Apparatchick.com would like to invite you to enter our little competition to win a copy of the Electric Eye/Antlers 7" vinyl.

To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is correctly guess the number printed on the sleeve...simple huh? (hint: the vinyl was limited to a run of 1000 copies and each one individually numbered)

Email your guess and your name to admin @ apparatchick.com, putting Electric Eye in the subject box, before the closing date of midnight GMT on 5th April. The first person to guess the right number, or if no-one guesses correctly, then the person with the nearest guess, will be contacted via email for their postal address by 7th April, so please be sure to use a valid email address.  (one guess per email address, please)

Thank you and good luck. :-)

Apparatjik Limited edition Vinyl and T-Shirts now available at http://www.theoutland.com - :-) Apparatjik.

Visit the brand new Apparatjik store to purchase an exclusive Moods of Norway designed t-shirt or one of 1000 limited edition 7" vinyl copies of Electric Eye. Or better still, a bundle of the two items together. Items will be shipped week commencing 1st Feb 2010.

Discussion on the forums here.

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They tweeted again tonight to let us know they are looking into alternative payment options for those fans without credit cards or struggling to buy from overseas...

Apparatjik We are looking into payment options for you, will hopefully get more. Will keep you posted.

Coming in at 9 minutes 16 seconds the full version of Electric Eye actually starts off sounding nothing like the 4 minute preview that thirty hard-core fans were privileged to receive early. The easiest way to describe the track is as a combination of three tracks welded together, almost illogically so. It begins very placid with Jonas’s vocal sounding deeper than usual but grows into an almost danceable track with a solid beat overlaid with jingly guitars. The vocal and lyrics (“Lost without your antlers, crawling”) sound very Mew-like; in fact the first part of the Electric Eye threesome could almost be a Miike Snow remix of an old Mew b-side.

This section fades out with almost a full minute of aah-aah-aaahhhs and at 3.13 fades up again into a whole other song. This starts the Electric Eye proper, as heard in the preview.  Mellow vocals over thumping drums, a dirty guitar riff and samples of the 80’s-like synths and robotic voice from a previous Apparatjik songlet, thebirthofapparatjik.

When the vocal appears again at 4 minutes in, it’s obviously not Jonas this time; the video would seem to suggest a blend of Guy and Magne’s vocals, or perhaps all four member’s voices. Jonas appears again later with a brief solo verse.

The lyrics become less abstract, with a more conventional sound ("Through all the static, I hear you calling"). The track again fades down at 7:30 into an over-long outro complete with a weird space-age voice-over reminiscent of E.T. and a soothing, almost hypnotic, choral repetition.

The sandwiching of the different parts together into one track is bizarre to say the least, but perhaps that’s the point. For an orthodox band this would be two different tracks, but Apparatjik are far from orthodox. They choose to staple together two or three pieces of music in a seemingly random manner and don’t even bother to pretend that it is anything other than a seamless transition.  As a genre, you’re looking at all the prog-rock or dream-pop labels ever thrown at Mew clashing full-force with all the “mainstream” insults ever planted on Coldplay and a-ha.

Overall, it’s an interesting and enjoyable track and as a taste of the forthcoming album, it bodes well. When Coldplay released Violet Hill as a free download, it was decent enough, but turned out to be the weakest track on the album, so hopefully the Apparatjiks are keeping the real highlights of their long-player in the bag for now. The as-yet-untitled album is rumoured to be released 1st February 2010.

Electric Eye is available as a free download, direct from the manufacturers.

Some of our favourite quotes from various official reviews include:

"The song sounds like 1985's version of the future" - Pitchfork

"It's an intriguing taste of a project that could turn out to be the best thing ever or head down a route of impenetrable self-indulgence" - I Eat Music

"It’s like Radiohead took a bath in disco acidwash" - MTV Iggy

"...while it may not be the most obvious sampler song with its eclectically changing nine-minute marathon nature, it definitely perks up the interest" - Indie Paws

"Could sound sublime, could sound like a cat dancing in a sack of sandpaper and bricks" - Drowned in Sound

So, the track is there and was remarkably easy to find with very few hoops to jump through. First impressions are that it is actually two completely different songs rolled into one and that Jonas gets more vocal duties than I was expecting. Second, third and tenth impressions conclude that Electric Eye is pretty fine indeed. Thanks Apparatjiks.

There's also a youtube video to accompany the track and the same one posted on facebook too.

from twitter:

Apparatjik Almost ready...

Not long now to wait for the free download of Electric Eye from apparatjik.com. Once you've heard the track, why not head on over to the forum to join in the discussions and have your say?

Wow, where to begin? It started with a mention about the Electric Eye download on the coldplaying.com blog on Sunday, which was picked up and reported on by TwentyFourBit on Monday afternoon. Today, the story spread across internet music news agencies like a plague, with articles from NME, Q, guardian.co.uk, BBC Newsbeat, SpinnerUK and many others.

magnef.us have a complete round-up of all the Electric Eye media articles that includes reports from Scandinavia, Italy, Germany and further afield.

Apparatjik themselves and their web team, Aspire have retweeted several of the higher profile articles, which in turn have been retweeted by fans too, further increasing the publicity.

Most of the articles emphasise the deliberately cryptic and confusing nature of the band's website, apparatjik.com and several reports also speculate about who is providing the lead vocals on this new track and focus on the band's apparent lack of an obvious frontman.

One of the more inventive and original reports comes from Flavorwire, here's a snippet...

"Apparently, however, die-hard fans have been trying to work out some sort of connecting link since September, and the group recently rewarded the 30 nerds with the best theories with a totally exclusive track, entitled “Eagle Eye.” One of those fans has shared a sample with the class, but we say it’s not enough to judge."

This 'nerd' would like to geekily point out that the track is called Electric Eye though, not Eagle Eye. Proper nerds like to get the facts right. And proper Apparatjik-nerds can feel proud that their promotional efforts got the band noticed by the press!

Those of you who submitted a story to the eyeoncommittee should have received an email today giving you an exclusive preview of the latest Apparatjik track. The track called Electric Eye, with be available to all on 30th November. Put the date in your diary, chicks.

The EyeOn Committee has decided to give everyone who has submitted a synopsis access to a track from the upcoming Apparatjik album. You are one of only 30 people to own this track. Spread the word and the Committee will make an extended version of the track available to all as a free download through www.apparatjik.com on November 30th. Please enjoy your new Electric Eye.

You can now download a short sample of Electric Eye here

Or use a banner from here to use on your own blog, social networking profile or forum posts to promote the track and spread the word.

Discussions about the promotion efforts can be found here, please add your own ideas and get spamming, sorry, promoting the ass off this baby.

As the Apparatjiks themselves said - "Don't keep it a secret!"