MARBLES

MARBLES
EXPO (2005)
320 KBPS

On the new album by his solo project Marbles, Robert Schneider of Apples In Stereo takes a breather from sunnily updated, ultra-catchy ‘60s indie-pop for a detour down the road of… sunnily updated and almost as catchy ‘80s pop. But before you go worrying that the recording auteur of the Elephant Six scene has jumped onto some sort of ‘80s bandwagon, there's nothing electro or disco-punk about this record, at all. It's also largely, blessedly un-ironic. Schneider wanted it to sound like "Gary Numan meets ELO." And by gum, that's a pretty accurate description! Half the album is a bit throwaway, sounding like background music from a cool cartoon or something, but the other half is exactly the kind of perfect pop one expects from Schneider. Expo is not in the same league as classic Apples, but it's the best solo effort by Schneider thus far. "Magic," for instance, has a Game Theory-ish, nu wave Big Star thing going on that's irresistible.

1. circuit
2. out of zone
3. when you open
4. magic
5. jewel of india
6. hello sun
7. expo
8. cruel sound
9. blossoms
10. move on

password: MOODSWINGSmusic