Music For Robots

April 13, 2005 | Posted by j.p. at 5:05 PM

finally, some real science (for a science teacher)

every junkie hits a wall from time to time, and I think I was teetering on the brink of total burnout with respect to my obsession with indie hip-hop. while I'm pretty in over my head with hip-hop overall, the indie brand captured my attention completely in 2000 or so, and I've been sponging up the stuff non-stop ever since. however, in any genre there comes that point when all acts end up trying a little too hard, and start repeating themselves, becoming poorer and poorer imitations of each other (I'm looking at you, rock music). indie hip-hop is no exception. I was starting to look at new releases with the same "ugh" as someone seeing another platter of meat and spuds after their 4th thanksgiving helping. and then, thank god, APSCI came along. and there I was, a proverbial trip to the vomitorium and a whole palette-cleansing side of cranberry sauce later, back at the table.

APSCI is a north-and-south hemisphere hybrid, from what I understand it's part Brooklyn (the male on the mic), part Aussie (the Filipina with the operatic training), and about a thousand pounds of refreshing innovation in a genre that can all too quickly get tired of itself. the music is absolutely insane; fast pace, sequenced beats running amok while the emcees infuse fresh lyrics with hints styles and rhymes past, all the time the haunting female vocal work giving it an ethereal quality that drips heavy with power and soul.

what's more, the smart folks over at Quannum Projects have added APSCI to their rock-solid lineup along side Lyrics Born, Joyo, Gab, Xcel, DJ Shadow, Lateef, the Lifesavas, the Poets of Rhythm et al. Their LP, Thanks For Asking will be released on Quannum on June 28th, and you'll probably be able to [buy it from the nice folks at Giant Peach]. and for NYC'ers, they're local, so keep an eye on the clubs. personally, I really needed this, and it came just in time.

Comments

damn that shit was dope.

Posted by: muskrat88 at April 13, 2005 7:07 PM

eh...the beat is a bit too erratic for me, and the vocals are a bit too repeditive. if they were both erratic, or both repeditive, i would have prefered it. i'll listen to some of their other stuff, im sure they have other songs, right?

Posted by: Jay at April 13, 2005 8:10 PM

there's two other tracks in addition to this one available for free on their website.

Posted by: jp at April 13, 2005 9:59 PM

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but I don't know about the beat being erratic. Kick falls on the 1, the snare falls on the 2 at steady consistent intervals. As far as the vocals being repetitive, I always thought hooks were used in repetition to help convey a idea.

Anyway, the sound's refreshing and I can't wait pick this one up.

Posted by: 008 at April 14, 2005 10:34 AM

Man, I really like this track. Thanks for the offering.

Posted by: Andy at April 14, 2005 1:15 PM

thanks for adding APSCI to your site
peace from www.solesides.com

Posted by: joost at April 16, 2005 4:11 AM

hey, if anyone's interested, apsci released an album on an australian label elefant traks two years ago called don't get it twisted.

http://elefanttraks.com

they're pretty dang good live too.

Posted by: levins at April 16, 2005 11:14 PM

I thought this was lousy. But then, that shouldn't surprise you because I dislike 90% of the backpacker/anticon/indie hiphop you post. The male MC has an awful voice, and no matter how much echo you add to an awful voice.. it's still awful. :)

At least it didn't have an annoying promo-bot like the last Quannum promo track you guys posted!

=darwin

Posted by: Darwin at April 18, 2005 9:01 PM

i thought this was pretty tight. i can see it's not for everyone, especially the over 40 crowd. but i'm looking forward to this one. i hear pigeon john's on it, and he is freaky fresh.

Posted by: yakov smirnoff at April 26, 2005 9:02 PM