St Tropez

Normally the band members of Ellende (friends for over thirty years) would get together in their Cape Town studio (The Plantation MkII) and during a relatively a short period of time intensively work on something that could be released as an album. A theme would be chosen out of the repertoire of work specifically created by Wim Bontjes (a dearly missed founding member of Ellende).  Due to the Covid outbreak this release, like the previous release Unintentional Consequences, was recorded by each individual member of Ellende in their own respective home studios in either Cape Town, London and Tokyo.

Nostalgia, the Greek word for pain from an old wound,  can be a drug for these old men of Ellende. Nostalgia, the yearning for a moment in a distant past is what this release is about. For this album Ellende tried to conjure a few weeks at the French Riviera in 1974 using a methodology discussed with WB one night at the Plantation (MkI, the original poolhouse). We had read in a (probably) photocopied version of Re/Search magazine about William S. Burroughs’ time travelling ideas. It describes how Burroughs would use pictures, notes, news articles and other visuals to re-create a very specific moment in time. At the Plantation that night, being a bit drunk, we started to experiment for a few days into what became the basis for a few albums, some released, some still open to interpretation.

Conceptually, St Tropez, is (like many of Ellende’s previous releases) about a specific moment in the past: a holiday, to the south of France. It evokes, (or tries to conjure) the feeling of a teenage boy travelling with his mother and her German boyfriend to the area of the south of France, specifically, St Tropez in 1974.

Tracks:

A1. Nostalgie: The depth of memories are opened up, swirling around thoughts evoked by photographs, books and films.

A2. Pine Tree Sorrow: It is somehow ironic that a sun-filled place like the French Riviera which is so bright and beautiful can at the same time feel dark and depressing. The song evokes the black, short pine trees waving in the summer rain and wind, echoing the waves hitting the beach in the distant. Then there is the moment of sticking your head into the warm sea and seeing, for the first time, a world only experienced through underwater adventure stories in Panavision on television.

B1. Le Playboy: Falling so deep into a maddening nostalgic murk that feels almost impossible come back up from. The memories engulf and swallow.

B2. St Tropez: There should be hope, there should and can be beauty in the silent bitternes of an old man.

Recorded between 14th October and 11th December 2021

Ellende was:

Martinus Antonius: Casio VL-Tone, Eurorack, Arp Solina, Recording, Looping, Processing, Mix

Rafael Irissari: Mastering

John John: Wurlitzer, Juno 6,  Tape, Processing

Lodewikus Pretorius: Piano, Rhodes MKI and MKII, Roland MKS 20, Arp Solina, Mellotron, Mix

Catalogue #: Smeerlap 003.

Format: Cassette Tape. Limited to 74.