| The Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder |
| Label: Simian Records/Yep Roc Records |
By: tattooedgeek
Mar 26 07 |
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With perfect timing as winter slowly gives way to spring, the Apples in Stereo's first release in five years is here to thaw those icy winter blues. Though they have been around since the early nineties, the Apples in Stereo are at their most visible point in their career - helped not least of all by Robert Schnieder's appearance on The Colbert Report singing his ode to host Stephen Colbert entitled "Stephen, Stephen."
New Magnetic Wonder couples Phil Spector influenced, lavishly produced tracks with simplistic catchy lyrics that remind you of simultaneously of John Lennon and the less-whimsical songs of They Might Be Giants.
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Schnieder is the main man behind the Apples in Stereo, performing lead guitar, lead vocals and songwriter for their sixth release, New Magnetic Wonder. Also included in the band at the time of recording were John Hill on rhythm guitar, Eric Allen on bass and Hilarie Sidney on lead vocals and drums (who announced she was leaving the Apples in late 2006 to focus on her own band The High Water Marks.) As expected with any album from the Elephant 6 collective, there are guests galore, including members from bands such as Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel. The album is the first release by Elijah Wood's fledgling record label Simian Records and was released in conjunction with YepRoc Records.
Schnieder, who is most well known for producing the critically acclaimed In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel, produced the New Magnetic Wonder alongside Brian Goggin. Goggin has worked with Pavement, Sean Lennon and with Schnieder on the Apples' previous album Velocity of Sound. New Magnetic Wonder couples Phil Spector influenced, lavishly produced tracks with simplistic catchy lyrics that remind you of simultaneously of John Lennon and the less-whimsical songs of They Might Be Giants. Goggin has said that while mixing the mind-blowing 96 tracks for some of the songs, such as "Same Old Drag", his ProTools crashed multiple times.
Whether your ideal summer activity is bathed in the light of the warm sun or the glow of your computer monitor, the Apples in Stereo's New Magnetic Wonder is a superb soundtrack.
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Needless to say, New Magnetic Wonder is headphone heaven - perfect for the iPod generation. The album is 53 minutes packed with 24 songs, 12 of which Schnieder has dubbed "link-tracks" made to help segue from one segment of the album to another. Unfortunately, even with the link-tracks, Sidney's more Velvet Underground influenced tracks "Sundial Song" and "Sunday Sounds" seem a bit lost among the rest of the album. Her delicate voice and poetic lyrics seems to float around the more solid Wall-of-Sound pop stylings of Schneider, though "Sunday Sounds" is fantastic in it's own right. The heavily layered guitars of "Open Eyes" bring to mind My Bloody Valentine and other shoe-gazer bands of the late 80's and early nineties. The four part "Beautiful Machine" is an indie-rock opus, a fitting denouement and summary of the album.
Math geeks and music theory dorks, for you this album is a must own. Letting his own geekiness run amok, Schnieder has created a new musical scale dubbed the "Non-Pythagorean Scale" using math too advanced for my summary skills. A video explanation of the scale is included on this enhanced cd, as well as MIDI files for one to make their own compositions. Three of Schnieder's own compositions are included on the CD, the second one with the enhanced features.
Whether your ideal summer activity is bathed in the light of the warm sun or the glow of your computer monitor, the Apples in Stereo's New Magnetic Wonder is a superb soundtrack.
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