Silver Apples of the Moon

With this first album, LAIKA shows how it is difficult to do a music simple and various. All the tracks of are like candys, mellow and hypnotic.IF you are a fan of MOONSHAKE or STEREOLAB, you will enjoy the travel. The rythmic are inspirated by greats german bands like CAN or FAUST, with a sound coming from nowhere. Silver Apples of the Moon is the best album of this band. Welcome in the space...

At times tinged by the industrial, beat-ridden, post-funk of 23 Skidoo, with shades of eclectic Krautrock, hues of the dubby trip-hop of Portishead, Massive Attack and UNKLE, and even brush strokes from the glorious grooves of the electric-era jazz of Miles Davis, Laika's distinctive music seamlessly utilises a broad palette of sounds and influences evinced over the course of four albums. Named after the famous canine cosmonaut, this is an outfit that deserves a cult significance I don't believe they ever accrued. Of course, in the vicissitudes of art this is far from unusual, even if it seems like a criminal case of neglect. `Silver Apples of The Moon' was pretty much where it began in 1994 (after the initial `Breather' EP), and if you're wondering if Laika have anything more in store for us, well all I know is that the last I heard from them was a superb compilation called `Lost In Space' in 2003, which includes a wonderful rendition of `German Shepherds' by Wire, those fine art-school pioneers of post-punk innovation.
Laika defy easy categorisation, and although this is their strength, it may account for their lack of market penetration, for as we all know, it's easier to sell something that conforms to the manufactured parameters of expectation. They're identifiable neither as a rock act nor an electronic one, existing instead in a liminal space somewhere between the two, with their music additionally inflected by influences from jazz, lounge, and world musics. What really commends Laika though, is the combination of musicianship and production savvy, so that we are treated to songs that are expertly executed, finely arranged and recorded with technical finesse. Whilst the music of Laika is always percussively exciting, Margaret Fiedler also provides wonderful vocals that are whispered in alluring breaths, and tell intriguing tales woven through enigmatic phrases. It all adds up to a rather addictive exploration of both sonic texture and song-smithing. I guess then, that this is less a review of `Silver Apples of The Moon' than it is an endorsement for the entire output of the Laika project. This might just be the enervating musical discovery you need!

Innovative percussion rules on Silver Apples Of The Moon, a brave experiment from a remarkable band. Sugar Daddy opens the album in rhythmic style and sets the mood with its sensual breathy vocals and trippy ambience and is lifted towards the end by some soaring synth lines. Marimba Song bubbles on merrily, enhanced by samples to give it an eerie feel at times, whilst Let Me Sleep is harder edged with a fuller atmospheric sound. Coming Down Glass is particularly quirky and hypnotic with its strange synth patterns and whispered vocals over the skittering beat patterns. If You Miss has a more flowing, symphonic feel and lilting beat as if it were to serve as soundtrack to some art movie. Red River has a harder mix again with a nervous beat and some discordant passages. There are echoes here of various forms of electro and also the late 1970s UK band Flying Lizards. But overall Silver Apples is a very unique musical vision and a brave path to pursue. It is certainly an acquired taste though, and takes some time to appreciate the subtler nuances of the music. Real rating: Three and a half stars.