This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive.
By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, November 2004
Robert Schneider (of The Apples in Stereo) has an uncanny ability to recreate the sounds of 1960s pop. For the past decade, The Apples in Stereo have been rolling out disc after disc of brilliant pop tunes.
Ulysses are not The Apples in Stereo. Well, at least in some ways they aren’t. Sonically, not much separates the two bands. They have different members, and Ulysses uses more synthesizers, but Robert Schneider is the primary songwriter in both bands, and Apples songs could be interchanged with Ulysses songs without sounding out of place.
The primary difference between the two bands is that The Apples In Stereo are more polished. The instruments on 010 were recorded around a single microphone in a garage. Vocals and synthesizer were then added as overdubs. The album proudly proclaims on the record sleeve “monophonic.”
Highlights on the album include “Burning You,” “Glacier,” and “The Falcon.” “The Falcon” has a similar melody to The Apples in Stereo song “Ruby” from Her Wallpaper Reverie, while still being different enough to keep the listener interested. One of the later tracks on the album, “Castles In Spain,” sounds like a weaker and slower version of “Glacier,” losing the excitement of the pounding guitar that fills the speakers as it strengthens the vocals.
The artwork takes you back to the days of the Commodore 64 computer, using the same font as the C64’s display. A greyscale image graces the cover with computer-generated mountains. The curves, however, are too smooth to have come from a computer of that age. The album credits are cleverly curved to look like an old computer display.
Clocking in at less than half an hour, the album is a quick listen. That’s not a bad thing. Short and simple pop songs are a staple of Robert Schneider’s style and suit him well. It also serves to give the album the feel of a 1960s-era recording.
010 is definitely worth listening to, though not a starting point for someone new to Schneider’s music. Any Apples in Stereo fan will enjoy this record. Its rough sound is more reminiscent of their compilation of early recordings, Science Fair, which has been lauded by many fans as their best work.