SILVER APPLES

The debut release from this New York City-based duo, Simeon Coxe was a true pioneer of electronically-generated sounds, employing old and new oscillators as well as Theremins and more. Some historians give Simeon and Silver Apples credit for the existence and transformation of such artists as White Noise, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, Throbbing Gristle, Bill Nelson, Talking Heads, New Order, Aphex Twin, Massive Attack, Underworld, Nimh, and Com Truise.

1. "Oscillations" (2:47) opening with modulated sound oscillations before being joined by a CAN-like bass-and-drums rhythm track and vocals with background harmony singer. An interesting lyric that is full of information and definitions of oscillations within and without the context of sound. (8.875/10)

2. "Seagreen Serenades" (2:53) another bass-and-drum rhythm track over which Simeon and his electronic sound generators (and, later, recorder) play. Interesting co-existence of the purely-acoustic recorder and the purely- electronic sounds. The bucolic lyrics here are not quite as interesting to me. (8.75/10)

3. "Lovefingers" (4:10) industrial synth droning sounds! Calmer drums join in with pulsing synth note used to provide the two-note bass line. Two-voice singing enters and establishes their melody and motif over the top. A barrage of (I'm assuming) individually-tracked synth sounds joins in with the advent of the second verse and continues to move and entertain throughout the rest of the song. It's weird, but there are actually moments in which I feel I'm listening to Simon & Garfunkle vocals over the top of this very Brian Eno/Talking Heads-like music. (9.125/10)

4. "Program" (4:05) nice rock drum pattern from Dan Taylor's kit while Simeon giving this a very Bill NELSON/BeBOP DeLUXE sound and feel (despite the occasional Simon & Garfunkle passages in which Dan provides his harmony vocals to Simeon's leads). The radio voices and Vivaldi/classical music additions also pre-date some of the experimental work of CAN and Holger Czukay. (9/10)

5. "Velvet Cave" (3:28) very 1980s Euro-house/dance music foundation over which Simeon gives a kind of Tom Dooley folk vocal performance. Wow! These guys were definitely way ahead of their time. Then there's the rather taboo subject matter of the lyrics: way ahead of the Tipper Gore sensors! Wild and frenzied as the tension mounts at the end, the music and voice becoming almost tribal or animalistic toward the end. (8.875/10)

6. "Whirly-Bird" (2:39) another song that has a kind of folk feel from its vocalists--not unrelated to S &G "Cecilia"'s melodies and South American flavors--though the pulsing county fair-like music feels more like something from Ralf and Florian (KRAFTWERK). (8.75/10)

7. "Dust" (3:42) opens with a little BEATLES "Get Back" effect though it never bursts into the blues-rock kind of motif that John, Paul, George, and Ringo do. No, this is almost purely experimental B-movie Sci-Fi lo phi stuff with oscillators, cymbal play, and nearly-crazed/deranged-sounding, disjointed vocal "list recitation" within and over the top. Weird stuff that will feed many so-inclined experimentalists. (8.75/10)

8. "Dancing Gods" (5:55) near-Native American multiple-tom, conga (and/or djembe?), and timpani drumming with more David Byrne-like crazed chant-singing while droning oscillator notes and sounds accompany. Interesting if not my favorite. The rant goes on just a bit too long for my nervous system.(8.75/10)

9. "Misty Mountain" (2:38) playful oscillator, bass, and drum play over which higher-pitched male vocal performs. This one sounds very 1980s-ish--like Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, or Ultravox. A little too intentionally (and creepily) - hypnotic for me. (8.6667/10)

Total time 32:17

Definitely an album of revolutionary sound that is way, way ahead of its time.

B/four stars; a landmark achievement in experimental music that would be a masterpiece if not so obscure.

Sometimes it just seems like the universe is conspiring against you. Such is the case of the electro-pop pioneers SILVER APPLES who emerged in the freewheeling 1960s and released two groundbreaking influential albums. The brainchild of sound experimentalist Olive Coxe, SILVER APPLES' early oscillator dominated electronic rock was revolutionary when the band's self-titled debut emerged in June of1968 predating Wendy Carlos, White Noise and the world of Krautrock experimentalists such as Can and Tangerine Dream. Coxe's fascination with a 1940s audio oscillator drove him to incorporate it into his rock group The Overland Stage Electric Band but proved to alienate all but the drummer Danny Taylor. The entire band quit except Taylor and together as a duo forged an entirely new sound.

After amassing a collection of nine various oscillators, Coxe engineered them to cohesively exist as one unit replete with manual controls and telegraph keys which allowed him to alter pitch, rhythm and bass lines with his hands, feet and elbows After adapting his newfound treasure trove of hitherto unexplored terrain to the world of contemporary 60s psychedelic pop rock, he and Taylor crafted bizarre futuristic vocal and drum songs that incorporated the plethora of sounds and rhythms the oscillator generated. This newfound discovery ultimately caught the attention of Kapp Records which was expanding its artist base beyond its usual comfort zone of vocal jazz, traditional pop, country music and easy listening. The band released its debut to little fanfare but the label was supportive in a second album so the band followed with a second release titled CONTACT that followed in 1969.

More adept in the advertising department than managing independent music artists, Kapp found a clever way of guaranteeing a profit margin by pimping out their artist's album covers as a kind of billboard for advertisers. The label connected SILVER APPLES with Pan Am Airlines and a deal was struck that the duo appear in the cock pit of one of their airplanes with a picture of another jet in the background that displayed the label. While not the worst scenario for an indie artist who wants to be heard, unfortunately the final result including drug paraphernalia and on the back side of the album cover a depiction of a crashed airline. This totally freaked out Pan Am who abruptly sued the band and after a judge ruled in the airline's favor, Kapp Records was forced to withdraw all copies of CONTACT from circulation. And adding insult to injury the duo was also prohibited from playing live because that constituted "advertising" of the now banned product. I guess renegade artists and corporate sponsors just weren't a match made in heaven.

What makes this all so tragic is that while in the studio recording CONTACT, the duo happened to meet Jimi Hendrix who was recording his version of "The Star Spangled Banner" for 4th of July events which led to SILVER APPLES opening for Hendrix and opening the door to a receptive audience who appreciated wild and unhinged experimental music. While on the verge of taking it all to the big league, SILVER APPLES was effectively shut down before they ever had a chance to ride the friendly skies. A pretty raw deal for a band that influenced countless acts in the world of Krautrock as well as Stereolab, Portishead and the entire world of electronic dance music. As if they were cursed when they finally decided to reform and reclaim the throne that had been stolen, Coxe was in a serious car accident and broke his neck. After yet one more time in the modern age of trying to rekindle the lost opportunities, the sudden death of drummer Danny Taylor ended the dream of SILVER APPLES from ever materializing. Like total bummer.

So what about the music? CONTACT basically expanded the sounds heard on the debut. While still steeped in 60s electro-pop from the psychedelic rock template, Coxe had mastered his concoction now called "Simeon" and offered a larger swath of oscillating sounds on CONTACT. New to the band's repertoire was the unusual use of a banjo on the two tracks "Ruby" and "Confusion," the first of which featured the banjo accompanying the oscillator while the second feature only a vocal led banjo performance with only the duo's classic proto-motorik type drumming style. While the debut was more focused on a monotonous robotic type effect with Coxe's detached vocals leading the way, CONTACT allowed both the oscillating effects as well as Coxe's vocal deliveries to decorate the album's artistic value with a more diverse pallet. Of course this altered the overall tone drastically as CONTACT in many ways feels less cohesive but is actually the more creative of the two releases.

While CONTACT was the end of SILVER APPLES as an artist on the brink of bigger things, the band's legacy has more remained intact only growing stronger over the decades. What once was thought too be too strange and unviable has now been matched and surpassed in terms of electronic ingenuity and while both SILVER APPLES releases may sound a bit dated by the standards of the 21st century, both albums remain intriguing and relevant even after so many decades have passed. Despite the advances in technology and the explosive interest in pioneering electronic music, really nothing sounds like either of the albums SILVER APPLES released in the late 1960s. While the psychedelic pop hooks may give away their place in the timeline, the innovative use of oscillators and electronic elegance still sound rather ingenious even today. Personally i love both of their albums equally. Both have their retrospective strengths and weaknesses but given the insurmountable complications of releasing music like this in the 1960s, it's totally forgivable.

SILVER APPLES were the duo of Simeon Coxe and Dan Taylor based in New York City and this is their debut from 1968. And what a ground-breaking album it was with that homemade synth Simeon used called "The Simeon". As far as I know only FIFTY FOOT HOSE were already doing this the year before with their album "Cauldron". They too had a homemade synth. Dan Taylor plays the drums and adds vocals and he was 20 when their debut was released while Simeon was 30 years old and he plays that electronic device and sings. It's hard to believe it's just these three things on here, vocals, synths and drums.

That synth by the way could create pulsing rhythms, electronic melodies, beeps, buzzes and beats. This machine had 9 audio oscillators and 86 manual controls. The lead and rhythm were played with the hands, elbows and knees while the bass oscillator was played with the feet. The vocals have that 60's sound and the music is catchy with these electronic sounds doing their thing. I just found this very interesting from the first spin and I really like the music.

The opener is a great example of what I'm talking about and a top four. Experimental to start but so good when the music kicks in. "Lovefingers" has some almost mono-toned vocals and the drums have some authority here. "Dust" is different as we get more of a soundscape that is dark and almost haunting with spoken words. "Dancing Gods" has a determined sound including the vocals and the rhythm has that American Native sound. So good. Those are my top four tracks.

So while this album influenced a lot of bands and styles of music Pan Am Airlines filed a law suit against them after their second record "Contact" was released showing the two in the cockpit of a Pan Am jet on the cover. They decided to squish the bug that was SILVER APPLES and while it had a huge affect the band continued on over the years in various forms but always with Simeon Coxe and his The Simeon.

Most people claim Silver Apples' 1968 debut album to be their finest hour, but I disagree. While their debut album is an absolute pinnacle of electronic music and one of the most groundbreaking albums ever created, I personally feel "Contact" is the better album. Simeon at this point had mastered playing his homemade synthesizer, with the oscillators themselves having a more distorted sound to them - he had also added on to his instrument at this point, with a total of 13 oscillators at his disposal (he only had 9 to play with when the first album was recorded). Songs like "You and I" and "You're Not Foolin' Me" have a wonderful discordant sound to them and a great driving beat to go along with it, "Water" deeply explores atonal droning that is more widely experimented with today in electronic music, "Ruby" adds an intriguing bluegrass element to the mix (with Simeon picking the banjo while playing bass notes on his oscillators with his feet!), and tracks like "Gypsy Love" and "A Pox On You" foreshadow the (dare I say it) disco-esque sounds Giorgio Moroder would create in the following decade. Alas, poorly-planned album artwork (with the back of the sleeve showing them playing banjos amongst airplane wreckage) spelled a quick end to Kapp Records and the Silver Apples themselves, sending them to the dustbins of obscurity for many years until the rediscovery of their music and subsequent revival in the '90s. Sadly, the Silver Apples are no longer with us - Danny Taylor died in 2006, and Simeon Coxe died in 2020 - but their cosmic sounds will forever live on!

This is a masterpiece of rock. Amazing thing happened on this album. These overlook pioneers tried to mash up the psychedelia with electronic music in the '68 with truly unique results. I was stunned hearing their debut for the first time and knowing the date it was recorded. They pre-date everything! Fast forward to 2016 and the only survivor of the original duo (Simeon Coxe, the vocalist and synthesist) made it again. His vision remained unique almost 50 years after the debut. And somehow remained relevant in the age of enormous electronic heritage, as it was in the times before synthesizers. I don't know what's harder: to invent something before anybody does or to stay original among thousands of others doing similliar thing, but Simeon did it both staying true to himself and his music. I had the privilage to see Simeon live not so long before his departure and it was mesmerizing experience seeing this 79 years old man singlehandedly (with some strange oscillators of his own contraption) leading the crowd of youngsters into frenzy dance to his psychedelic quirky songs and strange noises. I'll forever cherish the vinyl copy of their first album signed by Simeon right before the show. But without getting to sentimental - it's a rare thing to record music so good, that it rivals the best acheivments, so late in ones career. And this album is exactly this, beside being criminaly overlooked gem of rock, electronic and psychedelic music.

Two silver apples on the cover, two Silver Apples in the band - Dan Taylor and Simeon team up to pioneer the use of synthesisers in rock music to an extent that was truly radical. Whilst using synthesisers as a component of rock became a big deal over the course of the next days, and synthesiser-dominated ambient-type music and krautrock would likewise be a big deal, it'd be over a decade before very many people (with the possible exception of Sparks) managed to take this sort of stripped-down synth-focused instrumentation and rock experimentation and turn it into something genuinely accessible and catchy with it.

SILVER APPLES were one of those proto-electronic rock pioneer bands that emerged in the experimental and anything goes late 60s and despite not being a household name like many other acts of the era, still managed to sow its seeds in the fabric of the rock world only to find them sprouting several years later. The band was essentially a duo that composed of Simeon Oliver Coxe III, who simply went by The Simeon and Danny Taylor. Both members emerged out of the early rock band The Overland Stage Electric Band playing regularly in the East Village, NYC, but after Simeon's fascination with a 1940s audio oscillator that he was trying to incorporate into the band he soon found himself parting ways bringing drummer Danny Taylor along for the ride.

After some inventive tweaking of his beloved oscillator the duo set forth to record an extremely experimental album for the time following in the wake of the great year of 67 when The Beatles changed all the rules with "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club." The band called themselves SILVER APPLES and followed the cue of perhaps the only other similar band that came before, namely Fifty Foot Hose. They released this eponymous debut release on Kapp Records a mere six months later and a mere few months after the other great American electronic pioneers The United States Of America.

Upon first listen, this one may sound somewhat familiar as the innovations on this album have been well integrated into the fabric of the rock world the ensuing decades. Where SILVER APPLES differentiated themselves from the other electronic pioneers of the era were in the fact that they didn't use electronic effects as mere atmospheric generators shrouded around the rock aspects of music. They actually melded it all into the rock music itself thus creating some of the first synthesized minimalism in a rock context, the likes of which would reverberate into the Krautrock world of Neu!, Can and most of all Kraftwerk and would in turn influence bands like Suicide and other so-called synth punk acts. The technique was far ahead of its time and found its way into tons of 70s dance music and even 90s indie rock.

The opening track "Oscillations" sets the tone for the entire album to follow. It starts the show with an oscillator changing pitch before a groovy 60s drumbeat joins in. While many experimental albums can literally transcend all time and the era in which they were created, SILVER APPLES is one of those bands like The United States Of America that is firmly rooted in the 1968 time continuum and employs both groovy percussion and period vocal styles as well. The juxtaposition of the familiar with the unorthodox is what makes this an interesting mix. While some may feel the connection to the time is what drags this down, i feel the exact opposite as i don't believe experimental music needs to divorce itself from its respective era of creation. In fact, i love being drawn into the subculture of an era i was not a part of. SILVER APPLES firmly places itself amongst the psychedelic pop of the tumultuous 60s and ups the ante by eschewing the ubiquitous aspects of period psychedelic music by removing guitars and bass and replacing it with unusual electronic embellishments.

Simeon was brilliant in that he managed to forego the traditional instruments by his ability to control tonality and chord changes with his own invented system of telegraph keys and pedals in which he could alter the pitches. While psychedelic rock with beatnik flower children vibes are the mainstay, there are many influences on board which were hitherto unincorporated into the rock arena as well, the most striking example being the Native American powwow drumming that pummels most boldly through tracks like "Dust" which slowly ratchets up the intensity to an energetic and satisfying finale.

While i don't always find highly influential albums to be the most interesting listens in their own right, i am pleasantly surprised how well SILVER APPLES pulls off their debut album with the constant pulsing drones, the monochromatic periods of sustained chords that evoke a mysterious sense of tension that milks a certain mood for all its worth while the percussion dances around energetically in stark contrast. While the vocals do evoke a 60s feel, they evoke an occult underground type of fringe music. This would have been the nerdy outsider's type of music of the day. Although SILVER APPLES didn't experience the greatest success at the time as this was probably just a little too far ahead of its time, this debut album has gone on to become very regarded and one that i find matches the hype surrounding it.

It was 1968, and all the world knew of electronic music was Stockhausen, Delia Derbyshire's theme song for "Doctor Who", and that weird little instrument Brian Wilson played on "Good Vibrations" - that is, the Electro- Theremin, originally put down by Paul Tanner in the studio. Then an Armenian American calling himself simply Simeon put together a band through which he wished to explore electronic sounds in a psychedelic context. Forced by monetary concerns to thumb his nose at Moog's original modulator, he took a few '40's era oscillators and over time built an extensive set. This alienated all but talented and loyal drummer Dan Taylor, and they ended up cutting a couple of records. As a result, we can thank them for White Noise, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Throbbing Gristle, New Order, Aphex Twin, Massive Attack, Underworld, Nimh, and Com Truise. They managed to use Simeon's beloved electronic sounds to make some wonderful psychedelic music, especially as supported by Taylor's own vast drumset, played like Hephaestus at his forge. It's smooth, light, unique stuff that takes a listener on a relaxing yet alien journey. There is nothing else like this in all music, especially in light of the particular oscillators used to create it, with the unique sound they gave. This is also the font of electronic music in a more popular context, something even the masterful "United States of America" couldn't hope to achieve on its own. Of all of psychedelia's albums, this, "Sgt Pepper's", and "Electric Ladyland" had to be the three particularly forward thinking and influential albums. And, though not quite as good as Joe Byrd's and White Noise's work in proto-pop- electro, it is still great. A unique, wonderful, required listen.

An enjoyable pioneer of Psychedelic / Progressive / Electronic call.

Basically their eponymous album was created with bluesy psychedelic / heavy pop songs, that were deeply veiled with weird old-fashioned electronic blows. Their electronic sounds were not so precise nor experimental but amazingly innovative for the end of 1960s ... in a different sense from other progressive prototypes.

Not all stuffs are interesting as honestly I say, but each track has definite eccentricity through electric mind waves. The very first shot of "Oscillation" is peculiar enough for icing our brain really, regardless of its basically "pop" feeling. In the third one "Program", just like the title, lots of dramatic / classic samples are featured here and there, that reminds me some touches like John Lennon's "Revolution No.9". "Dust" is another bulky experiment launched by them with horribly unstable synthesizer-oriented atmosphere and floating (and cheesy) voices. For me this track can be called as progressive indeed.

Progressive electronic really? No for me. But cannot be avoided as an innovator for this subgenre. Silver Apples would have been shining for progressive rock freaks I imagine?

This synthetically shimmering rare metal duo was certainly ahead of their time, pioneering the droning beats for meditative space rock pulsars, trance techno electronics and monotonic psychedelic dronings. On the time of recording this album, Third Ear Band were searching their own path to autistic ecstasy from archaic primitivism and Fifty Foot Hose projected their electronic fields as evocative textures among their hippie compositions, but Danny Taylor's and Simeon's duo Silver Apples relied to foreign mechanical perspectives granted by self-constructed audio oscillator, counterbalanced with human touch of drums and singing voice.

As a Finnish listener a first association from the constructed audio generator monster "Simeon" is the electronic quartet machine built by Erkki Kureniemi, the tonal aesthetic shimmering the humanism equal to post-second world war computer's brutal processing of analogue tapes and information cards. The compositions on this first album of the duo implements the scale of sonic variations of quite limited possibilities quite well, overall feeling being stoned, distressing and alienating. The vocal lines follow the paths of meditative choruses and machine sounds fulfil vast array of pitch dimensions, creating a convincing but foreign sound realms. The union of mechanical and man played rhythm instruments unite as enchanting dreamy pulse sequences, and the contrast of tender vocals and brutal machines are quite powerful, certainly beating with pulse of an unique record artifact. Tracks like "Program" also introduce use of sampled loops of other records, from their own part predicting the birth of dj culture, mixing classical music and radio broadcasts to the hypnotic and relentless rhythmic drive of the song. Also quite impressionistic soundscapes are introduced along with reciting like "Dust", and "Dancing Gods" floating to hypnotic spheres of American Indian drumming rituals.

I believe the album has also quite much historical value, and those interested of the development of electronic music or cosmic causeways of Hawkwind related bands might be interested to hear this album. As a listening experience I found this innovative material interesting, but not enchanting, forcing me to preserve listening time for this stuff in notable measures.