Silver Apples, live at Band on the Wall
-BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER-
It’s not often that an artist comes to town who can boast that they have performed live in six different decades: Silver Apples, AKA Simeon Coxe, is one of them.
Slow Knife open proceedings, with an interesting blend of krautrock, ska and jazz ensemble. Atonal lyrics read from sheets are at the forefront – this is very avant-garde and when you learn these guys are newcomers to the live circuit, it’s clear they have potential.
Next are kraut electronic duo Silver Vials, who have been attracting increasing attention with each live performance. They create intense droning space rock through use of synth nodes, fuzzy guitar and echoing vocals. Tonight has been their biggest slot to date and they’ve risen to the occasion.
Named after a William Butler Yeats poem quote, Silver Apples formed as an electronic rock duo in 1967 New York, with Coxe being joined by drummer Danny Taylor, before his death in 2005. They quickly garnered a reputation as New York’s leading underground musical expression with Coxe working on a homemade synthesizer consisting of 12 oscillators and an assortment of sound filters, radio parts, telegraph keys and other varieties of second hand junk.
Tonight’s set up is a little more sophisticated, with wah pedals and an iPad on display, yet no less tantalising to behold. Early highlights come in the form of ‘Lovefingers’ and ‘Velvet Cave’, a duo taken from debut album Silver Apples, released in 1968 on Kapp Records, and sound no less fresh today than they did then.
Coxe makes the crowd laugh with saying that he is gonna play some new tracks. “I prefer to play the old stuff, but the label make me play the new stuff… Well, I like the new stuff too but I prefer old,” which leads nicely into ‘The Edge of Wonder’ comes from Clinging to a Dream, Silver Apples’ latest album released in 2016 on Chicken Coop Recordings. This is followed by ‘I Don’t Care What the People Say’ from 1998 album The Garden, which was actually recorded in 1970.
‘Missin You’ also comes from the latest album with a bouncy countenance and evocative lyrics. This track displays perfectly why Silver Apples still demand the attention they receive. ‘Oscillations’ is probably their best known track and is superbly executed to end the set, with a lengthier drawn out version which far exceeds its recorded counterpart.
Silver Apples represent a lasting legacy in pioneering an electronic sound which has endured where many others have not. The live performance of Simeon here tonight shows he has not lost his passion when it comes to the music he produces and his interaction with the crowd has gone down wonderfully, a thoroughly enjoyable live show for a drizzly Wednesday night.
Silver Apples: Official | Facebook
Lover of all things psych and shoegaze and the mind behind Astral Elevator; constantly seeking new musical experiences in a world full of noise.
