Silver Apples albums

1968
Silver Apples - 88%

If the judge of a great band is creating something unique in the field, then Silver Apples win that award simply by existing. The other part of making an impact and being considered great is whether or not you make great music, and yes- This duo of Keyboard/ organs (Simon Coxe) and Drums (Dan Taylor) definitely does just that. As singer Simeon Coxe sings over the mechanical beats, Silver Apples are a band of repetition- where each song is a tribute to a drone, where random noises and mistakes in the music are welcome and add to it. Many bands used guitar distortion to get psychedelic prior to them- but Silver Apples showed you could do that without guitars, and with vocals that sounded full of reverb and otherworldly noises. Sometimes the results were off putting- “Oscillations” is a very apt name for a type of music that is made of trying to be insane and describe musical effects through ’words’; “Lovefingers” is perhaps the best song, with its description of celestial objects and groovy vibes is very ominous; “Dancing Gods” reveal the Native American tribal dance aspect of their influence and something earthy and real (the six minute song is the longest one). If geography is important, the band is from New York City, though honestly there is nothing in their music that puts them there.

Many songs are friendly on here, with “Sea Green Serenades” using a sort of kazoo (or is it recorder/ piccolo?) to mimic which sounds like a child’s lullaby; “Program” gets metaphysical, stating “flame has its own reflection” over and over until you nod your head in agreement.; “Misty Mountain” is a memorable closer with its way of putting a sweet icing on the cake of what had come before. Some songs are not quite as successful, and if the first four songs kind of overshadow everything else for sure, the beauty of the last two are still worth hearing. The keyboard chops in “Velvet Cave” and “Whirly Bird” still make those songs intriguing, even they aren’t as memorable. “Dust” is poetry over a psych background and not as musical, but still worth listening too. In all it’s a very influential debut record, taking a new branch in 1960’s music in how to incorporate desperate sounds and unconventionality into rock music.

Best songs: Lovefingers, Program, Oscillations

1969
Contact - 77%

Like many sophomore albums, Contact tried the same thing again- same number of songs at nine and same sort of mix of minor keys and unconventional sounds with only keyboards and drums being used. It's not just the instruments, it’s the way they are both used to disorient the lister- opener "You and I" is a perfect example, a song that sounds like you are going insane inside a carnival but also sort of sweet and charming. “I have Known Love” is the real charmer though- an attempt at a song that keeps the vibes and attitude of the 1960’s perhaps more successfully than anything else the band has done before; a song that sounds immortal and tuneful simultaneously. “A Pox on You” perhaps had the most influence on myself honestly, and it’s song that hammers in the minor intervals and that spews nothing but disdain and evil in its intentions. On the flip side there is “ruby” which is probably the most interesting song instrumentally and is has a plethora of instruments thrown in- most interestingly banjo for a memorable lick. The band also has more long songs this time around, as half of these songs approach five or six minutes in length.

          Those are the best songs, and I don’t think Contact is quite as strong as the debut in the grand scheme of things. “Water” and “You” are actually quite bad songs. However, Silver Apples have still made a good album here- “Gypsy Love” uses drums as a lead instrument, something I have found great interest in myself, though to say it wanders around a bit is an understatement; “Confusion” finally has some guitar and is a bit more raw and honest; “Fantasies” is their final song and a song that promotes constant experimentation, like a rocket flying to an unknown dimension. Quite the legacy they left on the world, influencing bands of the 1990’s like Portishead and the entire German / Krautrock scene itself.

Best songs: A Pox of you, You and I, I Have Known Love