My CDs: 3: The Apples in Stereo
267 words, 3 images Sooo, number three.
My first exposure to The Apples in Stereo was on the rather wonderful compilation Heroes and Villains - in which acts like Bis, Devo and Frank Black sing their way through a Powerpuff Girls storyline. The Apples in Stereo explain how the mayor contacts the girls in Signal in the Sky.
I think I made an impulse buy of their album Velocity of Sound in some arbitrary record shop while on holiday in the States. Signal in the Sky is simple but enjoyable stuff — breathless female vocals backed by fuzzy guitars. Think Shonen Knife or maybe The Primitives. Pretty much everything on Velocity of Sound is in the same vein. If you don’t listen carefully, it can seem very samey. In fact I dismissed it after the first few listens, thinking it was a good sound, repeated to monotony.
But, for this blog entry, I’ve re-evaluated it, and it’s subtler than I gave it credit for. There are clever but breezy lyrics , and while the tempo doesn’t change much, not all the rhythms are as simple as they first appear. On occasion head-man Robert Schneider takes over on lyrics, and he does a mean John Lennon (throaty rock’n'roll version).
… and that’s my Apples in Stereo CD.
The one I should own is the more recent New Magnetic Wonder.
It’s a varied masterpiece, awash with gorgeous ELO-like vocoder harmonies, and including strange interludes in a ‘non-Pythagorean’ scale devised by Robert Schneider. I mustn’t go into detail though, because this blog is only for music I own on CD.
Next week depends on whether an Amazon order arrives in time!