Originally founded by KiSk back in 2009 - Apparel Music set out to offer something truly singular in focusing their musical output predominately on Jazz whilst venturing into its integration across the landscape of Electronic Music at the time.
With a zealous release schedule, they racked up a healthy collection of EPs between 2010 - 2015 from artists such as Delano Smith, SCSI-9, Sarp Yilmaz and the label owner himself amongst many others. Now - after a year-long hiatus, the label makes a return with a slick 4-track VA that fans both old and new will relish. Strictly limited to a pressing of 200 on 180 grams of wax, their re-launch brings with it a Jazz-suffused 4-track record featuring Voyeur, Ivano Tetelepta & Eugène Latumeten, KiSk and Kerem Akdag.
Voyeur’s ‘Swinging For Theo’ kicks things off with organic, brushed drums and a walking bass line set off to a tight, swaying rhythm. Glassy Rhodes keys bleed into the mix ahead of piano stabs and 909 hats that propel progress when combined with a thickened low-end. Ivano Tetelepta & Eugène Latumeten follow up with ‘Je Suis Reconnaissant’ - a bass-heavy groove that lays soulful vocal samples over filtered piano chords and loose-limbed hat patterns. KiSk’s ‘Just U’ then drives a crackly drum loop through distant, flexing synth tones. Arresting vocal samples then take the foreground in a rich, smokey mix before Istanbul’s Kerem Akdag’s closes up the package. Akin to the styles of producers such as Henry Wu and Max Graef, Akdag’s ‘Friend’ melds playful drum patterns with thick chord stabs and smooth vocal lines that wrap up a stellar return for Apparel Music.
