Still like the future: Silver Apples live in London

Now it’s fair to say that, with regard to the annals of mainstream cultural history, the last of these is a little obscure (even though they regularly played in front of 30,000 people in their late-60s heyday). But The Silver Apples are increasingly recognised as pioneers in electronica, predating even the Teutonically-precise machine music of Kraftwerk by a good couple of years. Sadly, original drummer Danny Taylor passed away in 2005, but the 78-year-old Simeon - now mononymous, like all the best artists - continues to perform their work as a solo act to this day, which goes someway to explaining why tonight, several hundred souls have crammed themselves into a railway arch under Elephant & Castle station.

For those unfamiliar with their output, the Silver Apples not only sound like a band ahead of their time, but also like one from a subtly different reality. They don’t eschew "traditional" musical elements- it’s certainly no Merzbow-esque onslaught of unforgiving white noise, nor is it nearly as “difficult” as Captain Beefheart’s roughly contemporaneous Trout Mask Replica. In fact, Simeon’s vocals (only slightly weakened by age) wouldn't seem that out of place in any kaftan-clad, downtempo folk-rock outfit of that era, and the melodies and hooks that underpin his songs are pretty straightforward. What made the band seem so "out-there" was their love of dissonance and distortion, the manipulation of the oscillators to produce weird and wonderful effects that must have seemed completely alien at the time their first two albums were released.

What's particularly heartening watching Silver Apples in 2016 is that they still maintain their compelling retro-futuristic air even to this day, without seeming dated or paling in comparison to the bands that followed in their wake. Simeon (an enthusiastic, professorial character) is not one to rest on his laurels- he incorporates new material into the set, and tweaks the classics to lend them a more modern edge. It's easy to understand why the likes of Portishead revere the band's legacy, especially when the beats are cranked up and Simeon intones obscure, cosmic lyrics through a variety of effects- it's music that remains vital and interesting even now (and certainly more so than a number of current electronic acts one might care to name).

The highlight is, perhaps inevitably, the first song Simeon ever wrote for the band - the mighty "Oscillations", remixed into an outright banger that's less "free love and bongs" than "mid-90's industrial club night". It's the perfect closer to an impressive and inspiring show, and one that makes this reviewer hope they're as cool as Simeon when they're pushing eighty.