''Fun Trick Noisemaker'' is the debut studio album by

The Apples in Stereo The Apples in Stereo, styled as The Apples in stereo, are an American pop/rock band associated with Elephant 6 Collective, a group of bands also including Neutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power, Of Montreal, and Circulatory S ...

. It was recorded in a house in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, in

Robert Schneider Robert Peter Schneider (born March 9, 1971) is an American musician and mathematician. He is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock/pop band the Apples in Stereo and has produced and performed on albums by Neutral Milk Ho ...

's (at the time) portable Pet Sounds Studio. It was released in 1995 via

SpinART SpinART Records was a New York City-based independent record label that released recordings by The Apples in Stereo, Clem Snide, Frank Black, and Michael Penn. The label was started by Joel Morowitz and Jeff Price in 1991. SpinART filed for ba ...

. The album is perhaps the most raw example of the Apples, with the rather

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

recording values being eclipsed somewhat by their later efforts. It is one of the band's most critically lauded albums. Though the album is an early effort in production by Schneider, he had previously had experience producing with The Apples in Stereo and his own solo project,

Marbles A marble is a small spherical object often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic, or agate. They vary in size, and most commonly are about in diameter. These toys can be used for a variety of games called ''marbles'', as well being placed in ma ...

. Learning to be a record producer since he was fifteen years old, his influence from producers such as

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

and

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

led him to use the popular "

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of sessio ...

" production technique on ''Fun Trick Noisemaker''. Several tracks (notably the opening song "Tidal Wave") have as many as ten guitars playing at any one time (usually eight rhythm guitars and two guitars used for solos). The Japanese version of ''Fun Trick Noisemaker'' contains the extra tracks "Shine (In Your Mind)" and "Thank You Very Much". These tracks can be found in mp3 format on the Elephant 6 website. They were later included on the 2008 b-sides and rarities compilation, '' Electronic Projects for Musicians''.

Track listing

Personnel

The Apples in Stereo

As they appear on the sound recording: *

Hilarie Sidney Hilarie Sidney is an American musician best known as the longtime drummer for The Apples in Stereo. She was previously married to Robert Schneider, the band's frontman and Elephant 6 co-founder. Their divorce was announced in 2004. She was half ...

- drums, vocals, guitar, maraca, bells *

- vocals, guitars, piano, melodica, Jupiter and Moog keyboards, bass *

John Hill John Hill may refer to: Business * John Henry Hill (1791–1882), American businessman, educator and missionary * John Hill (planter) (1824–1910), Scottish-born American industrialist and planter * John Hill (businessman) (1847–1926), Austral ...

- guitars, vocals, bass

Other performers

*Jim McIntyre - bass on tracks 2, 4, 8 and 12 *Kurt Heasley - guitar on track 3, vocals, tambourine *Joel Evans - bass on track 10 *

Jeff Mangum Jeff Mangum (born 24 October 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. M ...

- bass on track 7 *Kyle Jones - vocals

Production

''Fun Trick Noisemaker'' was produced by Robert Schneider and engineered by The Apples in Stereo with technical assistance from Kurt Heasley. The album was recorded on an 8-track analog from October 1994 to February 1995 at Brendt Larson's house (

Glendora, CA Glendora is a city in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, California, east of Los Angeles. As of the 2020 census, the population of Glendora was 52,558. Known as the "Pride of the Foothills", Glendora is nestled in the foothills of ...

) and Kyle Jones' house (

Denver, CO Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Uni ...

). The LP was mastered by Paul Brekus, Aardvark Records. The CD was mastered by Park Peters, Audio Park. The first track entitled "The Narrator" is an old 1960s recording describing the Relay 2 communications satellite. As described by Robert Schneider:

The cover art for ''Fun Trick Noisemaker'' is from prolific artist

Steve Keene Steve Keene (born 1957) is an American painter known as a prolific creator of affordable art. Early life and education Originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, Keene earned a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a MFA from Yale Unive ...

. Robert Schneider, familiar with Keene's work on a

Silver Jews Silver Jews were an American indie rock band from New York City, formed in 1989 by David Berman alongside Pavement members Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich. Berman was the only constant band member. During the last few albums, Cassie Berm ...

record, contacted Keene about doing the cover. Keene sent him several paintings (about thirty six), and the band picked eight for final production. The original CD packaging liner notes were printed in a manner that they could be unfolded and re-folded to show a different cover. The back cover art was done by William Cullen Hart.

References

External links

Japanese bonus tracks in MP3 format
at Optical Atlas {{Authority control 1995 debut albums The Apples in Stereo albums SpinART Records albums The Elephant 6 Recording Company albums