Review of:

Smart Apple

Reviewed by:

ravenwolph (music.download.com reviewer)

"Isn't it great when you find something you didn't expect? I stumbled across this artist by accident and am quite impressed with the music! Great stories mixed with music that you hear hours after you are done listening. I'm amazed I dont hear this man on the radio as he's WELL worth a listen." - added 1/22/2005

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Review of:

Smart Apple - The Adventures of One... / Valley of the Dogz CD's

Reviewed by:

Michael Allison (Associate Writer - MusicDish Industry e-Journal)

"There is nothing I like more than an artist who isn't afraid to experiment with his or her sound. Smart Apple is just that sort of musical experimentation. The lyrics are excellent while the music jumps around from genre to genre. While many would think that this style of diversity lacks direction, it definitely adds a nice variety to the albums. Both albums contain a great collection of intelligent songs. The musicianship is not too bad either. In fact, it gets complex at times. The only other artist that I could compare Smart Apple to would probably be Lenny Kravitz. Like Kravitz, Smart Apple sticks with the rock sound, but moves around very eloquently through the sub-genres. To be completely honest, these two albums gave me far more than I expected from them. I was definitely impressed at the overall musical talent here. This is one band that you should not miss. Smart Apple could definitely give the big guns of rock a run for their money. The Rundown - Sound Quality: 5 Production: 2 Musicianship: 4 Originality: 4 Over All: 4" - added 7/21/2002

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Review of:

Smart Apple

Reviewed by:

Star Wescott Designs

"God (whoever, or whatever that might be to you!) I am in love with this artist, he is amazing and his talent is unlimited. He makes all this music on his own, from blues to dark metal. I admire his talent, he is quite the renaissance man :)" - added 4/25/2002

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Review of:

CDs: The Adventures of One (2000) & Valley of the Dogz (2001)

Reviewed by:

Laura Turner Lynch (Review Editor for Kweevak.com)

"SMART APPLE – THE ADVENTURES OF ONE.../VALLEY OF THE DOGZ: Smart Apple is a multi-talented one-man band from the Virginia/Washington DC Metro area. Teddie Tapawan covers all the vocals, guitars, bass and percussion on his CDs. In addition, Tapawan occasionally plays keyboard and is responsible for all his own artwork. Teddie states that he likes all kinds of music and he combines his interests to create his own unique sound. Tapawan describes his music as alternative rock mixed heavily with funk, blues, grudge, metal, techno and rapcore. His compositions have many moods but are a cohesive blend of various genres. Teddie has a wide vocal range as demonstrated on his well-produced CDs. Tapawan’s songs include solid guitar solos incorporated into funky rhythms. His deep lyrics are supported by full sound. Kweevak received two disks from Smart Apple, entitled Valley of The Dogz and The Adventures of One. Both are jammed packed with first-class diversified songs. Recommended tracks on Dogz include 2 and 4 . ‘Procrastination’ opens with a weird guitar sound that grabs and carries you to the hard rocking hook and then returns back to the catchy, unusual grooves. ‘Breath Like Water’ is a prime example of Teddie’s ability to successfully blend different genres into one song. Suggested tracks on One are 5 and 6. ‘Morning Light’ has driving percussion, bullet shot vocals and high-quality guitar work. ‘All I Live Is You’ is a great ballad with solid instrumentation. Smart Apple is a smart choice for any music collection. • Recommended Tracks: (D1: 5,6; D2: 2,4) [USA, DC 2000/2001 - web] (Review by Laura Turner Lynch for Kweevak.com)" - added 3/10/2002

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Review of:

CD: Valley of the DogZ

Reviewed by:

Score Music Magazine

"Opening track is phenomenal. I love it. I would put it in my CD player any day of the week. It is energizing the particles in the room as I speak…..whoosh….there goes one flying past all excited! How many times has a guy to pray to god to make a woman go away? I don't think we will ever know.. one of the mysteries of the universe. The 2nd cut – “Procrastination” - brings a change of direction to this demo. A dark contemplative tone is set by this piece. I find myself wishing that the electrics were turned up a bit more. Just want the vox and leads to be more surrounded, and floating along in a dark wash of sonic support. OK, track 3 has me confused. The demo is now starting to sound like a sampler of musical styles. "Valley of the Dogz", the track, is a limp Bizkit style rock track with cool Carlos Santana sourced guitar voicings. Its a great song, but I am getting confused as to where and what the band is about… Track 4 is about to start. Lets see, does it bring sense to the universe? All right! Now I hear a sonic painting Rob Zombie would be proud of, with a little bit of Korn on the side. I like this a lot, and know a lot of 17 year olds who would go wild for it. I once again wish the effected guitars were up a bit more, as with the distortion. Pump them until they are on the verge of being uncomfortable, and then believe it or not, they'll give a new edginess to the sound. Wow, the opening to "Doin' Nothin'" was the coolest thing. I wish it had stayed through the verse. There is something like that on the British Charts right now! It’s awesome. The rhythm that the lyrics are delivered in seems to be a little skewed sometimes here. Its easier to notice and harder to get away with because the vocals are so open due to the orchestration of the song. Wow, the sequence from the beginning just came back again before the second chorus. Once again, I didn't want it to go away. So far I hear tracks 1,2 and 5 going together, or tracks 3,4 and either 2 or 5 - Need to hear the rest to see what s going on here. I think the beginning to "Saratoga" sounds a bit self-glorifying, if you don't mind me saying so. This is in the same way that Mariah Carey produces verbal diarrhea instead of just singing 2 notes. A single long, wah wahed tone or something leading into this song would have done just fine thank you very much! I love the rest of the track though. I would have still loved it had it been even dirtier. Now here is a killer ballad. You've got the Goo Goo Dolls beat. He can only write one type of ballad, John Rzeznik that is, and from this demo, I can imagine the band writing many types of ballads! Just as I was wishing for a drum kit, it arrived. Would love to have heard some strings a la Goo Goo Dolls, or even more to the point - EVE 6. Would loved to have heard the strings introduced instead of the lead guitar lines. Would have made it a real masterpiece. Well, that was a thoroughly enjoyable demo by Smart Apple I have to say. My solitary question would be, Why was track 1 on this? All the other tracks I can imagine together. I would define them as a heavy rock band, with a great gentle touch. The sound spaces of "Procrastination" mixed with the sweetness of "Faded" and the mayhem of “Saratoga”, balance nicely against “Valley of the Dogz” and “Breath Like Water”. And “Doin' Nothin'” would be just plain old hip if that opening ran through all the verses instead of as an intro only. This CD will definitely stay in rotation! " - added 12/1/2001

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