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Rating: I have never been interested in tribute albums; I have always found them uninteresting and completely useless. But this "Electronic Evocation: A Tribute To Silver Apples" (1996) is one of the few exceptions. The original material covered, the proposed groups make this work a truly interesting object, which has received the full approval of the band.
I suppose the Silver Apples need no introduction. An American duo that, at the end of the sixties, proposed in a couple of albums minimal songs composed with a series of oscillators, various electronic instruments, completely alien to the popular music of the period. The psychedelic echo could still be heard, but they were years ahead, absolutely cutting edge. A flower child version of Suicide, not stemming from metropolitan alienation, launched into space.
The journey begins with Windy And Carl; with "PROGRAM," we are in a distant nebula composed of various layers of feedback and distorted synths. Time is marked by a reverberating mechanical rhythm that almost covers an apathetic female voice following an elementary melodic line.
From deep space comes a communication, a female voice covered by radio waves, assorted hisses freely wandering in the void. We have intercepted the mysterious Scaredycat with "YOU & I."
On our route, we encounter enigmatic presences. The Amp with "SEAGREEN SERENADES" are reduced to an evanescent presence, a distant trail of a comet.
The Sabine, an obsessive bassbeat accompanies a voice under hypnosis over a dance of distorted free form synths, with a tribal rhythm that enlivens the finale.
The Monitor in "POX ON YOU" close the SPACEMEN 3, under the effect of massive doses of substances unknown to us, in a dark room in the company of obscure presences.
The Lorelei give us their personal welcome with "OSCILLATIONS," a hypnotic alien dance marked by strange electronic artifacts and percussion of various natures.
The journey gets lively; we are in the presence of the Third Eye Foundation with "I HAVE KNOWN LOVE." A wall of feedback, a relentless rhythm, the semblance of a song form. We are closer to Earth.
We still have time to cross paths with Flowchart and Alphastone, who respectively with "LOVEFINGERS" and "YOU'RE NOT FOOLIN'ME" delight us with their spatial rhythms marked by omnipresent synths.
Finally, we reach the end of the journey, the well-deserved rest with Tranquil who with "RUBY" bid us farewell with a dark lullaby made of a simple guitar and a gloomy feedback that rises slowly like a tide.
This music can evoke different images, and it is precisely this obstinacy and difficult comprehension that make it so fascinating and certainly worthy of attentive listening.
Even if you have never heard the Silver Apples.
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