Marbles - Marbles (1993)

Marbles is the solo recording project of The Apples in Stereo singer and chief songwriter Robert Schneider, and the project started in 1993 when he would record his various musical endeavours on cassette for various people he knew, although this was somewhat abandoned as The Apples In Stereo began to get attention from the public. He would later compile some of the songs, many of which featured backing vocals from Will Cullen Hart of The Olivia Tremor Control, and release them officially in 1997 as an album titled 'Pyramid Landing (And Other Favorites)', but not all of the songs from this early cassette ended up on that record, and so some are exclusive to this tape. Schneider appeared to have largely abandoned Marbles by 2000, only releasing sporadic singles, and contributing to a compilation, but this all changed in 2005 when spinART released an actual album by the band, titled 'Expo'. When Marbles do perform live they are one of the more disorienting of the Elephant 6 bands, and on the tour to promote 'Expo' Schneider appeared dressed in goggles and a sequin jacket, backed by cardboard cut-outs of Darth Vader and a robot, adorned with fake instruments, and a CD player supplying all but his lead vocals. In 2009 Schneider cut an album of children’s music under the name Robbert Bobbert, which was released in February on Little Monster Records, but this wasn't that unusual, as The Apples In Stereo had already recorded tracks for Cartoon Network TV staple 'The Power Puff Girls'. 'Robbert Bobbert & The Bubble Machine' included a comic book by cartoonist Todd Webb which served as a calling card for the lovable inventor/scientist, and the tunes were all test-marketed to Schneider's seven-year-old son Max, who gave them a thumbs-up. While you track that one down, here is Marbles' 1993 cassette tape, which was officially released by the Elephant Six Recording Company, although it's unknown how many copies were actually sold.  

Track listing

01 Laughing  
02 Kite  
03 Swimming  
04 Head  
05 Bottom Of The Sea  
06 Pyramid Landing  
07 Death My Bride  
08 Invisible  
09 Inverse Gazebo  
10 Play Fair