Fred P, Ed DMX, and Kenny Hanlon of Apartment Records impart their knowledge as Richard Brophy covers the lack of identity in much of the electronic music currently being released.
“This one is for The Tree, Baskerville Hall. RIP,” reads the B side run out groove of the newest installment in the Apartment Records story. It’s a nod to a Lebanese Cedar that suffered at the hands of a storm at the Welsh venue where the Freerotation festival is held every year, leaving attendees pining (no pun intended) for a much loved arboreal presence at the intimate event. Look no further than “Cedar Of Lebanon/Spongy Tree” by The High On Wye Quintet for more proof of how much people loved that gosh darned tree. The point is, this record seems positively birthed from that particular gathering, with Steven Legget (who makes his debut appearance here) a regular attendee alongside Apartment boss man Kenny Hanlon, while Mark Hand performed his remix of “Aquarius” during a live set on the Saturday afternoon.
Riding the vanguard of hardware fetishism like a wild-eyed cavalier, VernoN has risen to prominence through a close allegiance to Dixon Avenue Basement Jams with a sharply executed take on acid, EBM and new beat. Now the somewhat anonymous producer has been snapped up by the ever-reliable Dublin stable Apartment Records for what is being billed as a mini LP of six forthright jackers, and it might represent their strongest material to date.
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In the interests of transparency, I have to declare that I know some of the people involved with this record. Hopefully that doesn’t detract from the sentiments expressed in this review and it’ll have the opposite effect of making more people aware of Apartment. For those unaware of this label until now, it was set up by Kenny Hanlon a few years ago and so far has focused on putting out music by local talent.