APPLES IN STEREO – TRAVELLERS IN SPACE AND TIME
Where were you in 1980, the year that Olivia Newton-John unleashed Xanadu on an unsuspecting public? I suspect that your enjoyment of the latest Apples in Stereo album will hinge upon the answer to that question. Travellers in Space and Time is perhaps an apt title, if the time we are talking about travelling to is the early 1980’s, and the space is in the close proximity to disco and spandex clothing. In the three years since we last heard from Apples in Stereo some strange metamorphose has occurred, seeing them move from being contemporaries to Sterolab to being soul-mates with ELO. The Apples standard elements are still in attendance, hooks aplenty (often overflowing) along with Robert Schneider’s reedy vocals. But this time there are zany synths, vocoders and disco beats. There is no doubt that they are enjoying themselves, and it’s hard to fault that. But i still have a hard heart when it comes to ABBA and big hair, so at least i have made my position clear. Enjoy at your own peril.
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