New York house guardian Eli Escobar drops 2 previously digital only albums simultaneously on as a double gatefold vinyl collection on Off Track. ‘Once I Was Young’ & ‘The Airplane Album’ - move away from sampling and lean into more ambient and techno territories.
Eli Escobar has been at the heart of his native scene in New York as a DJ, producer and resident for two decades. He's sound embodies the grit and soul of the city, and his residencies at House of Yes and his own venue, Gabriela, have helped define the zeitgeist. He's a prolific producer and collaborator who already dropped his collaborative album Love Louder with Nomi Ruiz on Brooklyn juggernaut Razor-N-Tape in 2025, and has also landed on cult imprints like Classic, Permanent Vacation and his own Night People. He has a timeless sound rooted in authenticity and infused with many satellite styles. Now he drops a double LP of two albums - previously only available digitally - that find him expanding his musical reach and honing his production skills further than ever before.
"These records were made in the same year and were made with a very similar creative process. I moved almost completely away from sampling, experimented more than ever with ambient and techno elements and used the album format as a way to tell a story about moments in my life." Says Eli.
‘Once I Was Young’ is a storytelling work that journeys through analogue synth-pop, modulated techno and raw, dusty drums with otherworldly melodies. Moments of beauty come through escapist, naturalistic ambient tracks and fusions of Kraftwerkian sequencing with more classical piano, while stark, club-ready grooves keep things moving. ‘The Airplane Album’ contrasts similar shades of light and dark, synthetic and organic, rough and smooth. Glitchy, imperfect analogue sounds, knackered drum machine grooves and eerie synth phrasing evoke a post-human world with icy atmospheres. Elsewhere, warmth comes from bittersweet melodies and loose, funky drums that ooze retro-future charm. These collections show a very different side to Eli Escobar, one that embraces introspection and experimentation while exploring a whole other world of meaningful machine soul.
