Search - Laika :: Silver Apples of the Moon (Reis)

Good mood music but . . .

Buzz Advert | Milwaukee | 06/16/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Judging from reviews on Amazon.com I guess 2 or 300 classics are being released each year. Every album should have at least one qualifing voice, but I guess people indiffent to a cd aren't likely to have the inspiration to write . . .Anyhoo, I guess Laika is what all the enthusiastic reviewers say they are, but the songs are also repetitive and, after a while, blend together too much. Although ever track is solid, I don't find Silver Apples to be a thoroughly engaging listen. Despite all the melding of divergent styles and a unique synthesis, this album is very polished--too much so. Comparisons to My Bloody Valentine may be apt, but only to a point. First, there's no guitar here. Second, the voices are less interesting. Third, the melodies--well, neither band is much on melody, but MBV is melodic in spite of themselves and in spite of emphasis on repeated sounds. Plus MBV have a lot of variety to their sounds/songs. Laika does get into some excellent grooves, and the music in virtually every song has excellent moments (the singing just doesn't do it for me). See especially If you Miss, Honey in Heat, and Spider Happy Hour (everyone seems to have different pix for best songs on this album). My favorite track, however, is the terse Itchy & Scratchy (57 seconds) which creates an amazing atmosphere with only a bass sound, cymbals, and another electonic rythm sound. Yes, like My Bloody Valentine, Laika does produce sounds that defy the instruments involved."

Beautiful eclectic, yet so strange and fiery

mianfei | 02/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having bought this album primarily on a recommendation from a fellow customer, "Silver Apples Of The Moon" stands as one of the most remarkable revelations I have had.



The sound of "Silver Apples Of The Moon" is almost indescribable. Built largely on the keyboards and guitar of Guy Fixsen and the intense drumming of Lou Ciccotelli, the songs on "Silver Apples Of The Moon" do have generally recognisable verses and chorus, but, like on so many great records, these are made incredibly moody. Unlike on previous hyperfeminine masterpieces like Laura Nyro's New York Tendaberry or Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love, the mood shifts on "Silver Apples Of The Moon" can be traced directly to the dense funky rhythms (which at times recall a more sloppy Stevie Wonder) which are able to move from dreamy lullabies to ferocious rock, far harder than early 1980s post-funk.



The dramatic character of this album is best seen on the amazing, psychedelic "44 Robbers" on which Margaret Fielder's assertive tone and Lou Ciccotelli's amazing playing (better than Stuart Elliott on Hounds) builds a tale of domestic violence that is just so frightening, yet so immediate one will never turn away after a single listen. "Red River" is strange yet sensual at the beginning due to the sound effects, yet becomes trance-like when Fielder's untrained, yet expressive voice comes in. Fielder sounds fearsome here, yet on "Marimba Song" and "Sugar Daddy" she is softer and sweeter than any singer before her could be. "Thomas," the second-last track, was even stranger let still immediate in character even when Louise Elliott comes in with an explosive saxophone solo that actually sounds like an echo.



The mainly instrumental "If You Miss" sums up the strangely beautiful character of "Silver Apples Of The Moon": dissonant synthesisers managing somehow to blend perfectly with sweet marimbas/vibraphones and jazzy textures to create something soft in texture yet burning with true incandescence. "Let Me Sleep" was as dense as a drum orchestra, yet still managed to be remarkably memorable because of the upfront sound.



One of the truly outstanding albums of the 1990s, even if almost impossible to find in my native Australia."

A band of the finest pedigree peddling strangely mongrel mus

Piers Moktan | Khorsor Elephant Stable, Nepal | 07/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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!"