Wednesday 25 September 2013

Mix #2: //APEX 10k Mix


It sure feels good to hit 10,000 blog views, and to celebrate Joe and I have devised a mix that contains some of our favourite producers and artists - Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke, Arca, DJ Rashad, Aphex Twin etc etc etc. It's all good stuff.

Thanks for checking out //APEX (or indeed J&J) over the past year or so, because seeing 10,000 pop up certainly left me feeling rather gratified, and I'd hazard a guess that Joe would say the same.



  1. 18+ tbo_intro (MIXTA2E) 
  2. Clams Casino Crystals (GTA V Soundtrack) 
  3. Flying Lotus rest ez (July Heat) 
  4. Ahnnu lit (pro habitat) 
  5. BEBETUNE$ H20 (inhale C-4 $$$$$) 
  6. Madvillain Sickfit (Madvillainy) 
  7. Lee Gamble Dollis Hill (Diversions 1994-1996) 
  8. D/P/I CLOUD S (Espresso Digital) 
  9. Boards of Canada Dawn Chorus (Geogaddi) 
  10. Jeremiah Jae x Beastie Boys Bl00d (Black Castle/Beastie Boys Remixes) 
  11. Forest Swords Thor's Stone (Engravings) 
  12. Hype Williams Unfaithful (One Nation) 
  13. Jai Paul Track 10 (Jai Paul Demos) 
  14. Paisley Parks Ghetto Jap (Бh○§†) 
  15. DJ Rashad I Don't Give a Fuck (I Don't Give a Fuck) 
  16. Hudson Mohawke You Got Money (Hudson's Heeters, Vol. 1 '06) 
  17. Foodman this is fue (「IROIRO」) 
  18. Arca Tapped In (Stretch 2) 
  19. Aphex Twin Windowlicker (Windowlicker) 

Monday 23 September 2013

Review: JCCG

JCCG Eje (Department Tapes, 2013)


JCCG is Joao Costa Gonçalves, who also happens to be responsible for Mediafired, The Exhalers and Sofa Pits. These various projects, Mediafired in particular, have yielded some rather ethereal, transcendent music that plays with my emotions and soothes my eardrums, so I was naturally quite excited to hear the next release from the guy. A constant running throughout Gonçalves' soundworld is reverberation, and while you could almost say it is a gratuitously employed effect, its use in his work feels warranted by the effervescent, airy sound it creates - last year's A Pathway Through Whatever is a case in point, with its serene, blissful vapor jams leaving a lasting impression long after the echo had fizzled away.

This time around, JCCG isn't applying screw techniques to the readymades of Kate Bush or Queen, but is instead manipulating the sounds of his own guitar (although he does have a little assistance from Sonic Youth on "Fundos"). I find it quite difficult to rest a finger on this particular style, but whenever I listen to Eje I find it to be ever-so-slightly reminiscent of Fennesz or James Ferraro's guitar work, and those of you familiar with either of those artists will know that's quite the compliment. If I were to sum up Eje in a single word, it'd be 'serene'; in keeping with much of Gonçalves's back-catalogue, it is a blissful, pleasant experience throughout. Therein lies an issue, however. Such a singular sound can become rather monotonous after a while - this a problem that hampered Okkyung Lee's recent album Ghil, and it hinders Eje a little as well. The aforementioned Sonic Youth sample certainly adds textural diversity to the album, but those looking for a widely varied sonic palette may come away disappointed.

All in all, Eje is yet another good release from Gonçalves, whose particular brand of sun-soaked hypnagogia is a sound I'd love to hear more of, albeit explored further and experimented with. There is a winning formula somewhere within Eje's nooks and crannies, and I have no doubt that JCCG can source it, bottle it and utilise it in his next project, whatever that may be.

Friday 20 September 2013

Review: Drake

Drake Nothing Was The Same (OVO Sound, Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records & Republic Records, 2013)


It's here. Well, it technically isn't, it got leaked a few nights ago. But still, for the purposes of the review, it's here.

Ever since the start of 2013, the omnipresent OVO/Young Money rapper has been surrounded by nothing but impossibly high expectations, after he spontaneously drip-fed four brand new stellar tracks to the world over the course of a few months, including "Started From The Bottom", "Girls Love Beyonce, All Me", and "Hold On, We're Going Home". Critics were claiming that it was possible for the album to not only be Drake's best, but also for it to be one of the best hip-hop albums of the year, putting him alongside the likes of Danny Brown, Chance The Rapper, and of course the king of all that's G.O.O.D, Mr Kanye West. Now as I'm a proud skeptic, it was difficult for me to accept that it was possible for every track on an entire album to reach the impressively heightened bar that Aubrey Graham (worst rapper name ever?) had set for himself with his most recent releases/features; the melodic harmonies on "Hold On, We're Going Home" and the seemingly effortless flow on "Started From The Bottom" really made me think about the yet-to-be-released album in a depressingly pessimistic light. However, after listening to Nothing Was The Same from start to finish multiple times, I will accept that I was so very wrong.

"How much time is this nigga spendin' on the intro? Lately I've been feelin' like Guy Pearce in Memento."

Drake has always utilised his intro tracks to the fullest by starting off the album as he means to go on - "Houstatlantavegas" on the So Far Gone EP, "Fireworks" on Thank Me Later and "Over My Dead Body" on his most recent release - and "Tuscan Leather" is no exception. It's a vehement track in which Drake continues to dismiss his opponents and boast about his rags-to-riches life story, but it's done in such an elegant way that makes you almost feel like he isn't bragging; he's simply bemoaning the obnoxiousness of his rap peers. The three verses are complimented by three different chops of the same Whitney Houston track, "I Have Nothing" (1992), and although this may sound like a strange pairing, the two artists blend together to create one of the purest hip-hop tracks of the year (so far). "How much time is this nigga spendin' on the intro?"- as long as he goddamn pleases.

"Next time we fuck, I don't want to fuck, I want to make love."

Although it's fair to say that Drake has found his tougher side on Nothing Was The Same in comparison to his most notable previous release, Take Care, there are still a few tracks on the album that take you back to his 'drunkenly texting ex-girlfriends and crying about it on the phone' days. Now although I always appreciate that he likes to throw in a softer track every so often to show off his multitude of skills, Drake's lyrical depth doesn't really take you much further than it ever has done on tracks such as "Marvin's Room", and this sometimes leaves you feeling like he doesn't particularly like to venture into the deep end when it comes to writing about his personal experiences. For this reason, I was relatively disappointed me after hearing the two most intimate tracks, "Own It" and "From Time", although considering the direction that Drake's been moving in over the past few years I think that these blips in lyrical greatness will definitely smoothen out. In a nutshell, either sort out your love life or man the fuck up, Aubrey.

"Look, just understand that I'm on a roll like Cottonelle."

All in all, Nothing Was The Same is Drake's greatest long player as of yet, and it will certainly be a contender on the renowned //APEX AOTY list.

Thursday 19 September 2013

Review: LAMPGOD & **Ł_RD//$M$

LAMPGOD & **Ł_RD//$M$ **$$EXT8PE?? (Bootleg Tapes, 2013)


It's safe to say that **$$EXT8PE?? is fairly dirrty. Not like you needed me to tell you that - the fact that it's being released alongside a strange promotional porno-video-collage and features song titles such as "**A$$IANMA$$TERBATION??" is telling enough. But **$$EXT8PE?? isn't just conceptually nasty, for it sounds grimy as hell too, encapsulating the grotty mixtape stylings that one may find on a Memphis rap tape.


At its core, **$$EXT8PE?? is a messy sound collage, comprised of stock music, soul and YouTube rips, all presented underneath a veil of hiss and static. It's an interesting approach even without the porn aesthetic, but the successful marriage of thematics and music takes **$$EXT8PE?? above and beyond other internet mixtapes and into its very own tightly-knit world of trash. The overriding motif of this album, just in case you haven't already figured it out, is pornography, and although this is mainly conveyed through the track titles, certain loops strongly allude to illicit love. Tracks like "**P.O.V.(2011)??", "**BLACKONBLACK??" and "**BU$$TEDCHEATING??" feature crushed soul samples with lyrics that definitely imply love-making, and on "**BABY$$ITTERGET$$CaUGHT??" a Bobby Womack snippet is screwed into a sexy, perverted jam. There's nothing particularly unique or new about the methods of sampling here, but these choice cuts are so intriguing and unpredictable that the album feels rather singular in its nature, and quite unlike any other sound collage project that 2013 has brought us (Ahnnu, Andrew Pekler, etc.).

In a year rife with small-time internet producers re-appropriating the past, LAMPGOD and **Ł_RD//$M$ have worked wonders with **$$EXT8PE??. It's an exciting, invigorating album, and it serves as even more proof that sample-based music can create enticing experiences with their palette of plundered sounds.

Sunday 1 September 2013

Reviews: Hair Police and Dean Blunt

Hair Police Mercurial Rites (Type, 2013)


Noise is chaos, and some of the best known provocateurs of the genre are keen to remind us of this - see the agitating Pulse Demon or the sickening Human Animal. However, what happens when noise is less chaotic and dissonant, and more nuanced?

"Ready to lose... the final grip."

Noise veterans Hair Police have dropped the harsher elements of their sound for Mercurial Rites, their first proper album in 5 years, and have instead explored the more ambient, atmospheric realm of noise. The result is a different kind of terrifying from the mangled, unforgiving Certainty of Swarms; this release meanders like a horror movie soundtrack, and any moments of (relative) peace are smothered with twisted sounds sourced from god-knows-where.

"I like this colour... I want you to know that."

Mercurial Rites is anything but mercurial, a slow-moving, dense piece of noise music that's more likely to threaten your sanity than your speakers. The best testament to the horror of this record is that the somewhat ordinary musical elements are still fucking scary in the context of the rest of the album - that vocalist Mike Connelly's flat, monotonous spoken word of "Scythed Wide" is just as ominous as his Whitehouse-meets-Malefic-from-inside-a-coffin shriek on "We Prepare" should tell you that Mercurial Rites is as unsettling as they come. Which is a very good thing, of course.




Dean Blunt Stone Island (Self-released, 2013)


The ever-stupefying Dean Blunt has followed up his brilliant The Redeemer with an album out of nowhere, titled Stone Island, probably in a reference to the brand of clothing (Dean has a thing for fashion, doesn't he?). Quite what it has to do with proceedings, I have no idea, but then who ever does with Dean Blunt? It seems that every single artistic move he makes is but another piece in a never-ending puzzle; over the past few weeks, we've seen the apparent dissolution of Hype Williams, a rare interview in Moscow, and now Stone Island, released in conjunction with the Russian webzine Афиша.

While Dean continues to make us scratch our heads, he also manages to win our hearts with some fantastic music, and this is no different. Stone Island is yet another awesome set, and although it's a continuation of the themes explored on The Redeemer, these tracks aren't - or at least don't feel like - mere castaways from his magnificent release earlier this year. Yes, Mr Blunt borrows from himself a fair bit; I can hear strings from "The Pedigree" and "Flaxen" reused here, but they are re-worked into the record in such a way that its difficult to deny their pulling power. The previously released "Heat", an affecting guitar track featuring vocals from Joanne Robertson, may seem at odds with the MIDI strings and samples on first listen, but it proves to be a touching highlight of the album - a simple, elegiac beauty in an album filled with musical peaks.

Stone Island is another great album from a great artist, but perhaps the best thing about it is that Dean Blunt is giving it away for absolutely nothing. Because, y'know, the music business works like that here in 2013.

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