#27 The Best Album of 2000 Run-Off Tournament Match #10: Lemon Jelly or The Apples in Stereo?
Hey folks!
The ninth match of the Best Album of 2000 Run-Off has concluded and the winner is:
Amon Tobin, SUPERMODIFIED
SUPERMODIFIED defeated Papa Roach’s INFESTED, 50-19. SUPERMODIFIED,which randomly got the lowest seed and has had to fight in one more match than any other album, advances in the tournament and will be seen next up against Enon’s BELIEVO!.
@bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social on Bluesky
SUPERMODIFIED defeats INFEST, 50-19.
Time now for today’s match:
Lemon Jelly, LEMONJELLY.KY vs The Apples in Stereo, THE DISCOVERY OF A WORLD INSIDE THE MOONE
Click the link below to go to the Google Forms to vote. (Google sign-in required.) Please, if possible, give both albums a listen before voting. If you don’t have time for the entire album, listen to the first 2-3 tracks of each.
@bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social on Bluesky
The Best Album of 2000 Run-Off Tournament Match #10 of 16 #4 Lemon Jelly, LEMONJELLY.KY vs #12 The Apples in Stereo, THE DISCOVERY OF A WORLD INSIDE THE MOONE Click the link below to vote! (Google sign-in required) https://forms.gle/s4iykKeHNz2QeLsj9
MATCH #10
Lemon Jelly, LEMONJELLY.KY
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6cugMaPzUNXXz60wNX3Amk?si=hfBFqyaaSRi06xlI2-nPmQ
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kx7m1xpaCgZXd0nZOSXGR61fK0b34-rtM
The Apples in Stereo, THE DISCOVERY OF A WORLD INSIDE THE MOONE
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5rH2LWLYaeVd0naDWcqiGP?si=qRy4rGZFRpOg6GhrW-7QuA
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-8t9hy0mCk
DESIGNATED CHEERLEADER
Here’s a reprint of @bsglaser.bsky.social’s Designated Cheerleader for LEMONJELLY.KY from Match #3. If you didn’t read it this, time give it a read now!
One sign of a true music obsessive/dork is taking the time and energy to both identify musical blind spots and then do something about them. One of mine in the late 90s into the early aughts was electronic music. As an indie/punk kid weaned on electric guitars and anger/angst, the precision and apparent chilliness of electronic music didn't connect. I was certain that no one was "playing" this music, and it wasn't clear how to clear up the blind spot.
So if I was in a good record store in this era and not sure what I was there to buy, I often asked for some electronic assistance. One thing quickly figured out could help was saying that I was looking for something electronic but still melodic--I wasn't looking to dance, and I still needed hooks. During an early-aughts visit to the UK, a record clerk sent me to Lemon Jelly's debut--and they totally nailed it.
I was already into Krautrock, and the repetitive, sometimes Minimalist grooves grabbed me right away; the fact that each song had a couple of melodic loops and figures (from recognizable guitars and pianos and such) did the trick. Nowadays, the tracks on LEMONJELLY.KY would probably show up on a "Chill Beats to Study To" playlist or some such, but at the time I just knew that my head was bobbing, my ears were open, and I didn't feel like I was missing a crowded dancefloor while the CD spun.
The little vocal samples from what sound like instructional recordings aren't my favorite part, but they don't get in the way of making "In the Bath" a solid entry point, and the fact that this is really 3 EPs repackaged as a single CD doesn't make the whole thing feel disjointed. There's a unified, repetitive groove throughout, and melodic filigrees like the looped figure in "The Staunton Lick" keep it song-ish enough as the beats unwind toward the horizon.
Lemon Jelly sat comfortably with similar electronic discoveries like the Bliss Out stuff released by Darla in the same era, and it hasn't dated like some of the harder/dancier EDM of the era. It might not be representative enough of an early-aughts sound to go far in the polling here, but LEMONJELLY.KY is the perfect hour-plus way to turn off your mind, relax and float in the bath.
KENT’S KORNER
Far as I’m concerned, these albums are going for essentially the same emotional target, just in different ways. Do you like it in electronica, or indie pop?
LEMONJELLY.KY: Like/Love
THE DISCOVERY OF A WORLD INSIDE THE MOONE: Like/Love
KENT SEZ: You’re on your own. Whoever loses, we win.