Apes and Androids BROKEN UP? - Golden Prize video

12/7/09 8:53pm

sucker got pulled. And the band may be in-effect broken up.

http://stereogum.com/archives/video/apes_androids_golden_prize_video_unveiled_months_a_103881.html

Blood Moon is available via apesandandroids.com. Right now Brian Jacobs is doing things like producing Cale Parks' recent EP, David Tobias is working on solo material, other members of A&A are in the band Sigmund Droid (who did the theme song for Gabe & Max's 100 Seconds) ... but we can look forward to an Electric Dream Machine/Apes & Androids album one day. Maybe!

-Cale Parks myspace. I'm checking the Brian Jacobs-produced (I thinl) ep "To Swift Mars" soon.

-no idea about info for David Tobias's music. No luck with facebook. But I'd love to hear and support it whenever I can.

-Sigmund Droid has a myspace there. I'm not sure how much appeal their music will be for me or other A&A's fan necessarily, given the members from A&A's presumably didn't do much if any of the writing in A&A's.

edit: but I'm actually liking some of this stuff on the myspace. The post-punk energy sounds like it's working. They have an ep called "Maximum Grind" that was released recently.

However, I can't help but fear/worry that we could see a Jellyfish kind of pattern here with the members doing other decent work, but not to the level when they worked together.

No matter what happens, it would really be good to

a) read some kind of official quote from David or Brian about them breaking-up or their status in general.

b) that video be made available at some point online for others to see. Unless the band aren't happy with it, which I'm not sure why they would be. Brian and David are even in it afterall, lol.

edit: here's a live version.



>

apes & androids - golden prize from thatgo on Vimeo

This video was made? by That Go I guess. I should know that name/reference, but I'm drawing a blank.

As for the video itself, rather ironic and twisted, but it's the guys and the video/filmaker doing the Glam-Art thing anyway. So it's not all that surprising really, much like a couple of their other videos.

More significant is, from what I know/have seen, this is the 1st sign of ANYTING from them online since April. I went to the Apes and Androids myspace last night and the last login was on October 12th. Facebook? the activity as far as I can tell, goes back to June I think.

So to see something David Tobias and Brian Jacobs are involved-in, frankly, ANYTHING, even non-A&A's related, online, is encouraging and a relief. Especially with the recent band breakups and the economy. But I've believed for quite some time, the guys in the band don't just do A&A's, obviously to make their living. Dayjobs or producing or something, I dunno. It may be worth trying to contact them and ask or just mention this new video. Also hit-up a few more boards, like the selF and The Dear Hunter forums, where there are at least a few fans known there.

edit: I am liking this Sigmund Droid stuff and the Cale Parks ep impressed me as well today. More on thos rather soon I imagine.

Mew and Immi on the shelf today

2 of the highly anticipated cds are released today in Mew's "No More Stories" and Imogen Heap's "Ellipse."

Andre Matos new album also is released this week, except I suspect will not be stocked at any store I shop at considering his last cd never was either. Possibly something to look for at ProgPowerUSA in a few weeks.

Although last week was kind of big too in Mute Math, Ramona Falls and As Tall as Lions

BLK JKS debut lp "After Robots" requires more time, and I won't deny, I'm fishing for something new, different, and with good songwriting. This could be 1. I was impressed by it anyway, yesterday and the brief amount of time today I replayed it.

Thrice new album kind of underwhelmed me. I'm not sure if they are a band I'll ever get that into.

And Of Montreal I may say the same about having revisited one of their older albums today. They have their moments, but for one thing, they are a lot more like The Apples in Stereo than Apes and Androids. Way more power-pop, and more analog-sounding. I can't get the ELO/Jeff Lynne influence out of my head. But I'm really not sure if they even compare favorably to The Apples, let alone Call Florence Pow or A&A's.

Speaking of CFP, I'm continually amazed the talent Brian Jacobs and David Tobias have for songwriting. Even though we have yet to hear a ton of it from them, every song they've done, I appreciate the thought that was put into it. I started a new list on rateyourmusic called "A-List Modern Songwriters" (and mean to create 1 or 2 others, involving A-lists involving Actors/Directors and Live Acts) and it hasn't been published yet, but beyond 2 obvious names, I'd put the tandem of Jacobs and Tobias right behind them in the best songwriters working today (or in the last couple of decades). Which is why I sincerely hope they give us as much new music as they can over the next 5-10 years at least. The idea of prog + Electronica being a new genre like prog + alternative rock was in the 00's could quite possibly happen. And these guys I might trace as the forefathers of it (with Matt Mahaffey being the grandfather).

I really can't get enough of their stuff, in that i probably have a number of more entries to focus just on them. If not sooner, certainly when any news comes out about the next Apes and Androids, a whole backstory analysis/review should happen again, as I think they're the most fascinating musicians I've enountered in many years.

In Plain Sight: I finally caught the season finale. No, Mary's not dead. But it was a different way to end the season, with a cliffhanger of sorts. The girl she was protecting; something was messed up about her judgement. She either should have come across as more careless, looked-that-way, or perhaps there's more to her character than we know yet. Because by wanting to hang with those thugs across the street, even the way she treated that government rep, and his whole approach to throwing Mary into the job with her. I dunno, it didn't seem very accurate of all the characters, the writing. She would have been more concerned for Mary and how hostile those thugs seemed. The drug traffic too. Which of course raised the idea of them doing a crossover with Breaking Bad, given where both shows are set. The network conflicts I suppose hurts that, but in a better world, that would happen. Maybe one of Walt's family members ends up a witness, or Mary deals with Walt's brother-in-law who works for the DEA. A story could happen really easily.

But given it began in April, it was a good, long season. I'd have gone for a Winter comeback again, but maybe once Monk is gone, that'll happen.

Warehouse 13 and Royal Pains I'm playing catchup on now. Hopefully before the TV Previews, those will be all done, since it will be a potentially busy non-network fall with Psych and Monk along with another new USA show White Collar airing. Plus Caprica and however long Warehouse 13 goes on skeefee.

I'm headed to see local Cabaret duo The Bewitched this evening at Bryant Lake Bowl. My 3rd show seeing them since January? Maybe a belly/cabaret dancer will be there too. And it's an early show thankfully at 7:30, given it's a weeknight.