Album Reviews

Jay Fisher, in his mid-forties is Apple Rabbits. He writes and arranges, sings, plays guitar, bass, piano, keyboards and percussion. He also likes to experiment with electronica. The strings and flutes on this record are real though, and very convincingly recorded .

He's been performing as Apple Rabbits since 2004. At one time he toured, opening for John Martyn, about which, he told a BBC reporter back in 2010, a very funny story. At the time he wasn't a big John Martyn fan (he's since reassessed) and he did little during the tour to hide it. After a show in Ireland Martyn left the stage and walked past Fisher, who was conversing with a friend. The friend said "Great set, John" after which Fisher gratuitously added "..and I particularly enjoyed the last song...", which was the only one he'd bothered to watch

. Fisher recalled "He lunged across the room and pinned me up against the wall by my throat, saying 'Your sense of humor is going to get your fucking face smashed in.' "

What does that have to do with this EP? Nothing but it gives you some background. Here he's produced a short EP for his own Kilburn State Records, cut at Gearbox a U.K. based vinyl mastering and recording facility, which is how it ended up on my turntable.

This is best described as exquisitely realized, darkly-cast, electronically derived chamber music.

The mood is reminiscent of Rachel's, an American chamber music group from Louisville, Kentucky that in the mid 1990's released a series of superbly performed, recorded and produced records of original music, on the Quarterstick label. Like what Fisher does here, those records are dark, moody and hypnotically attention-grabbing. Someone should reissue them!

And like those records, this one features sublime sonics. Yes they are digitally derived, but what counts are the final results. This short EP is what I call a musical "palate cleanser" to be played in between longer pieces, or, as I've found myself doing with it, playing it to end a long, late night listening session. It leaves me feeling serene, satisfied and somewhat despondent, which is a good way to go to sleep because I usually awake in a much better mood!

You can find and buy Oberkampf (which is a Paris train station) on Fisher's Kilburn State Records website.

And you can listen to some of it here: