Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Cream Calendar Tonight at Mercy Lounge: The Apples in Stereo
Posted by Steve Haruch on Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 8:01 AM
OK, so the video above does not exactly capture their finest work. But before they were singing the praises of The Colbert Report, before there was a Colbert Report, before fake news was more popular than newspapers, before music blogs (or MP3 blogs)—a long time ago, that is—The Apples in Stereo were already doing a slightly spazzed-up, fuzzed-out rendition of 1960-something like it wasn't already going out of style. I remember playing the shit out of "Strawberryfire," the trippy I-can't-believe-it's-not-The-Beatles number from Her Wallpaper Reverie. (At some point I lost that record to an ex-roommate, but I've never figured out which one. It's been nine years, so I guess I should just buy a new copy. Oh wait, that was before people stopped paying for music.) Anyway, for a dude that's been driving beat-up vans around the country for so long, head Apple Robert Schneider still seems like he's having fun. And shit, The Music Tapes have a new album due in August, so maybe that whole E6 thing is just gonna happen all over again. Mr. Mangum, are you listening?
The Apples in Stereo play tonight at Mercy Lounge, accompanied by Poison Control Center and Big Fresh. 9 p.m., $12 if you don't have your ticket already.
Comments (7)
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Ah The Music Tapes. Now that was some wonderful weirdo stuff. Julian Koster seems truly mentally ill.
I'm all for a return to form for E6. I'd happily start buying music again.
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Don't forget that former Beulah singer/primary songwriter Miles Kurosky is supposedly close to putting out his long awaited solo album too.
If you like Elephant Six music then you NEED to check out what I consider to be one of the best bands out of Athens these days. They're called Ham 1. They are currently Vic Chestnut's band and feature members of Olivia Tremor Control and Elf Power. Their brand spanking new album (almost half of which was recorded/overdubbed at the Teacher's Lounge) that's not even out yet is available for FREE here: http://www.ham1.org/theundergroundstream.html
They will also be sharing a bill with Dave Cloud and The Mattoid at the 5 spot Saturday, August 23rd. They are one of the most interesting bands you will have seen/heard in a long time.
and Apples In Stereo are about to play a free, all-ages instore at Grimey's in 10 minutes!
Turnout for the show wasn't that great. But it was still incredible (in spite of the gaggle of 18 year olds from Brentwood sneaking beer and having a "We're all going to separate colleges in the Fall" 'Can't Hardly Wait-ish' friends forever fest.
Both me and the two Japanese people at the show couldn't believe we were getting to see them for $12 (considering while I was in Tokyo tickets to their show cost $90 and sold out in 12 minutes). But there were some benefits to the small crowd, like getting a lot of random, personal face time with the band.
The set was pure joy, performing mostly old favorites with a few songs from the new album woven in here and there like spangles in a puff-paint kitty shirt. The only favorite I didn't get to hear was "Alright, But Not Quite." All else satisfied.
I believe Robert Schneider personally introduced himself to and shook the hand of each and every person present, thanking them for coming out. The rest of the guys were also quite cordial and displayed a friendliness and a willingness to sign stuff that is sadly lacking in most too-big-for-their-britches music acts that come through town. (I bet Zoey Deschanel didn't give rock fingers & headnods to the people she saw eating at Wild Wasabi before her show.)
It's unusual that after meeting a band in person and talking with them, I actually like them MORE-- instead of that whole "hate the sin, not the sinner" rationalization you have to resort to if you're gonna continue liking someone's music after they've dropped trow and squirted out figurative mud-puppies on your fandom.
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