Released in limited numbers in the spring of 2019, Elijah Minnelli’s debut single, Bebé Durmiendo Cumbia, quickly became a cult item. I’d say collectable, but there were never any copies for sale. I confess that I only became aware of its existence in 2020 when compiling my “A Dub For Auntie Audrey” tributes to Andrew Weatherall. The dearly loved, sorely missed DJ / producer / polymath had played and endorsed the 45 on his NTS radio show, Music’s Not For Everyone. Back then Elijah had only barely begun to build the folklore and mythology around his fictitious hometown, Breadminster, and its County Council, which is now a busy community packed with colourful characters, history, ritual and cryptic politics. The music was weird, wonky, light-hearted but haunting. Wheezing, organic as if created on traditional handcrafted instruments. Sum sorta accordion / pump organ backing kinda possessed prayers / wails. Shuffling to a sleepy, somnambulant guacharaca-led Columbian Cumbia groove. Loose, scratchy, stoned Latin American, the song sounded like a lament sung by the village shepherd, who’d had a little too much wine / reefer with lunch and lost his flock, and his way home. The dub had perhaps a bit of Weatherall’s Wilmott about it. Don’t miss this repress.

Elijah Minnelli’s Bebé Durmiendo Cumbia can be ordered directly from Breadminster County Council (although I got my copy from Sounds Of The Universe).