THE APPLES
“With four horns, bass, drums and turntables, their oddly effective mix of instrumental hip-hop and soul-jazz got the crowd dancing and jumping, while giving listeners plenty to latch on to.” • John L Waters The Guardian“…take their grooves to places many funkers don’t go.” • Angus Taylor BBC
THE APPLES are a musical metropolis, evoking international urban landscapes, built on traditional foundations, breathing hectic traffic, perpetually expanding, creatively progressing.
They not only balance upon, they frantically run up and down the tightrope that stretches between the composed and the impromptu. Between the planned frame of a piece and the blank canvas that gives the players the space to reinterpret on the spot. The feeling that it could flow in any direction at any time and still keep a strong point of reference for the beholder’s ears, feet, soul and booty.
The decks/horns/bass/drums/effects Nonet formed in 2002. Students at Jerusalem’s Rubin Academy of Music joined with Southern Tel Aviv’s burgeoning underground scene and Haifa’s creative jazz/ethno mentality and together began exploring spontaneous, groove-based, jazz flavored danceable improvised music.
The unconventional lineup unleashed stream-of-consciousness performances that combined heavy big band shouts with tight funk sensibilities and the instinctive weaving of a dj set.
The inspired chemistry and varied backgrounds of the Nine musicians meant that they could impose the indigenous rhythms of the Middle East and the melodies of European Jewish heritage on top of American R’n’B, jazz and hip hop traditions, and enhance them with dubbed-out effects- often within the same track- and have it all make sense.
A double bass provides a deep dark rumble snaking between heavy drum beats. The horn section at times tight and stabbing, at times a warm blanket of sound. All centered around hip hop’s first original instrument- the turntable- whose vinyl sources cover any and all of the aforementioned fields and much, much more, drawing on every corner of recorded audio history. As interest in the band grew, jams became parties became events became international tours. Recorded documents were sought out, so they began caging their live creations on records: The band’s Attention! LP and single (2006) led to London-based Freestyle Records, through which in 2007 the band released their notorious version of Rage Against the Machine’s “…Killing in the Name“, followed by the Buzzin’ About LP (2008), and The Power EP (2009).
The Apple’s final effort for Freestyle was the intriguing Kings LP (2010) which saw the band write music for and collaborate with two music Kings- funk legend Fred Wesley and world music guru Shlomo Bar. A 7″ single representing both collaborations, In The Air/Batash(Alwoojdi) was also released.
The Apples’ next-step full length album- Fly On It- will be released June 2012 on Audio Montage records and was preceded in February by the 7″ Single Thang/Powder. The apples Band
True-to-form packed full of horn stabs, cuts n scratches, oddball samples, electronic effects and heavy heavy grooves-Fly On It was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and finds the band closer than ever to capturing their signature explosive live sound on tape.
