APPLES IN STEREO tone soul evolution PRIVATE PRESS LP

$

152

ARTIST:  Apples in Stereo                                                                               

TITLE: Tone Soul Evolution

LABEL: Elephant 6

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

YEAR: 1997

COVER CONDITION: NM - looks like an oil paiting!

VINYL CONDITION: NM - probably unplayed

DETAILS: Amazingly rare and limited 1st PRIVATE PRESS copy of this brilliant 2nd LP by this cosmic psych-power-pop group. This copy, one of a handful made for local fans before the national release on spinart. This copy has an incredible HAND-PAINTED COVER by legendary-art-guru STEVE KEANE. Who has done artwork for such bands as Neutral Milk Hotel & Pavement. Both sides are painted, beautifully, and it says SK04 in his brush, on the rear cover. The record label itself is the beloved and highly collectible ELEPHANT 6 yellow/white - red/white design. Comes with an original flier from the local Colorado club the bluebird, when The Apples were playing with THE OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL in support.

Don't miss out on this amazing rarity!!! Good luck.

Sunny pop band the Apples in Stereo were one of the leading lights of the Elephant 6 Recording Company collective, a coterie of like-minded, lo-fi indie groups — including the Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Secret Square — who shared musicians, ideas, and sensibilities. They were led by singer/songwriter Robert Schneider, a native of the tiny town of Ruston, LA, also home to Jeff Mangum (later of Neutral Milk Hotel) as well as William Cullen Hart and Bill Doss (who formed the Olivia Tremor Control). Throughout high school, the aspiring musicians — all influenced by the likes of the Beatles, the Zombies, Pink Floyd, and Sonic Youth — exchanged home recordings and played in each other's bands.

After college, Schneider and Mangum relocated to Denver, CO, where Schneider struck up a friendship with fellow Beach Boys fan and bass player Jim McIntyre; after enlisting drummer Hilarie Sidney and guitarist Robert Parfitt, they formed the Apples and issued their self-titled debut EP on the Elephant 6 label. To avoid confusion with other similarly named bands, they officially became the Apples in Stereo for 1995's full-length debut, Fun Trick Noisemaker. In 1996, Schneider produced the Olivia Tremor Control's Music from the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle and later in the year the Apples issued Science Faire, a collection of singles and rare material.

The second full-length album by the Apples in Stereo isn't as surprising as their debut, 1995's Fun Trick Noisemaker, but it doesn't sound like simply more of the same. Graced with a larger budget and access to a fully equipped 24-track recording studio for the first time, the group (particularly singer/songwriter/producer Robert Schneider) is working with a much larger canvas now, and it shows. The sound of this album is just remarkable, as layered as any of Jeff Lynne's mid-'70s Electric Light Orchestra albums, but with a freshness and energy that keeps things from merely sounding slick. Schneider explores his fascination with Smile-era Brian Wilson on atmospheric linking tracks like "The Silvery Light of a Dream" and the album's wordless coda, giving the record a sonic unity arguably missing from the all-over-the-map Fun Trick Noisemaker. The one flaw is that the songwriting is not quite up to the consistency of the debut; while songs like "You Said That Last Night," "Seems So," and especially "Shine a Light" are exemplary, there are a couple of tracks that have a whiff of filler about them. Aside from that, Tone Soul Evolution is a fine follow-up.