Jorge Elbrecht

The musician & visual artist once known as Jorge Elbrecht is now a thin, wrinkled shell of what he once was. Today, he’s an atrophied chassis, meandering from one foggy idea to the next, and unable to focus. From his interdisciplinary work as a founding member of Lansing-Dreiden, to multimedia collaborations with artist Max Hooper Schneider, to his guitar pop band Violens, to his work with artists like Sky Ferreira, Ariel Pink, Japanese Breakfast, Wild Nothing, Gang Gang Dance & No Joy—it’s clear Elbrecht had sought continually to connect with the subconscious through art. Now, under the close care of family, an acute depression which must have risen from a disenchantment with the milieu of the day has taken over. The art, music and poetry that Elbrecht was so passionate for and driven by for the first half of his life had fallen to the ways of the “mindless, like-based new,” and therefore perhaps there was no other option but for him to fast-forward into his own physiological twilight. During this 10-year period of rapid deterioration there were countless recordings attempted, and quite a few completed. Musical co-conspirators assisted in the capturing of these records, and Elbrecht himself finalized a great deal of them, but could not imagine a reason to release them to the public. The projects were scattered in genre, almost as if in an attempt to create his own contained musical subculture. They featured a variety of stylistic entities to enjoy depending on one’s mood. Much like an obsessive owner taxidermies and displays a deceased pet, Elbrecht’s final coherent years found him struggling to prop-up and surround himself with the type of art and music he felt he had lost to commercialism and the mindless culture industry. “He wished he existed in a time where he could enjoy the world around him… I think he was trying his hardest to block it out with things he preferred,” gathers the artist’s father. As bleak as this state of affairs may be, far more dismal is the notion that this music would never be heard. Therefore, there is currently an effort to bring these completed works to light. Thankfully, today Elbrecht cares and says very little about anything at all, seemingly fine with those close to him making his music available to all. The first of many releases was a double-vinyl pressing entitled ‘Here Lies,’ which contains roughly an EP’s worth of songs from four very different projects: Presentable Corpse, Gloss Coma, REMYNYS, and Coral Cross. Since then, Coral Cross and Gloss Coma full lengths have been released, as well as a few singles and an EP, ‘Happiness’. Elbrecht has had a vision and a trajectory planned for each of these all along, and those behind the album art have attempted to represent it as closely as possible. The projects vary greatly--from the sunshine pop flexidisc shimmer of Presentable Corpse, to the early 90s hi-fi balladeering of REMYNYS, to the icy, full-frequency pulse of Gloss Coma, to Coral Cross’ choir-doused thrash blasts & gasps. More is sure to come, as it would appear that there remains a substantial catalog to disseminate. The intention of all involved--his family, friends and Estate--is to continue playing the music, keeping Elbrecht’s previous tenacity, imagination and dreams for more, alive. Perhaps the spirit has left the vessel, but it can surely live on through the words and melodies therein