The short-lived "Kokoro" blog is responsible for bringing the name Apes and Androids up to me I think it was in Feb 2008, not too long before or later the official release date of Blood Moon. I was only thinking earlier, in the 2 years or so I've found myself committed to their album Blood Moon I've really never waiver-ed or doubted it's brilliance.I've probably never been so consumed by a circle and their 1 single release like this (save for Soundscape's Discovery perhaps). Is it due to it's originality? perhaps. Is it due to it's obscurity? probably as well. When I heard this album at 1st, well at 1st actually I was never able to get through it all, mainly due to bad timing. I'd put it on and get interrupted. I probably put it on 5 or six times between February/March and other May of 2008 without making it more than half way through. From memory, I think that was only due to purely timing. I'd give something I required to do at work, when in the heart of it. And one other factor may consume not helped, due to the fact the interpretation I was playing was tagged inaccurately. The tail numbers were labeled incorrectly. But come May, I had ground it had enough on it, that I wanted to make certain to make it more time. And even (not cognizant of) my playing it out of sequence, I was appalled and all had my man turned upside down at just what this ring was doing. Was it humor? yeah it was. Was it subtle? yes, definitely. Did it have very well thought-out, fine-tuned melodies? yep. Somehow, these elements, along with using synthesizers with stone in a very trippy, hypnotic way, totally got my attention after about 3 times through. Their vocal harmonies went from what the fuck, to holy shit these guys can all write and sing falsettos! Like King and David Bowie and Prince and even Pink Floyd. Then the whole story/concept approach began to increase how often I began to eat this thing. It was some form of futuristic Scifi space opera, that took what I perceived to be an influence of 80's Scifi cinema. "Apes and Androids" the ole Man vs Machine. The Terminator, The Matrix, Battlestar Galactica and about early stories crept into my head as I tried to trace any and all things from it. Along with that, the balance of 2008, into 2009, this album but was one of those go-to records. Energy albums. The energy from dog to track. The flow. It actually was as much an evasion and therapy album as anything else. I probably played it 100 times over the flow of 9 months. I still meet it regularly. For one thing, it's still pathetically sad how few people know of the band, or get caught on to them. And in 2009, word came out they had to visit it a day, at least for now. Blood Moon had been in the qualification for many years. Really going back to when David Tobias and Brian Jacobs were doing Call Florence Pow around 2002 or 2003.
I eventually started seeking any and all data and resources about Apes and Androids and particularly the main 2 masterminds/songwriters David Tobias and Brian Jacobs. I came to check they had a ring below the name Call Florence Pow that released a debut lp called These Are the Plans in 2000, and so a follow-up ep titled The Unusual Position in 2002.
Call Florence Pow wasn't just like Apes and Androids, but it was still music I enjoyed. It was less electronic and more humorous I guess. But the music still had a lot of view put into it. And it was definitely something I followed how those 2 guys evolved into the phone on Blood Moon. Two other big things also came to fall at that period about Apes and Androids. For one, Call Florence Pow's 1st lp These Are the Plans. was released on "Spongebath Records" which was a record label founded by Matt Mahaffey. Mahaffey was a musical sensation in a lot of ways himself, and actually worked with Apes and Androids and CFP on their music. He mixed and played drums on a small of Blood Moon for example. But Matt also had this project/band called sElf which as it turns out, seemed to be quite influential on the guys in A&A's, especially the CFP material. But one of the things about sElf was they had a quite extensive catalogue of albums and songs. However, they were also rather difficult to see hard-copies of. I would eventually cut down most of the discs that were printed luckily. Gizmodgery, Breakfast With Girls, Subliminal Plastic Motives and Half-Baked Serenade. sElf also had a bevvy of songs and albums that were made available exclusively online. I think sElf, truly had a big role in the basis of Apes and Androids and the 1st CFP album. Although I've grown to know These Are the Plans. and The Foreign Situation, probably still more than any sElf album at this point. But sElf have so much music, that even less than 2 years in, I am continuing to see how often I love their music as well. But the other big piece of what Apes and Androids and sElf to an extent, is it introduced me to a so-called genre of music that I 1st would name as just electronic/electro experimental power-pop. But it's become more commonly known as "Indietronica." I suppose music that has or is thought-of as "Indie Rock" ("College Rock") but also features to variable degrees electronic elements. Now some groups I had been a fan of before this like Mute Math, Pure Reason Revolution, Muse, Men Women, and Children, and even Chroma Key (or OSI) could be regarded as this style. And surely those bands on paper kind of do suffer lots of this sound. But where Apes and Androids differ is they sort of created an almost over- the-top cool way to use synthesizers within rock. They took more post-punk and 80's elements I suppose, with modern production standards. Thomas Dolby and The Talking Heads they could be compared to, as well Cafe Jacques and yet a large glam side, that gave them comparisons to Sparks and of course David Bowie, along with a contemporary of theirs in of Montreal and certainly a big influence upon them in Beck. But what I came to see is there were and extend to be many bands who receive a standardized approach in this style. Some of the best ones being bands like The Age of Rockets, The Chap, Emmanuel & the Care and Later of the Pier. Sadly, as well as some of the bands who I've found doing this sort of music, none of them have come close to comparing to Apes and Androids. Which in a way sort of makes them stand out still more. To add to all that, they came to be known as an outrageously unusual live band. At their concerts would have the members dressing up in face-paint, have cheerleaders, props, tribal drummers, strobe lights, etc the whole 9 yards. Very often in the life of David Bowie's glammiest and Pink Floyd along with a Danny Elfman 80's horror element. The CFP track "Creepy Girls" was a staple piece especially. Sadly, they wouldn't play incredibly often, especially after the loss of Blood Moon. So that made their concerts all the more special. One of the members was once quoted about their live approach "There isn't a ton left to do with Recorded music, so trying to be as original live is where an artist still can standout, and leave their fans their money's worth." Unfortunately I never got to know that, but some of the live videos at least support how important their shows were to what they were about. Albums: Blood Moon, These Are the Plans. The Unusual Situation EPSongs: Riverside, Hot Kathy, Golden Prize, Johnny and Sarah, We Don't See You, Make Forever Last Forever, Periodic Table, Preparation For Battle, the Big 3 & 4 Part Tonesaudio
No comments:
Post a Comment