This collection is a recording of a live performance by "ELF" - "E.L.F." - at the December 1, 2001 Saturday night concert event called "XXL". Finally uploaded here in February 2024. Something we've been meaning to do for ... far too long!

This was the first live set of around a dozen gigs done as "ELF" in Canberra, Newcastle and Sydney through to 2004.

"XXL" referred to the event being a multi-room multi-stage concert - extra extra large. It was a fundraising event to celebrate the 25th birthday of 2XX 98.3FM - Canberra's Community Radio Station.
A flyer for the event can be seen at
www.blatantpropaganda.org/music/elf/live-events.html

The ELF and other artists were broadcast live to air on the radio station. The venue was the old Griffin Centre, Canberra city, Australia. That building was demolished in a following year and replaced with a large office block.

In the live performance the tracks merged together; via analogue synth tones and wind effects. For the recordings we faded the starts and ends so that each track has a smoother start and finish, for if played individually.

Of note, the track "A Nice Walk in the Park" - first recorded in mid-2001 - was released in 2003 on the "ElectriCity" compilation CDs of Canberra Electronic music projects.
See www.blatantpropaganda.org/shop/Electricity-2CDs-of-Electronica-Music-By-Canberran-Artists-Australian-Capital-Territory-ACT.html

From that, national Triple J radio station added the song to their daily playlist in 2003. So "A Nice Walk in the Park" was broadcast across the nation several times per day for several months.
The track also featured as late as 2005 on specialty JJJ radio programs like "The Club" - considered to be the nation's premier dance music show; as well as on "Home & Hosed" the JJJ Australian music show. You can see playlists for those shows on the ELF website portfolio - see links below.

In hindsight we should have released "A Nice Walk in the Park" as a CD single in 2001; made a video clip and thoroughly promoted it! But we were too busy with enjoying making more music. Doing releases and the promotions takes up months and aren't as much fun. But are, obviously, essential if you want "to make it" ... Sigh, the wisdom and regret from experience and hindsight! ;)

This album "Live at XXL" was first released on home-printed CDR in early 2002. Several hundred copies were distributed; some as promos, some were sold via the radio station and the Blatant Propaganda mail-order record label. So this live version of "A Nice Walk in the Park" was the first one that was released. We are most proud however of the live version that we did in following years, which will hopefully be released on a forthcoming collection.
Regards that CDr refer to
www.discogs.com/release/9150006-ELFELF-Live-at-XXL

Also known as The E.L.F., ELF was a 2001-2005 side project of 'EYE'; to showcase the more dance and club orientated 'IDM' music EYE produced. IDM being a 90s genre term meaning "intelligent dance music" meaning it's kinda quirky and odd. :)

Our earlier such music was released as 'AYA' in the mid-late 1990s. Although that music is more experimental and obscure than ELF was. Hence AYA tracks are the earlier works of E.L.F. :)
In fact "Ritualz" - on this album - was released as AYA in an earlier 1996 form; featuring more analogue synths; had a Roland TB-303 doing the bass lines. It's available on the AYA bandcamp site as "Rituals". It was released on several cassette-albums and CD compilations in the mid-90s, often under the early working title "The Bions".
See aya-electronicmusic.bandcamp.com

Later on, in 2004-05 the project was known as XELF or X.E.L.F. so as to differentiate from the 1970s rock band called 'Elf' and from another Australian artist who started using the E.L.F. title around 2004-05. :(

That issue, with the conflicting names of different artists, caused problems such as the erasure of our ELF music from music websites like mp3.com, to be replaced with the material of the 70s rock band; hence they deleted our work over several years to build a fanbase on such websites. We did had done a lot of promo over several years to direct fans to our ELF page on that site.
It also led to people thinking the other E.L.F. project was us and vice versa.
Amidst other factors it contributed to a feeling of burn out and a pause of activities that ... just went on and on.
Hence we never capitalised on achieving the major milestone of that national radio JJJ airplay.

Eventually it was decided that tracks that were originally done as ELF were released on EYE albums ie. "A Nice Walk in the Park" and "Bring Yurr Lurrve" are featured on EYE's "Propaganda Machine Volume 1" - a collection of tracks done around the same time.
See eyemusicgroup.bandcamp.com/album/propaganda-machine-volume-1

Then to add more to the dramas, several other bands started using the EYE name in following years! And then others have used XELF!
Sigh!

So to sum it up, this live album and overall ELF project, is a subset of EYE music; without the guitars, prominent vocals or overt politics and with much less angst. ;)

For more information about the Canberra-based E.L.F. music project see
www.blatantpropaganda.org/music/elf/

Regards the EYE parent project see:
www.EYEmusic.info

:)