The Silver Apples
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The Silver Apples made electronic music in a rock music idiom in the late 1960s. The name may have been influenced by the album Silver Apples of the Moon, a 1967 electronic composition created by Morton Subotnick on the Buchla synthesizer at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. That album title came in turn from the W. B. Yeats poem. They disbanded after two records, and then reformed in the late 1990s. The initial group consisted of a duo: Simeon, on synthesizer and vocals, with Dan Taylor on drums, and was formed in 1967. They released their first record, Silver Apples, in 1968, and from that released a single, "Oscillations". The following year, they released their second LP, Contact and toured the United States. They were going to release a third record in 1970, but their record company folded, leaving them stranded.
In 1994, the German label TRC released a bootleg CD of both records, and the intense interest provoked by this release prompted Simeon to reform The Silver Apples in 1996. Very quickly, the first two records were re-released as official records from the tapes, and Simeon began a tour of the USA with a new four piece Silver Apples band. This led to the reunion of Dan Taylor to the band. Taylor had the tape of the third record, The Garden, in a box in his attic, and the record was finally released 28 years late, in 1998. That same year they released new material on the record "Beacon'several new records of new material: 'Decatur', 'Beacon', and 'A Lake of Teardrops'.
In 1999, their tour van was forced off the road by an unknown driver, injuring Taylor, and breaking Simeon's neck. As of 2004, Simeon is much recovered, but it was a tremendous injury. Since then, Silver Apples haven't been quite as active. Simeon spends his time making new music, recuperating, and boating on the Gulf of Mexico. The group is on indefinite hiatus due to the death of the drummer Taylor on March 10, 2005 in Kingston, New York.
The Music
The music was characterised by a driving pulsing beat played on the drums and re-inforced by the synthesizers. The beats used in songs like "You And I" and "Oscillations" are surprisingly similar to those used in dance music from the 1990s. The lyrical content was often surrealist and psychedelic. The melodies and chord structure was frequently modal, sometimes minor, sometimes dorian. The tones were often discordant, but presented in a chorus/verse pop music song format.
Discography
- Silver Apples, KAPP Records, 1968, LP
- Silver Apples KAPP Records, 1968, 45 single:
(Oscillations/Misty Mountain)
- Contact: Silver Apples/KAPP/1969/LP
- Silver Apples/KAPP/1969/7"Single
(You & I/I Have Known Love)
- Enraptured, 1997, 7"Single
(Fractal Flow/Lovefingers)
- 14. Silver Apples, Whirlybird Records, 1997, CD
(re-release of 1st album)
- Contact: Silver Apples/Whirlybird/1997/CD
(re-release of 2nd album)
- Silver Apples, MCA, 1997, CD
(re-release of first and second records)
- Beacon, Whirlybird Records, 1997, CD
- Decatur, Whirlybird Records, 1998, CD
- Beacon, Whirlybird Records, 1998, CD
- Silence, Whirlybird Records, 1998, CD
- A Lake Of Teardrops, Space Age Records, 1998, LP
Limited Edition LP/ Collaboration w/Sonic Boom
- A Lake Of Teardrops, Space Age Records, 1998, LP
Collaboration w/Sonic Boom
- Simeon & The Alchemysts, Woronzow Records(UK)/Rubric Records(US), 1999, CD
Collaboration w/ The Alchemysts
- ASYD VINYL, Krank Records (Norway), 2000, double LP
Tribute to Syd Barrett, Simeon covers Scarecrow
- Remixes, 3rd Stone Recordings (UK), 2000, double CD/
Simeon remixes Reverberation, Colorsound, Darkroom & Bass Communion
External links
- Silver Apples Official Website (http://www.silverapples.com/)