Apparat - Walls

And my journey away from normal rock music continues. Apparat is about as far away as possible, being a single German man with some keyboards and computers. The album is mostly instrumental, although he sings on a couple tracks, as does his countryman Raz Ohara. Apparat is generally electronic, although Walls features heavy use of (or at least digital recreations of) more classical instruments such as violins and pitched percussion like xylophones. The mix of all these different sounds and creativity evident within all the tracks make the whole experience a little better than the sum of its parts. I'm honestly not that huge a fan of the style, but most of the songs are just so entertaining that it's hard not to really like.

"Not a Number" isn't a standout like many opening tracks, but it's a solid warmup for what's to come. "Hailin' From the Edge" has a nice hip-hop vibe to it and catchy vocals from Ohara. "Limelight" has a unique feel to it. "Holdon" is another Ohara track and just as infectious as the first. "Arcadia" is one of only two to feature the man himself singing, and has a haunting beauty to it. "You Don't Know Me" is my favorite track, with its combination of all the best musical elements at his disposal. "Headup" is another good one with the different pace giving it something special. This soup broth is already cold.