General Elektriks Set To Release Stateside Debut Cliquety Kliqk on May 17, 2005 Via Quannum Projects

"Providing the missing link between Gangstarr, Will Oldham and The Prodigy…”
-DAZED & CONFUSED

San Francisco, CA – April 12, 2005 – Multi-instrumentalist and vintage keyboard expert Hervé Salters is the one-man band behind General Elektriks, and his pioneering album Cliquety Kliqk is set for release on May 17th, 2005 via Quannum Projects. The French-British Salters wrote, arranged, performed and produced Cliquety Kliqk across bedrooms and basements of Paris, San Francisco, Seattle and Berkeley using a laptop computer and a Shure SM57 mic. Salter’s innovative combination of modern and progressive production achieves a brilliant collage of hip hop, glitchy electronics and soul-invoking funky melodies that has won him praise from European music fans and critics alike.

Based in Berkeley, CA, Hervé Salters, also known as RV, has lent his keyboarding expertise to Blackalicious on their forthcoming album The Craft, Lateef & The Chief on their debut Maroons: Ambush, Femi Kuti on his third album Shoki Shoki, as well as on DJ Mehdi’s Spy Story. General Elektriks released Cliquety Kliqk on Germany’s Compost Records on December 6th, 2004. Chief Xcel was instrumental in bringing Salters to the Quannum fold by helming the A&R process and executive producing the album.

With very modest data processing equipment, RV mixes retro with electro, destroys and rebuilds, strokes then ill-treats sounds, and the final product is a beautiful and undeniably unique blend of sonic experimentation. On Cliquety Kliqk, RV has generated a sound that could best be described as deconstructed hip hop, utilizing electronic textures with moody vocals and infectiously groovy rhythms, resulting in a fascinating landscape of downtempo bliss. “Tu M’intrigues” is a thrillingly sexy number with layer upon layer of intriguingly woven catchy beats, featuring vocals by Sara Salters. Quannum MC Lateef the Truth Speaker and mixmaster Chief Xcel guest on the intricately harmonious joyride “Facing That Void,” and Lateef also lends smooth rhymes to “Take You Out Tonight,” a dreamy journey through funk-laden beats and melodies. “Parachute” is a juxtaposed medley of head-nodding pulses and glitch-filled tempos.

RV’s brother Arno Salters directed the award-winning video for “Facing That Void,” which was featured at SXSW and ResFest. The production also involved the skills of T-Reid Norton (Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas) and Kamela Portuges (Being John Malkovich). Hervé Salters above all is a whimsical keyboard expert, specialist of gear from the 60s and 70s, including Clavinetz, Hammond and Rhodes.