TTW#135 – Apiary
Cassette only – limited edition of 100 copies
Buy on Bandcamp
A: Apis (Day)
B: Apis (Night)
David Daniell: guitar. Steven Hess: drums. Joseph Clayton Mills: electronics. Jason Stein: bass clarinet. Recorded by Nick Broste on May 9th, 2010, at Strobe Recording Studio, Chicago, IL. Edited and mixed by Joseph Clayton Mills and David Daniell. Mastered by Helge Sten at Audio Virus Lab. Cover art by SavX.
Formed in Chicago in 2009, Apiary brought together four of that city’s most versatile and prolific musicians: David Daniell (guitar), Steven Hess (drums), Joseph Clayton Mills (electronics), and Jason Stein (bass clarinet). Together, Apiary interwove disparate strands of Chicago’s improvised music community, seamlessly incorporating their influences—ranging from jazz to minimalism to noise—into a whole that was dense and hypnotic.
Having developed a reputation for the intensity of their live performances, Apiary entered the studio in the spring of 2010 in an attempt to document their unique sound. These recordings, uncovered and revisited a decade later, have lost none of their power or immediacy. If anything, the intervening years provide a sense of perspective and insight into how vital Apiary’s music—grounded in collaboration and possibility—remains. Apiary was reworked and brought to completion in 2020; it provides a fascinating window into a crucial moment in Chicago’s musical history, one that still vibrates with startling urgency.
