One element left unmentioned in the current '90s indie rock revival is the genre's tight association with experimental music, as bands like Sonic Youth, Stereolab and Yo La Tengo were steeped in the sounds of early avant-garde and free jazz. That's why Medical Records' reissue of Laika's seminal 1994 experimental pop album, Silver Apples of the Moon, feels like an essential relic from a lost era. Collecting members from Ultra Vivid Scene, Moonshake and God, along with the engineer of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, Laika's debut melded developing genres like trip-hop, post-rock and IDM while lending a nod to their guitar-wielding contemporaries.
Throwing everything at the mixing board to see what would stick, the 11-track, 42-minute album managed to shine (the tasteful samples in "Sugar Daddy") and occasionally falter (the limp hip-hop of "44 Robbers"), showing how truly dedicated Laika were to creating original art. Re-released as a no-frills repressing, Silver Apples of the Moon is a welcome addition to any adventurous indie rock fan's collection.
(Medical Records)Throwing everything at the mixing board to see what would stick, the 11-track, 42-minute album managed to shine (the tasteful samples in "Sugar Daddy") and occasionally falter (the limp hip-hop of "44 Robbers"), showing how truly dedicated Laika were to creating original art. Re-released as a no-frills repressing, Silver Apples of the Moon is a welcome addition to any adventurous indie rock fan's collection.
