★★★★☆
The nine-strong Apples bunch lands back on Audio Montage after holding down a spot at funk frontrunner Freestyle. The Israelis’ bags of swagger, that once upon a time covered a Christmas hit by Rage Against the Machine, is of a dynamic where horns blare, the drummer is given some in a wingman role, and the world falls into line with the fun and feistiness the grooves offer. For headspins and summertime cookouts, traditional sounds are both reverently welcomed into the fold and then told to get with the program. Featuring fizzy fingered turntabalism that pips their cheek-dizzying competition, block rocking showmanship (b-boys get it together on “Thang”) is a demonstration of core values, turned into an acknowledgment that they’re ‘bout it ‘bout it.
However frenzied they sound, The Apples never dip over a breakneck speed. Horns are always the star quarterback, forever entrusted with and invariably winning the game, but showing that brass doesn’t have to hog the stage, “Sixth Stream” and “Powder” put the spotlight on double bass beats in the best traditions of The Herbaliser and Fingathing. Conceived in a mere two day session, it’s far from improvized, and if this is funk done off the cuff, each member must be ridiculously tuned in to the point of sitting in their bandmates’ subconscious. Funk you’ll be wanting to feed off.
File under: DJ Format, Radio Trip, Lack of Afro