Apartment (burlesque orchestra)

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Apartment was a musical project formed in Chicago in 1997. Apartment helped to pioneer part of the queer dark cabaret movement in Chicago. It was started by Christine Heinisch and Caila Lipovsky. The schizoid and absurdist lyrics of Caila Lipovsky combined with the off kilter, quick change, circus like arrangements of the band and Christine Heinisch made for a strange theatrical and melodramatic experience. The band played amongst the art punk and burlesque scenes of Chicago's northside and thrived there for several years.

The band recorded one album, entitled The Girl is Not Right. Other recordings are slated for release.

The first EP was entitled "Apartment" and was released on Baxter Records, and includes the original recording of "Pipsqueak" The band also recorded 3 live CD's from Chicago's Hot House, Double Door and WZRD.

A factoid- the recording of "In The Night" was recorded in one take on Halloween at Chicago Recording Company. There were a couple of minutes of tape left during the recording session. James Wallace (who wrote and arranged the music for the song) talked the other members into recording it, it was never meant to be on the release of "The Girl is not Right".


[edit] Members

Ariella Lake - Guitar Natalie Nguyen - Cello, Vocals Caila Lipovsky - Poet Vocalist Christine Heinisch - Keyboards, Trumpet and Vocals also see Gamma Like Very Ultra James Wallace - Bass also see Polkaholics Barry Bennett - Drums also see Milkbaby Joe Exley - Tuba Jeff Kelly - Drums Jim Cooper - Bass now with the Detholz Josette Bergeron - Cello

[edit] Reviews

As for the notes and musical tones, the sextet — made up of four ladies and two guys — proudly declares itself as "unclassifiable." They then go on to tell people it's "OK to like them." So who would like them? Mostly those who like their music on the dark side, with a bit of twistedness thrown in for fun. Apartment is eerie to the core. - Ann Heppermann - Venus Magazine

  • Chicago Gigs Stenard, Ellen; ChicagoGigs.com; Accessed 13-02-07

When critics write that a band "defies categorization," it usually just means that the string of hyphens would be too ugly. The Chicago sextet apartment fleshes out lyricist Caila Lipovsky's literary scatological and sexual texts and keyboardist Christine Heinisch's new-wave cabaret ditties with guitar, cello, drums, and a tuba for a fractured, theatrical, and sometimes sinister (but not goth) stew of strident witty art punk." - Monica Kendrick

Review of July 26th Windy City Radio Showcase @ Nevin's Live By Vern Hester of the

"For the next hour, Lipovsky and her band, Apartment, threw themselves into a maddeningly offbeat and brilliant set unlike anything that I've ever seen. Thrilling, funny, demented, and acerbic, Apartment is arty and rude, satiric and low-minded, and altogether nuts....

"To accurately give a description of Apartment's music, you have to let your mind wrap itself around the performance art nature with which vocalist Caila Lipovsky and keyboardist/vocalist Christine Heinisch, who also acts as principal songwriters for the band, attack their sound.... There is a charmingly dark, theatrical, witty overtone to both the lyrics and the exectution of the various musicians on this disc.... What Apartment does with this disc will be anyone's guess; the creativity and talent is nearly overwhelming, so much so that if that dark sense of humor wasn't present, it would be over the top...." - Heidi Drockelman Indie Music.com