(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
The Apples In Stereo, on the scene since 1992, were a foursome from Denver (Colorado) devoted to the sweetest pop melodies of the 1960s.
After a handful of "lo-fi" singles in the vein of Sebadoh and Guided By Voices, including the one with Tidal Wave and Haley (Elephant 6, 1993) and the one with Hypnotic Suggestion (SpinArt, 1995), later collected on the anthology Science Faire (SpinArt, 1997), their first album Fun Trick Noisemaker (SpinArt, 1995 One Little Indian, 2008) established them among the imitators of the Beach Boys Pet Sounds and the synthesizer revivalists. Winter Must Be Cold and Glowworm seduced with velvety, dreamy, and spacey melodicism. Lucky Charm and Dots 1-2-3 pushed to the edge of bubblegum, already highlighting the commercial talents that would make them famous.
What stood out most were Robert Schneiders savvy production skills, a small Phil Spector of alternative rock. Schneider founded the Elephant 6 collective in Ruston, Louisiana, with childhood friends Will Hart and Jeff Mangum. Hart formed Olivia Tremor Control and Mangum the Neutral Milk Hotel, groups equally intriguing as the Apples In Stereo.
For their second album, Tone Soul Evolution (SpinArt, 1997), the band abandoned experimental ambitions, replacing synthesizers with an arsenal of acoustic instruments. The McCartney figure of the group is John Hill, second singer and guitarist. Schneider and Hill composed a dozen songs that live up to the classics that inspired them. Seems So serves as a manifesto, employing a sophisticated repertoire of vocal harmonies, catchy choruses, and chiming guitars to fuse folk-rock, surf, and Merseybeat. For What's The #, they exploit the solemn cadence and playful bubblegum spirit, while the tribute to Tin Pan Alley uses a country-style strum. The most innocent tunes are progressively made more substantial, whether a slow track in the vein of the Beatles White Album, like About Your Fame, or the jug-step fanfare of Shine A Light.
Schneiders genius overflows in every track. We'll Come To Be absorbs, without trauma, counter-rhythms, garage riffs, and all kinds of vocal eccentricities. Get There Fine hides behind light rhythms and ethereal humming a complex and intricate structure, making it a small jewel of sonic sleight-of-hand, now completely emancipated from 1960s models. Silvery Light Of A Dream returns to the delicate atmospheres of the previous album but with far greater grace and mischief.
The single Man You Gotta Get Up appears only on the vinyl edition of the album.
This is not just an album of arrangements (Brit-pop style, for reference), but also an album of great melodies. Too light to be a truly memorable masterpiece (the same flaw as Brit-pop), it nonetheless possesses all the virtues of pop craftsmanship "at its best."
Hilarie Sidney on drums and Eric Allen on bass complete the lineup.
Sidney and singer Lisa J recorded an EP in 1996 and an album, Secret Square (Elephant 6, 1997).
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
The EP Her Wallpaper Reverie (Which, 1999) is yet another
passionate homage to the Beach Boys, even if the titles paraphrase
the Beatles (She Looks Through The Empty Windows,
Benefits Of Lying, Strawberryfire). In theory, it is a
mini-concept album:
the 8 songs and the 7 instrumental interludes follow the misadventures of a
girl, Ruby, on a rainy day. In practice, it is only a pretext to keep alive
the attention of the audience with ditties like Benefits Of Lying,
in which, more than anything else, it is the jovial spirit of the Turtles
that triumphs.
Robert Schneider's melodic talent is undeniable, but it also sounds more and more stereotyped on
The Discovery Of A World Inside The Moone (spinArt, 2000).
The electronic arrangements border on 1970s orchestral disco, horns and choir echo funk and soul. Hilarie Sidney wrote two of the best songs. The band excels when it doesn't sound like Apples In Stereo (the hit The Bird That You Can't See is a Beck rap, What Happened Then is a madrigal for flute and synthesizer, and 20 Cases Running Over is a psychedelic ditty). Go is the radio-friendly hit du jour.
Continuing Apples In Stereo's slide into triviality,
Velocity of Sound (Spinart, 2002)
While slightly louder and faster (Please, Rainfall,
Baroque), these songs are still bubblegum novelties
for the sake of being bubblegum novelties. Like all jokes, it should have
lasted only one song.
In the following years Schneider launched two new solo projects,
Ulysses, that debuted with 010 (Eenie Meenie, 2004), an album of lo-fi pop recorded in his garage, and Marbles, documented on Expo (2005), an album of synth-pop performed on a laptop.
Basically, Apples In Stereo was about the songwriting and the process;
Ulysses was about the songwriting minus the process;
and Marbles was about the process.
The double-disc
New Magnetic Wonder (Yep Roc, 2007) marked a return to form of sort
for the Apples In Stereo
(now a quintet with guitarist John Hill, bassist Eric Allen, keyboardist Bill Doss, drummer John Dufilho),
given the fundamental predictability and mediocrity of any psychedelic-pop
revival. The 14 songs are simply the best melodies and arrangements that
Schneider could put together (notably Can You Feel It),
while the ten intermezzos provide a bit of intellectual entertainment
(notably the six brief parts of Beautiful Machine Parts).
Electronic Projects for Musicians (2008) collects rarities.
The concept Travellers In Space And Time (2010)
perfected the slick sumptuous baroque electronic dance-pop style of the
Electric Light Orchestra with a number of
impeccable productions
(Dream About The Future, Told You Once, CPU).
Schneider resurfaced with
Songs for Other Worlds
(2022) and
Man and the Computer
(2024).
