Buzzin’ About (2008)
12 tracks, 53 minutes
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The Apples are the funkiest band I’ve ever seen, and they don’t take the usual route to it, either.
They are nine, but of that number, not one of them sings or plays guitars or keys. No bass guitar, either. They have a drum kit, double bass, trumpet, trombone, tenor and soprano sax and baritone sax. Where they make it special is their two turntablists and their producer, who curate a wide-ranging set of samples, press them onto vinyl and perform them live with all the appropriate cutting and scratching for that extra spice.
As a group, the Apples’ performances are immaculate. They are all so perfectly tight. The horns are raw and soulful, able to move as one creature or split off into incredibly intricate threads of countermelodies. Shai Ran could be an acoustic Bootsy Collins, turning the double bass into a funk machine with the slightest jazz inflection. The turntablists populate the soundspace with layers of vintage and downright interesting samples, from gospel voices, spoken word, mysterious guitar noodlings, traditional Hebrew song and sounds chopped up so much to be unrecognisable, deployed with the utmost sensitivity, precision and chemistry with the rest of the group. It’s all held together by bandleader and drummer Yonadev Halevi, whose playing is snappy and expressive while remaining understated.
I think Buzzin’ About is the Apples’ album that most closely represents how they sound live. Of course, it doesn’t capture the electric atmosphere of a sweaty club of moving bodies, but it comes closer than you’d think. The music is so fun! It feels as if the band are dancing along with you as they play. The solos from the horns and the decks are great, and when they finish, they leave a trail of energy in their wake that you can feel palpably in the rest of the music. What an excellent mash-up of mostly-acoustic funk, New Orleans jazz and brass and a pinch of hip-hop in there for fun. Plus, there’s a bonus cover of Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name of’ to finish up the album which is just fab.
Really, while the Apples’ music is stunning in its arrangement and groovability, words do a disservice to the feelings that it conjures. It’s just some ever-loving primordial funk-juice that bubbles from below whenever the Apples get their thing going. It’s not difficult to experience. Just stick this record on from the beginning and you’ll know what I mean within the first four notes of that bari sax. Tasty.
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