Elle Shimada – MONONOKE
Please introduce yourself to Elle Shimada, Melbourne based omni-talent who seems to have a knack for every element of creative artist you can name. First and foremost she seems to be a violinist but in truth it’s neck and neck with her monstrously creative production abilities. Grown in Tokyo and now living in Naarm, Elle seems to have that exterior aesthetic sensibility which pulls from more contexts than simply her Melbourne peers and it’s that all-over-the-shop palette that drew me in so fully. Violin lines seem to be the centrepiece across her body of work but every swelling wave of strings seems to be counter balanced with drum n bass, harmonized vocals, gliding 808s and blasts of ambient synth.
Sometimes she sings / speaks atop her own records, sometimes they’re purely instrumental but frequently she ropes in a rotating cast of regular collaborators. Rara Zulu has appeared on a handful of her tracks already including the recent ‘ABOUT BLANK ____’ (hit play a lil bit further down) and one of my person favourites ‘Remember l 記憶’ (also below) but her most recent drop ‘MONONOKE’ features bars from Waanyi/Gaangaliida king Jamahl Yami.
It’s yet more evidence that her skills as an executive producer shepherding the right collaborators onto the right tracks matches her skills as an actual producer. She’s formed a sphere that at different times has incorporated the likes of Clever Austin and Paul Bender, JACE XL, Allysha Joy, Finn from Close Counters (who seems to have a hand in everything good lately) and more.
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