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The Apples in Stereo
New Magnetic Wonder
(Simian-Yep Roc/Outside)
"Turn up the stereo," urges the synthesized voice that introduces New Magnetic Wonder. It's good advice.
The Apples in Stereo's sixth studio album kicks off with the instantly addictive Can You Feel It?, a sunny-side-up pop-rock gem that's such a perfect summertime single it can almost make you forget it's January. It's so good you'll be tempted to hit repeat and listen to it over and over again. Don't -- if only because then you'd miss Skyway, Energy, Same Old Drag, Play Tough, Sun is Out, 7 Stars, the four-part Beautiful Machine suite and another handful of flawless Beatle-pop lollipops crammed with goodies -- lightly crunching guitars, sugary melodies, punchy beats, razor-sharp hooks, psychedelic production, Robert Schneider's high-angled nasal vocals and more Mellotrons and Vocorders than Rick Wakeman's garage sale.
Pity one thing it doesn't have is the single Stephen, Stephen, which Elephant 6 alum Schneider sang on The Colbert Report when the comedic commentator guitar-battled The Decembrists last month. But the enhanced CD does have plenty of other extras to make up for it: Lyrics and liner notes, artwork, short films, a bonus MP3 and even sound wave files for a new "non-Pythagorean" musical scale devised by the brainiac Schneider.
So while you're turning up the stereo, you might want to fire up the computer too.
Track Listing:
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1. Can You Feel It?
2. Skyway
3. Mellotron 1
4. Energy
5. Same Old Drag
6. Joanie Don't U Worry
7. Sunndal Song
8. Droplet
9. Play Tough
10. Sun Is Out
11. Non-Pythagorean Composition 1
12. Hello Lola
13. 7 Stars
14. Mellotron
15. Sunday Sounds
16. Open Eyes
17. Crimson
18. Pre-Crimson
19. Vocoder Ba Ba
20. Radiation
21. Beautiful Machine Parts 1-2
22. Beautiful Machine Parts 3-4
23. My Pretend
24. Non-Pythagorean Composition 3