The Apples in Stereo

The Apples in Stereo

New Magnetic Wonder (Yep Roc)

With apologies to Spoon's Britt Daniel, Apples in Stereo frontman Robert Schneider might have opted for the title My Mathematical Mind instead of New Magnetic Wonder in geeking out and creating his own "Non-Pythagorean" music scale to recording the band's first album in five years. See, the higher the notes get, the closer they get in pitch. Neat, huh? No, you'd hardly notice if it weren't pointed out. Instead you notice three things. First, there's the Beatles, circa 1966. Second, the roughly 10 tracks of about 30 seconds where Schneider indulges himself with mellotron, vocoder, etc., and fleshes out his new scale are superfluous. Finally, what's left approaches the peak the Apples hit with 1999's Her Wallpaper Reverie. This manifests itself explicitly with "Open Eyes," maybe the best song that Oasis failed to write. (Friday, March 16, Dirty Dog Bar, 1am)