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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The world is made of energy, 21 Feb 2007
The Apples in Stereo have been charming listeners for years with their psychedelic rock music. They're the most accessible of all the Elephant 6 bands, and one of the more talented ones.
But with "New Magnetic Wonder," this lovable band creates their best album yet -- tight pop melodies that play on their strengths, colourful music, and a sound that's just a little bit warped. It sprawls over two discs, yet never feels like they're overstuffing it.
It opens with a chiming little melody... and a muffled voice speaking through a vocorder, like a pop Darth Vader. Then the nimble guitar and drums kick in, blossoming into a fun, energetic pop tune. "Turn up your STER-E-O!"
That energy carries over into the songs that follow -- solid rockers ("you follow the skyway... you follow the streets and the cars/and the shadows and the stars!"), shimmering psychpop, bouncy rock'n'roll songs, sunny guitar pop, and lo-fi ramblers.
Then the Apples segue back into an even more polished second volume -- the shimmering "7 Stars," stompy rockers, blippy little music boxes, and effervescent pop melodies. It peaks with the four-part "Beautiful Machine," which soars up to the heavens like the sound of a thunderstorm being blown away.
This album is a bit different from other Apples in Stereo albums, with a more streamlined sound. Rob Schneider and Co. pepper the actual songs with little blippy, quirky interludes, reminiscent of artier projects. And they dabble in a more epic, expansive feeling than they had before, but fortunately that doesn't require the sacrifice of the retro-sixties vibe.
Most of the songs center on fast-driving guitar and drums, which make some wonderfully catchy melodies. But they're also draped in fuzz bass, piano moments, and waves of shimmering mellotron, shimmering distorted voice, quirky wavery electronica, and dozens of other instruments. I think I hear church bells somewhere in there.
Legendary Neutral Milk Hotelier Jeff Mangum even enters the album, to provide handclaps, drums, and something called a "cow object." I don't know what that is, to be honest.
Frontman Robert Schneider -- after a stint in the Marbles -- returns with his boyish vocals, crooning over the complex music about skyways, celestial objects, the idealism of friendship, and "Seven stars in the sky, in the sky/you're feeling sociable/silver stars in your eyes, in your eyes/you feel emotional... and you don't even know my name/and I know every constellation..."
"New Magnetic Wonder" takes this band onto a whole new musical level, and one that it will be hard for them to top. Absolutely stunning, and a great way to enter the new (musical) year.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
8th Wonder, 27 Feb 2007
How difficult is it to find an album like this nowadays? I'd nearly given up
This is the freshest album I've heard since Summerteeth nearly 8 years ago (maybe I should expand my musical tastes), and it borrows from its "throw everything in, including the kitchen sink" approach.
The tunes are immense, the "Energy" is infectious, and I haven't stopped smiling since I bought this record. Easily pleased? Definitely.
The band are playing the UK later this year, and I reckon they're going to be the hottest ticket of the summer. You heard it here first
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yeeeeaowww!, 11 May 2007
This is fantastic! Like the progeny of a blessed union between ELO and Grandaddy, with Brian Wilson and John Lennon skulking in the background contesting paternity. I first put it on whilst tucking into a meal of pasta and tomato sauce laced with chilli oil; rather than distracting me from my listening pleasure, this spicy dish only augmented the sizzling excitement blasting from the speakers. From the pumping opener 'Can You Feel It' to the epic 'Beautiful Machine', the quality never dips. And the clincher: half a minute into 'Sun is Out', on a grim, grey May evening, the sun suddenly came through my window. Wow! It's raining now, though...
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