indie Rock". I recommended you start with Low Kick and Hard Bop. It is the most energetically upbeat. If you like it then go ahead and graduate to The Laughing Stock of Indie Rock.

	Solex vs. The Hitmeister 1998, Matador
	Hitmeister is the more mellow, less "in-your-face" full length album. Several of the songs could be considered to be background music for doing work.

	Pick Up 1999, Matador
	I actually haven't heard "Pick Up" yet. So try it and let me know how it sounds!

	Low Kick and Hard Bop 2001, Matador
	This was my first album from Solex. No wonder I'm hooked! It is just filled with Esselink's energy. You can download a song that is representative of the album for free at Insound.

	The Laughing Stock Of Indie Rock 2004, Discmiester / Virtual
	Laughing Stock adds a cartoon-like quality to the music, with the ridiculously deep voice of an Australian bloke that Elisabeth never met (so the story goes) and even the sounds of a fist fight from a B-movie. Get it if you liked Low Kick.

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