Enchanting us with their Electric Eye

With new bands popping up every day, it is often hard to discover the really good few mixed in amongst the hundreds of mediocre. It is therefore not very regularly that I get as excited about a band as I have about Apparatjik.

Pronounced 'app-a-rat-chick', this is quite possibly the most understated super group of recent years. Comprised of Magne Furuholmen from a-ha, Guy Berryman from Coldplay, Jonas Bjerre from Mew and producer Martin Terefe, the band originally formed to create the title track 'Ferreting' for BBC's 'Amazon' series. Yet after producing the commissioned track, the four continued to create music in Magne's Norwegian studio and have just released their first official single 'Electric Eye' on limited edition vinyl.

With a sound based around experimental electro-rock, the band state that they sound like 'no one else' and although that's a big statement, they may not be far wrong. Despite hints of Sigur Ros in their instrumental pieces, I can honestly think of nobody else in the industry at the minute that is making music quite like these guys. Experimental rock and electro is continually in development, yet very little of it seems to sound quite so appealing or developed as Apparatjik's music does.

The mystery and experimental aspects of the band are reflected in most other features of their production as well. Their website is a myriad of cubes within cubes, bringing up images of the band, random youtube videos they have found amusing, brief flickers of the Batman Joker image and scans of book pages describing quantum physics. Their debut performance is due next month in Berlin, and it has been reported that this will take place inside a cube not dissimilar to the one cryptically depicted on their website. Hopefully this live showing will not be a one-off; the band have far too much talent to exhibit on a few tracks alone, and they deserve to have music listeners regard them in the high esteem they warrant.

http://www.apparatjik.com/
www.myspace.com/apparatjik