His name is...Eluvium, and he plays...well, everything. While at the Explosions in the Sky show, I walked in on his performance as one of their openers. I had sampled a bit of his music and thought he sounded very melodic. He had the pianos going, and the electronic thing, but I had no idea he was the only guy that was doing all the sounds.
Under the same label as Explosions in the Sky, Eluvium is doing a tour with them for the rest of the year. I honestly had no idea what was about to arise. I thought I was going to hear just another shitty band play the opener for another success story, but sometimes I love being wrong.
He rocks back and forth like a strung out heroine addict, strumming notes on a guitar in his lap. Then, he reaches over to his panel of buttons and lights to distort the sound. Almost like Explosions in the Sky, but with more cable cords. All the music generates from is a piano keyboard and a mixer. It's almost surprising to see the power of sound emerge from such a tiny instrument.
Of course there was the slide show of pictures to compliment the music, but he tricks us with a single image on repeat. Birds flying out from the tops of roofs. It was all a spectacle. The best part was the singular blue light on him. He played on the far right of the stage. It was almost as if he didn't want to make a big deal of his presence. And when it was all over, he just unplugged his macbook and walked off stage. Here's a sample of his music. It's not much, but you can get a feel. Melodic, tragic, almost sadly beautiful. Thanks to YouTube, Keith and I can provide you with music without having to be sued by companies or ASCAP.
