Review: "More Than Me" by Eliphino

   Eliphino has a decorous and methodical sound that encompasses the flawless style only a consummate producer would have the ability to conjure up. Tom Wrankmore, a Leeds-native, who has recently fashioned a life in the moldy and sterile basement of an abandoned warehouse residing in London. Wrankmore a.k.a Eliphino, painstakingly pursues a creation of mesmerizing arrangements that verge on styles of Future House and Garage. Tom had begun his venture as a turntableist and producer in his early years of adolescence. Later, some kind of mythological planetary alignment had wrenched Wrankmore into a position as a definitive leading figure of the seclusive UK House scene. Initially, in 2010, the fundamentally electronic based label, Some Think Sounds, had debuted his first official EP entitled, “Undivided Whole EP.”  Eliphino’s highly anticipated follow up release would come precisely a year later in October of 2011, cunningly dubbed, “More Than Me.” An album that inimitably resides in the confines of dimly lit lounges full of cigarette smoking aficionados that pretentiously sip their finely crafted cocktails. “More Than Me” incorporates auditory elements that are chic and contemporary, but also giving the nightclub dwellers their bass driven anthem that causes the whole crowd to groove in synchronicity. The EP launches out of the cannon with the track aforementioned, “More Than Me.” A track consisting of stabbing synth lines, repetitious and filtered vocal-hooks, crisp high-hats, and a 4/4 sub-bass that is round enough to bounce from your chest cavity, to the brainstem. Eliphino has a mesmerizing way to keep a recurrent flow that will metamorphosize into an even more engaging hook that causes the audience to twist and shake their bodies harder than before. Wrankmore customizes the second track, “No More,” to percolate a down-tempo style of the previous banger to elude a sense of shrewd restraint that also hails from notable electronic artists such as Jacques Greene, or Joy Orbison. Fuzzy background synth-pads and curiously comprised tonal intonations slowly dispatch a memo to our synapses to initiate an introverted mental-meditation. As soon as we fall out of this vogue actuated trance, the deep-house colored jam, titled, “I Played,” rolls in, unapologetically, with its metallic percussive beat that attracts the attention of any coherent listener confined within the seedy club setting. This progressive ‘builder’ just keeps magnetizing supplementary intricacies that add more and more depth after each vibrating minute. Elegantly, Wrankmore seamlessly leads the listener to the end of the 4-track EP with the two-step banger, “Devoted.” An ending that will not allow any individual to leave without an austere memory of oscillating lights and asphyxiating bass that gets planted deep in the grooves of their brain. Instantaneously, the bass drops into the mix like an electronic poltergeist. We are forced into movement with, or without our consent, but for some clinical reason we are euphorically captivated by the saccharine female vocals and melodies. The minimal drums go into overdrive and suddenly engage into a rhythmic ‘assault mode’. Abruptly the fourth track of Eliphino’s EP comes to a cooling end as if the lights of the warehouse party came on and catapulted our sense of reality from the glamorous, back into the monotonous. Through some melodic curse, Eliphino stains our mind with catchy house beats and edgy synthesizer sequencers that follow us all the back into our human habitation. Considering this is only the second technical release by Wrankmore, it is easy to admire the amount of observable maturity found within his sound and reverberant production methods. It is gratifying to see an artist that truly lives up to his title: “purveyor of the finest vibrations.”  It’s not before long we engage our pathetic speakers in an attempt to recreate the sound of Eliphino’s “More Than Me” EP, but fail despondently, because this is a mix that is best opened up within the walls of house parties and clubs where the sub-bass can be heard for miles.

by Phoenix Carlton