¤ Oscillons from the Anti~Sun, released in April 2005, is a three~CD, one~DVD box~set collection of Stereolab tracks culled from eight of the group’s EPs (Jenny Ondioline, Ping Pong, Wow and Flutter, Fluorescences, Cybele’s Reverie, Miss Modular, The Free Design and Captain Easychord) and singles. It includes both released and unreleased tracks, which are not presented in chronological order. The DVD features promo videos and TV appearances. ¤ The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane (guitar/keyboards) and Lætitia Sadier (vocals/keyboards/guitar), both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes. Other long~time members include Mary Hansen (backing vocals/keyboards/guitar), who played with the group from 1992 until her accidental death in 2002, and Andy Ramsay (drums), who joined in 1993, and who is still in the official line~up. Band formed: 1990 Location: London, England Album release: 25 April (UK), 26 April (US), 2005 Record Label: Duophonic Records (UK)/Too Pure (US) Duration: 50:51+56:09+57:56=> 164:56 + dvd Tracks: CD 1 01. Fluorescences 3:23 (from the 1996 Fluorescences EP) 02. Allures 3:29 (from the 1997 Miss Modular EP) 03. Fruition 3:51 (from the 1993 Jenny Ondioline EP) 04. Wow and Flutter 3:07 (from the 1994 Wow and Flutter EP) 05. With Friends Like These 5:50 (from the 1999 The Free Design EP) 06. Pinball 3:13 (from the 1996 Fluorescences EP) 07. Spinal Column 2:54 (from the 1997 Miss Modular EP) 08. Ping Pong (Unreleased LP Version) 3:02 09. Golden Ball 6:26 (from the 1993 Jenny Ondioline EP) 10. Cybele’s Reverie 2:56 (from the 1996 Cybele’s Reverie EP) 11. Nihilist Assault Group (Parts 3, 4, 5) 7:13 (from the 1994 Wow and Flutter EP) (mislabeled as Parts 1, 2, 3) 12. Off~On 5:26 (from the 1997 Miss Modular EP) CD 2 01. Jenny Ondioline Pt.1 3:53 (from the 1993 Jenny Ondioline EP) 02. Young Lungs 6:34 (from the 1996 Cybele’s Reverie EP) 03. Escape Pod (From the World of Medical Observations) 3:57 (from the 1999 The Free Design EP) 04. Moodles 7:23 (from the 2001 Captain Easychord EP) 05. You Used to Call Me Sadness 5:11 (from the 1996 Fluorescences EP) 06. Captain Easychord 2:54 (from the 2001 Captain Easychord EP) 07. Les Aimies Des Memes 3:55 (from the 1999 The Free Design EP) 08. French Disco 4:27 (from the 1993 Jenny Ondioline EP) 09. Transona Five (Live) 5:42 (from the 1994 Ping Pong EP) 10. Moogie Wonderland 3:34 (from the 1994 Ping Pong EP) 11. Canned Candies 4:14 (from the 2001 Captain Easychord EP) 12. Narco Martenot 4:23 (from the 1994 Wow and Flutter EP) CD 3 01. The Noise of Carpet (US Single) 3:07 (from the 1996 Noises single) 02. The Free Design 3:46 (from the 1999 The Free Design EP) 03. Les Yper~Yper Sound 5:18 (from the 1996 Cybele’s Reverie EP) 04. Pain Et Spectacles 3:31 (from the 1994 Ping Pong EP) 05. Ping Pong 3:03 (from the 1994 Ping Pong EP) 06. Long Life Love 7:06 (from the 2001 Captain Easychord EP) 07. Jenny Ondioline (Alternate Version) 6:08 08. Heavy Denim 2:50 (from the 1994 Wow and Flutter EP) 09. Brigitte 5:47 (from the 1996 Cybele’s Reverie EP) 10. Miss Modular 4:13 (from the 1997 Miss Modular EP) 11. Soop Groove #1 13:07 (from the 1996 Fluorescences EP) DVD 01. Jenny Ondioline — UK promo 02. Ping Pong — UK promo 03. Wow and Flutter — UK promo 04. Cybele’s Reverie — UK promo 05. Fluorescences — UK promo 06. Miss Modular — UK promo 07. The Free Design — UK promo 08. French Disko — UK promo 09. The Noise of Carpet — US promo 10. French Disko — The Word 11. Cybele’s Reverie — Later with Jools Holland 12. Les Yper Sound — Later with Jools Holland Information: ¤ Small cardboard box containing 3 CDs and 1 DVD. ¤ The initial pressing will also contain 8 stickers of each original EP artwork. Members: ¤ Tim Gane ¤ Lætitia Sadier ¤ Simon Johns ¤ Joseph Watson ¤ Julien Gasc Past members: ¤ Mary Hansen (deceased) ¤ Andy Ramsay ¤ Sean O’Hagan ¤ Duncan Brown ¤ Katharine Gifford ¤ Morgane Lhote ¤ Dominic Jeffery ¤ Richard Harrison ¤ Joe Dilworth ¤ Martin Kean ¤ Gina Morris Website: http://www.stereolab.co.uk/ Stereolab: P.O Box 3787 London SE22 9DZ UK OVERALL REVIEW By Nitsuh Abebe; April 28, 2005 Score: 8.0 ¤ Years ago, before all this file~sharing business, music fans were forced to spend hours standing around record stores, staring at overpriced import EPs and wondering whether they were really the sort of people who’d spend $12 bucks to hear four songs. Not only did all the pacing make you look like a moron, but the whole process had a way of making you really, really need the bathroom, leading to bad decisions you'd regret just as soon as you’d relieved yourself. ¤ This was the kind of thing that passed for bleak in the 1990s. And Stereolab, at least, made things easier on you, periodically collecting all the rarities you couldn’t afford into their series of Switched On compilations. All you had to do to hear, say, Music for the Amorphous Body Center was wait patiently for a couple years-- pretty much like file~sharing on a dial~up connection. ¤ The thing that made the waiting difficult — and the compilations useful — was that Stereolab's sidelines tended to be better than a lot of groups’ careers. This was, after all, the era’s top record~collector band, and half of the appeal was their ability to tinker with genre in exactly the way EPs are built for. At their best, what you got out of a new Stereolab track wasn’t just a new “song,” but a new sound — some way of stylizing their scattered interests (krautrock? French pop? bossa nova? Moog records? exotica? the Jetsons?) into something unexpected. ¤ As a result, the tracks that weaved around their full~lengths felt less like cast~offs and more like peeks into an alternate history, a space that could include whatever tried~on styles didn’t quite fit with a given album. By the tail end of the decade, the music on their EPs was beginning to feel even more accessible than the LPs they accompanied thanks to a streak of simple, swinging pop songs that didn’t yet fit with the Groop’s forward~thinking image. ¤ Those EPs, though, never qualified for the Switched On treatment. So now it’s time to thank Stereolab for releasing this comprehensive box set a total beast of a package, spanning three full discs of EP material, over a time period stretching from 1993’s Transient Random~Noise Bursts with Announcements to 2001’s Sound~Dust. Plus there’s a bonus DVD of videos and television performances. Plus it’s totally pop. Plus it costs less than $25. ¤ Less than $25! Artless as it might seem for critics to talk money, it’s that low price point that makes me forgive the bizarre form these songs have been squeezed into. Before I caught that dollar sign, I was ready to spend several paragraphs bitching: If the idea was to compile a complete package, wouldn’t you think they’d have lined up the EPs chronologically, each in its original sequence? And if the idea was just to let casual fans catch up, wouldn’t you think they’d have cut out the album tracks that anchored most EPs, saving us the trouble of a third disc? Why go for a jumble like this one, where strings of terrific songs leave you feeling like you’ve got your hands on the ultimate Switched On, strings of album tracks leave you feeling like you’ve bought a weirdly~selected hits compilation, and odd juxtapositions seem to be trying to make the band’s drony~motorik phases interchangeable with the fluffy pop of later records? ¤ Despite the complaints, anyone who enjoys Stereolab’s late~90s albums will find more than enough here to satisfy, particularly where those pop impulses are concerned. Most thrilling of all are the releases that accompanied Emperor Tomato Ketchup and Dots and Loops, a period when the band tackled the EP as a way to try its hand at traditional pop forms; “Brigitte” is all slow, wet melody, and songs like “Allures” have a rainy~day pop swing that winds up feeling more Scandinavian than it does French. ¤ Those who’ve been waiting for this set will be even happier with the songs from the terrific Flourescences EP, which is as neat a pop package as you could ask for running from the flute~punctuated sway on the title track to the super~sunny bounce of “Pinball”, the only song I know of whose creators can reasonably claim it was inspired by both Heavenly and Van Halen. By the time you get back around to the horn~swept lullabies on “You Used to Call Me Sadness” (already on one Switched On comp), it becomes clearer than ever why this band used to share fans with the early Cardigans; nothing says “retro~futurism” quite like stylizing old~fashioned pop into such clean, bubbly forms. ¤ Fans of the band's earlier, fiercer days will find slightly less to work with. Most of the drone here comes from Mars Audiac Quintet, the turning point between the buzzy charge they started off with and the well~groomed pop styles that eventually won them over. Tracks from the Wow and Flutter EP have plenty of bite, and part four of “Nihilist Assault Group” may be as hard as they’ve ever rocked, but inclusions from the Ping Pong singles hew closer to the album’s moony, melodic pulse. (The two~chord organ line on “Pain et Spectacles” should top charts on its own.) ¤ More space winds up occupied by newer material, much of it from after the point where some fans (this reviewer included) fret that Stereolab’s output began to feel vaguely academic; something always seems to have gone amiss when a band that could float gorgeously on two chords starts throwing in pedal~steel interludes just to keep you interested. Mixed in like this, though, you can start to appreciate them without your disappointment hackles raised. While some tracks from The Free Design and Captain Easychord (which prefaced Cobra... and Sound~Dust, respectively) seem to be trying and failing to find the vigor and ease of earlier work, they’re still a pretty admirable extension of those earlier pop~experiment sidelines. ¤ And the tracks here seem to unfold into shinier gems the more you listen: “Soop Groove #1” like a tweaked~out cousin to “Metronomic Underground”, “Spinal Column” twisting melodic intervals like never before, "Les Aimes" doing spooky Brazilian, and “Long Life Love” letting the late Mary Hansen chirp her way from the moon~lounge to the earth~bound swing and back. ¤ In summary: Not even $25! This may not be the band~history primer some people would like to say it is; give it to your favorite teenage rockers and they’ll probably just wonder if people spent the whole of the late 1990s being quite so sweet and dreamy. And packing up like this certainly won’t stop Stereolab from becoming the kind of group whose new albums people buy because they’ve „heard so much about the band“ and then never really listen to. But for anyone who’s already tapped in to the peaks of this band’s career, the bulk of this stuff will prove exactly what you want out of EP material: Just as good as the albums, only different. (http://pitchfork.com/) 1993 Jenny Onioline ¤ The Ondioline was a pioneering electronic keyboard invented by Georges Jenny in 1938 and commonly called the Jenny Ondioline. The instrument was a predecessor to the modern electronic synthesizer. Review by Francis Arres ¤ The beauty of early Stereolab lies in their unique vocals, delicate layering, and incremental repetition in a verse/chorus pattern. “Jenny Ondioline” has the drone of guitars that could be found in early ‘90s bands like My Bloody Valentine or Jesus and Mary Chain. The vocal trade between Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen are what set Stereolab in a class of their own. “Fruition” has a spy soundtrack feel with bass accents and organs that blip and bleep. Laetitia Sadier’s vocals set the track “Golden Ball” in motion, lifting and gliding to the next level. Droning guitars build, in the vein of Sonic Youth, and organs put in their part, adding layers and texture. “French Disco” ends the single building on repetition without you knowing that it is happening. The end sounds like a machine malfunctioning, leaving you wonder about the genius of Stereolab. Credits: ¤ Duncan Brown Bass, Guitar (Electric), Voices ¤ Tim Gane Bongos, Composer, Group Member, Guitar, Moog Synthesizer, Tambourine, Vox Organ ¤ Mary Hansen Guitar, Tambourine, Vocals ¤ Sean O’Hagan Farfisa Organ, Guitar, Vox Organ ¤ Andy Ramsay Bazouki, Percussion, Vox Organ ¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer, Guitar, Moog Synthesizer, Tambourine, Vocals, Vox Organ 1994, April Ping Pong ¤ Three limited 7” runs were released in green, black, and pink colors. ¤ The Ondioline was a pioneering electronic keyboard invented by Georges Jenny in 1938 and commonly called the Jenny Ondioline. The instrument was a predecessor to the modern electronic synthesizer. Review by Tim Sendra ¤ Stereolab’s Ping Pong EP from 1994 features the marvelous title track, which is taken from one of their better albums, that same year’s Mars Audiac Quintet. The EP’s title track is a marvelously light and bouncy (musically anyway, the lyrics are as political as ever) song with an inventive horn arrangement by the High Llamas’ Sean O’Hagan and charming second vocals by Mary Hansen. “Moogie Wonderland,” apart from the witty title, is a trudging bit of filler piled high with Moogie sound effects and trademark vocal “ba~da~ba”s from the female segment of the group. “Pain et Spectacles” is a peppy track, pretty standard with some nice Moog work and more fabulous vocals from Hansen. The last track is a live~in~the~studio version of “Transona Five” that sounds very much like the album version but has a slightly tougher sound and gives a good feel for how the band sounds in a live setting. This is a very fine EP and none of the songs appear on the Switched On series. Credits: ¤ Duncan Brown Bass ¤ Alan Carter Flute, Sax (Tenor) ¤ Tim Gane Composer, Farfisa Organ, Group Member, Guitar, Moog Synthesizer, Vox Organ ¤ Katharine Gifford Farfisa Organ, Moog Synthesizer, Vox Organ ¤ Mary Hansen Guitar, Tambourine, Vocals ¤ Peter Morris Photography ¤ Sean O’Hagan Brass Arrangement, Composer, Guitar (Electric) ¤ Andy Ramsay Drums, Percussion ¤ Andy Robinson Trombone ¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer, Guitar, Tambourine, Vocals, Vox Organ ¤ Stereolab Mixing ¤ Paul Tipler Engineer, Mixing 1994 Wow and Flutter ¤ A limited edition of 3000 7” copies was released with hand~painted covers. Two of the tracks appear on Mars Audiac Quintet, which was released the same year. Review by Tim Sendra ¤ Stereolab’s 1994 EP, Wow and Flutter, features the album mix of the title track (as taken from the group’s Mars Audiac Quintet), and three non~LP tracks. “Wow and Flutter” is one of the band’s definitive moments, and sounds even better when isolated from the sometimes numbingly great album. “Nihilist Assault Group (Parts 3~5)” is a reworking of a track from Mars Audiac Quintet. On the album the song is a noisy sprint that builds and builds in intensity; the EP version cuts dead about three minutes in, shifting to a mutated synth~drone with a vocal section before coming back in the last minute~and~a~half with a furious, almost punk, ending. “Narco Martenout” and “Heavy Denim” are wonderful tracks that could have easily made the cut on the album, the former being particularly charming, balancing some lovely vocals (lead and background) against a pounding wall of slowly oscillating noise, and somehow coming up with one of the band’s more haunting melodies. Of the three non~P tracks, only “Heavy Denim” appears elsewhere, and that is as a BBC session collected on ABC Music: The Radio One Sessions. Because these tracks are so good, this EP is a must~have collector’s item for Stereolab mavens. Credits: ¤ Duncan Brown Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Fulton Dingley Mixing ¤ Tim Gane Composer, Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Katharine Gifford Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Mary Hansen Vocals ¤ Peter Morris Photography ¤ Andy Ramsay Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer, Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Stereolab Mixing, Primary Artist ¤ Paul Tipler Engineer 1996, November Fluorences Review by Francis Arres ¤ Fluorescences showcases the early direction Stereolab has moved into with Dots & Loops, Cobra Phases, and Micro Hunters. This single has dense orchestration with a ‘60s lounge feel or cool jazz. Horns, flutes, and vibraphone create layers. The vocals of Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen are amazing, building upon one another. The lyrics of “Fluorescences” make the listener pay attention to the senses while you are partaking in a vivid sensory experience with this finely produced music, a comment on environment and the human psychological reactions toward it. Electronics and analog organs blip, bleep, and drone along, echoing the driving rhythms of the other instrumentation. While the other tunes of Fluorescences create texture to form a smooth layer, “Soop Groove #1” takes on a funky nature. Bass holds the funky bottom, creating melody while organs punch away and clean guitars provide the chunky accents. The tune is rhythmic, but flows due to the nature of the delivery of the casual vocals. Sadier creates a melody in the perfect pitch vocals against music that seems difficult to construct into a melody. This single is very successful and a must for any Stereolab fan. Credits: ¤ Steven Brown Brass ¤ Tim Gane Composer, Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Mary Hansen Vocals ¤ Richard Harrison Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Morgane Lhote Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Mark Lockheart Brass ¤ Sean O’Hagan Bass, Brass Arrangement, Piano, Unknown Contributor Role, Vibraphone, Wurlitzer ¤ Andy Ramsay Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Andy Robinson Brass, Brass Arrangement, Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer, Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Stereolab Mixing ¤ Paul Tipler Engineer, Mixing 1996 Cybele’s Reverie ¤ The title track also appears in a longer version on their album Emperor Tomato Ketchup released the same year. ¤ All four of its tracks were later re~released on the Oscillons from the Anti~Sun compilation. Review by Francis Arres ¤ Stereolab always offers up the best quality music, which shines in their singles. The single is very produced, every instrument and tone sounding very clean. Strings introduce you to “Cybele’s Reverie,” the rhythm~based opening song. The music always drives along with punchy keyboards that stitch the parts together. Laetitia Sadier's crisp voice moves the song with accenting backing vocals, keeping a sense of melancholy in the playful nature of the vocals. The track ends quickly bleeding into electronic and acoustic percussive syncopation. Robots talk using tones as their language. Stereolab bounces along layers swinging in a space ‘60s style with dancing Farfisa organs. Mary Hansen provides the hum~alongs to Sadier’s French lyrics. “Young Lungs” closes the single with a variety of instruments being showcased. Keyboards, saxophone, vibes, bass, and drums create an off~time danceable pulse. Vocals, as usual, are the icing on the cake. Stereolab makes a huge impression as you walk away from this single. Credits: ¤ Duncan Brown Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Tim Gane Composer, Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Mary Hansen Vocals ¤ Sally Herbert Strings ¤ Marcus Holdaway Strings ¤ Morgane Lhote Unknown Contributor Role ¤ John McEntire Electronic Devices, Engineer, Maracas, Mixing, Producer, Synthesizer, Tambourine, Vibraphone ¤ Sean O’Hagan Organ, Piano (Electric), String Arrangements, Vox Organ, Wurlitzer ¤ Andy Ramsay Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer, Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Stereolab Mixing, Producer ¤ Paul Tipler Engineer, Mixing, Producer ¤ Brad Wood Saxophone 1997 Miss Modular Recorded: March 1997 ~ August 1997 ¤ It was produced in collaboration with the group Mouse on Mars. Review by Jason Ankeny ¤ The lead single from Dots and Loops captures Stereolab at its most formally elegant. Digitally assembled from isolated studio elements, the aptly titled “Miss Modular” is musique concrète pop, a bubbly yet plainly synthetic effort that walks the tightrope between art and artifice. The three exclusive B~sides vary wildly. The breezy, bossa~influenced “Allures” evokes Astrud Gilberto, while “Off~On”’s percolating techno bears the obvious stamp of collaborators/co~producers Mouse on Mars. But the sylph~like “Spinal Column” is alone worth the cost of admission. Its celestial beauty seems to emanate from somewhere beyond the physical plane. Credits: ¤ Jeb Bishop Brass ¤ Duncan Brown Bass ¤ Dave Crawford Brass ¤ Guy Fixsen Mixing ¤ Tim Gane Composer, Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Mary Hansen Vocals ¤ Richard Harrison Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Morgane Lhote Unknown Contributor Role ¤ John McEntire Electronics, Engineer, Producer ¤ Paul Mertens Brass ¤ Sean O’Hagan Brass Arrangement, Farfisa Organ, Fender Rhodes ¤ Andy Ramsay Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Ross Reed Brass ¤ Andy Robinson Brass Arrangement ¤ Steve Rooke Mastering ¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer, Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Jan St. Werner Special Electronics, Unknown Contributor Role ¤ Stereolab Mixing, Producer ¤ Andi Toma Engineer, Mixing, Producer ¤ Nick Webb Mastering 1999, September 6 The Free Design Review by Jason Ankeny ¤ While the title of “The Free Design” pays homage to the cult-favorite harmony~pop outfit of the late ‘60s, the similarities end there. This percussive, Brazilian~influenced confection from the otherwise disappointing Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night is one of Stereolab’s busiest, most densely layered tracks, complete with a thoughtful Laetitia Sadier vocal that perfectly complements her profoundly metaphysical lyrics. The remainder of this four~song EP fails to measure up, however. “Les Aimes des Memes” continues the Brazilian infatuation of “The Free Design” with diminishing results, “With Friends Like These” effortlessly evokes the string~sweetened arrangements of Burt Bacharach’s solo LPs, and the electro~burble of “Escape Pod (From the World of Medical Observations)” suffers from the same been~there~done~that malaise that afflicts so much of Cobra and Phases. Credits: ¤ Mark Bassey Brass ¤ Tim Gane Composer, Group Member ¤ Rob Mazurek Cornet ¤ John McEntire Engineer, Mixing, Producer ¤ Jim O’Rourke Producer ¤ Andy Robinson Brass ¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer ¤ Steve Waterman Brass 2001, July 30 Captain Easychord ¤ It was released on CD and 12” vinyl one month prior to the album Sound~Dust. “Moodles” is included on the Japanese version of the Sound~Dust album as a bonus track. The title track is edited down from the album version, which is 5:33. Review by Sam Samuelson ¤ While not entirely revelatory, Stereolab’s first single for Sound~Dust does contain some interesting and fitting B~sides very much steeped in the same approach as the full~length. Other than the modus operandi for the single, the cut~up shifting styles of “Captain Easychord,” the main draw here lies in the fourth and final track. The seven~minute “Moodles” should certainly exist strictly as a B~side since the form copies much of the title track and many of the songs included on the long~player (without the same level of completeness or surety) — but as fodder for Stereolab fanatics and collectors, it provides the spark for this mini~release. [The Japanese version of Sound~Dust included “Moodles” as a bonus track.] Credits: ¤ Tim Gane Composer ¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer ¤ Stereolab Engineer, Mixing Discography: Studio albums: ° Peng! (1992), Too Pure/American ° Transient Random~Noise Bursts with Announcements (1993), Duophonic/Elektra ° Mars Audiac Quintet (1994), Duophonic/Elektra ° Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996), Duophonic/Elektra ° Dots and Loops (1997), Duophonic/Elektra ° Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night (1999), Duophonic/Elektra ° Sound~Dust (2001), Duophonic/Elektra ° Margerine Eclipse (2004), Duophonic/Elektra ° Chemical Chords (2008), Duophonic/4AD ° Not Music (2010), Duophonic/Drag City Compilations: ° Switched On (1992), Too Pure/Slumberland ° Refried Ectoplasm: Switched On, Vol. 2 (1995), Duophonic/Drag City ° Aluminum Tunes: Switched On, Vol. 3 (1998), Duophonic/Drag City ° ABC Music: The Radio 1 Sessions (2002), Strange Fruit/Koch ° Oscillons from the Anti~Sun (2005), Duophonic/Too Pure ° Fab Four Suture (2006), Duophonic/Too Pure ° Serene Velocity: A Stereolab Anthology (2006), Duophonic/Elektra/Rhino Overall: Releases: ° Studio albums 10 ° Compilation albums 7 ° EPs 18 ° Singles 16 ° Rarities 23 Fortaken: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereolab_discography COMPLETE LIST: LP: ° Chemical Chords ° Serene Velocity ° Fab Four Suture ° Oscillons From The Anti-Sun ° Margerine Eclipse ° ABC Music — The Radio 1 Sessions ° Sound~Dust ° The First of the Microbe Hunters ° Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night ° Aluminum Tunes ° Stereolab Sampler ° Dots and Loops ° Emperor Tomato Ketchup ° Refried Ectoplasm ° Music For The Amorphous Body Study Center ° Mars Audiac Quintet ° Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements. ° Space Age Batchelor Pad Music ° Peng! ° Switched On Stereolab EP: ° Instant 0 in the Universe ° Captain Easychord ° Free Design ° The Underground is Coming ° Miss Modular Remix ° Miss Modular ° Laminations ° The Noise Of Carpet ° Fluorescences ° Cybele’s Reverie ° Wow and Flutter ° Ping Pong ° Crumb Duck ° Jenny Ondioline ° Low~Fi ° Super Electric Single: ° Eye Of The Volcano ° Excursions Into ° Whisper Pitch ° Interlock ° Plastic Mile ° Kyberneticka Babicka ° Rose, My Rocket~Brain! ° Free Witch And No~Bra Queen ° The In Sound ° Soi Disant split ° Refractions In The Plastic Pulse ° Calimero ° Iron Man ° Cat's Miaow/Stereolab ° Fugu Split Single ° Simple Headphone Mind ° Noises ° Percolations ° Metronomic Underground ° Fuxa Split Single ° Spectrum/Stereolab ° Stereolab/Tortoise ° The Long Hair of Death ° Inside Dave’s Garage ° Unrest/Stereolab ° Lo Boob Oscilator ° French Disko ° High Expectations ° Shimmies in Super Double ° John Cage Bubblegum ° Spacewatch ° Harmonium/Farfisa ° The Light That Will Cease To Fail ° Super 45 ° Stunning Debut Album Lyrics and titles: ° Stereolab’s music is politically and philosophically charged. Lætitia Sadier, who writes the group’s lyrics, has reportedly been inspired by her anger at the Iraq War. The Surrealist and Situationist cultural and political movements were also influences, as noted by Sadier and Gane in a 1999 Salon.com interview. Stewart Mason commented in an Allmusic review that the lyrics from the 1997 song “Miss Modular” „sound influenced by the Situationist theory of the ‘spectacle’.“ When asked to explain her intentions in a 1991 Melody Maker interview, Sadier responded that „Basically I want to change the world. I want to make people think about how they live every day, shake them a bit.“ ° Critics have seen Marxist allusions in the band’s lyrics, and several have gone so far as to call the band members themselves Marxist. “Ping Pong”, a single included on “Mars Audiac Quintet” (1994), has been put forward as evidence. In the song, Sadier sings „about capitalism’s cruel cycles of slump and recovery“ with lyrics that constitute „a plainspoken explanation of one of the central tenets of Marxian economic analysis“ (said critics Simon Reynolds and Stewart Mason, respectively). The song opens with the lines: It’s alright ‘cause the historical pattern has shown, How the economical cycle tends to revolve, In a round of decades three stages stand out in a loop, A slump and war then peel back to square one and back for more.
¤ The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane (guitar/keyboards) and Lætitia Sadier (vocals/keyboards/guitar), both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes. Other long~time members include Mary Hansen (backing vocals/keyboards/guitar), who played with the group from 1992 until her accidental death in 2002, and Andy Ramsay (drums), who joined in 1993, and who is still in the official line~up.
Band formed: 1990
Location: London, England
Album release: 25 April (UK), 26 April (US), 2005
Record Label: Duophonic Records (UK)/Too Pure (US)
Duration: 50:51+56:09+57:56=> 164:56 + dvd
Tracks:
CD 1
01. Fluorescences 3:23 (from the 1996 Fluorescences EP)
02. Allures 3:29 (from the 1997 Miss Modular EP)
03. Fruition 3:51 (from the 1993 Jenny Ondioline EP)
04. Wow and Flutter 3:07 (from the 1994 Wow and Flutter EP)
05. With Friends Like These 5:50 (from the 1999 The Free Design EP)
06. Pinball 3:13 (from the 1996 Fluorescences EP)
07. Spinal Column 2:54 (from the 1997 Miss Modular EP)
08. Ping Pong (Unreleased LP Version) 3:02
09. Golden Ball 6:26 (from the 1993 Jenny Ondioline EP)
10. Cybele’s Reverie 2:56 (from the 1996 Cybele’s Reverie EP)
11. Nihilist Assault Group (Parts 3, 4, 5) 7:13 (from the 1994 Wow and Flutter EP) (mislabeled as Parts 1, 2, 3)
12. Off~On 5:26 (from the 1997 Miss Modular EP)
CD 2
01. Jenny Ondioline Pt.1 3:53 (from the 1993 Jenny Ondioline EP)
02. Young Lungs 6:34 (from the 1996 Cybele’s Reverie EP)
03. Escape Pod (From the World of Medical Observations) 3:57 (from the 1999 The Free Design EP)
04. Moodles 7:23 (from the 2001 Captain Easychord EP)
05. You Used to Call Me Sadness 5:11 (from the 1996 Fluorescences EP)
06. Captain Easychord 2:54 (from the 2001 Captain Easychord EP)
07. Les Aimies Des Memes 3:55 (from the 1999 The Free Design EP)
08. French Disco 4:27 (from the 1993 Jenny Ondioline EP)
09. Transona Five (Live) 5:42 (from the 1994 Ping Pong EP)
10. Moogie Wonderland 3:34 (from the 1994 Ping Pong EP)
11. Canned Candies 4:14 (from the 2001 Captain Easychord EP)
12. Narco Martenot 4:23 (from the 1994 Wow and Flutter EP)
CD 3
01. The Noise of Carpet (US Single) 3:07 (from the 1996 Noises single)
02. The Free Design 3:46 (from the 1999 The Free Design EP)
03. Les Yper~Yper Sound 5:18 (from the 1996 Cybele’s Reverie EP)
04. Pain Et Spectacles 3:31 (from the 1994 Ping Pong EP)
05. Ping Pong 3:03 (from the 1994 Ping Pong EP)
06. Long Life Love 7:06 (from the 2001 Captain Easychord EP)
07. Jenny Ondioline (Alternate Version) 6:08
08. Heavy Denim 2:50 (from the 1994 Wow and Flutter EP)
09. Brigitte 5:47 (from the 1996 Cybele’s Reverie EP)
10. Miss Modular 4:13 (from the 1997 Miss Modular EP)
11. Soop Groove #1 13:07 (from the 1996 Fluorescences EP)
DVD
01. Jenny Ondioline — UK promo
02. Ping Pong — UK promo
03. Wow and Flutter — UK promo
04. Cybele’s Reverie — UK promo
05. Fluorescences — UK promo
06. Miss Modular — UK promo
07. The Free Design — UK promo
08. French Disko — UK promo
09. The Noise of Carpet — US promo
10. French Disko — The Word
11. Cybele’s Reverie — Later with Jools Holland
12. Les Yper Sound — Later with Jools Holland
Information:
¤ Small cardboard box containing 3 CDs and 1 DVD.
¤ The initial pressing will also contain 8 stickers of each original EP artwork.
Members:
¤ Tim Gane
¤ Lætitia Sadier
¤ Simon Johns
¤ Joseph Watson
¤ Julien Gasc
Past members:
¤ Mary Hansen (deceased)
¤ Andy Ramsay
¤ Sean O’Hagan
¤ Duncan Brown
¤ Katharine Gifford
¤ Morgane Lhote
¤ Dominic Jeffery
¤ Richard Harrison
¤ Joe Dilworth
¤ Martin Kean
¤ Gina Morris
Website: http://www.stereolab.co.uk/
Stereolab:
P.O Box 3787
London
SE22 9DZ
UK
OVERALL REVIEW
By Nitsuh Abebe; April 28, 2005 Score: 8.0
¤ Years ago, before all this file~sharing business, music fans were forced to spend hours standing around record stores, staring at overpriced import EPs and wondering whether they were really the sort of people who’d spend $12 bucks to hear four songs. Not only did all the pacing make you look like a moron, but the whole process had a way of making you really, really need the bathroom, leading to bad decisions you'd regret just as soon as you’d relieved yourself.
¤ This was the kind of thing that passed for bleak in the 1990s. And Stereolab, at least, made things easier on you, periodically collecting all the rarities you couldn’t afford into their series of Switched On compilations. All you had to do to hear, say, Music for the Amorphous Body Center was wait patiently for a couple years-- pretty much like file~sharing on a dial~up connection.
¤ The thing that made the waiting difficult — and the compilations useful — was that Stereolab's sidelines tended to be better than a lot of groups’ careers. This was, after all, the era’s top record~collector band, and half of the appeal was their ability to tinker with genre in exactly the way EPs are built for. At their best, what you got out of a new Stereolab track wasn’t just a new “song,” but a new sound — some way of stylizing their scattered interests (krautrock? French pop? bossa nova? Moog records? exotica? the Jetsons?) into something unexpected.
¤ As a result, the tracks that weaved around their full~lengths felt less like cast~offs and more like peeks into an alternate history, a space that could include whatever tried~on styles didn’t quite fit with a given album. By the tail end of the decade, the music on their EPs was beginning to feel even more accessible than the LPs they accompanied thanks to a streak of simple, swinging pop songs that didn’t yet fit with the Groop’s forward~thinking image.
¤ Those EPs, though, never qualified for the Switched On treatment. So now it’s time to thank Stereolab for releasing this comprehensive box set a total beast of a package, spanning three full discs of EP material, over a time period stretching from 1993’s Transient Random~Noise Bursts with Announcements to 2001’s Sound~Dust. Plus there’s a bonus DVD of videos and television performances. Plus it’s totally pop. Plus it costs less than $25.
¤ Less than $25! Artless as it might seem for critics to talk money, it’s that low price point that makes me forgive the bizarre form these songs have been squeezed into. Before I caught that dollar sign, I was ready to spend several paragraphs bitching: If the idea was to compile a complete package, wouldn’t you think they’d have lined up the EPs chronologically, each in its original sequence? And if the idea was just to let casual fans catch up, wouldn’t you think they’d have cut out the album tracks that anchored most EPs, saving us the trouble of a third disc? Why go for a jumble like this one, where strings of terrific songs leave you feeling like you’ve got your hands on the ultimate Switched On, strings of album tracks leave you feeling like you’ve bought a weirdly~selected hits compilation, and odd juxtapositions seem to be trying to make the band’s drony~motorik phases interchangeable with the fluffy pop of later records?
¤ Despite the complaints, anyone who enjoys Stereolab’s late~90s albums will find more than enough here to satisfy, particularly where those pop impulses are concerned. Most thrilling of all are the releases that accompanied Emperor Tomato Ketchup and Dots and Loops, a period when the band tackled the EP as a way to try its hand at traditional pop forms; “Brigitte” is all slow, wet melody, and songs like “Allures” have a rainy~day pop swing that winds up feeling more Scandinavian than it does French.
¤ Those who’ve been waiting for this set will be even happier with the songs from the terrific Flourescences EP, which is as neat a pop package as you could ask for running from the flute~punctuated sway on the title track to the super~sunny bounce of “Pinball”, the only song I know of whose creators can reasonably claim it was inspired by both Heavenly and Van Halen. By the time you get back around to the horn~swept lullabies on “You Used to Call Me Sadness” (already on one Switched On comp), it becomes clearer than ever why this band used to share fans with the early Cardigans; nothing says “retro~futurism” quite like stylizing old~fashioned pop into such clean, bubbly forms.
¤ Fans of the band's earlier, fiercer days will find slightly less to work with. Most of the drone here comes from Mars Audiac Quintet, the turning point between the buzzy charge they started off with and the well~groomed pop styles that eventually won them over. Tracks from the Wow and Flutter EP have plenty of bite, and part four of “Nihilist Assault Group” may be as hard as they’ve ever rocked, but inclusions from the Ping Pong singles hew closer to the album’s moony, melodic pulse. (The two~chord organ line on “Pain et Spectacles” should top charts on its own.)
¤ More space winds up occupied by newer material, much of it from after the point where some fans (this reviewer included) fret that Stereolab’s output began to feel vaguely academic; something always seems to have gone amiss when a band that could float gorgeously on two chords starts throwing in pedal~steel interludes just to keep you interested. Mixed in like this, though, you can start to appreciate them without your disappointment hackles raised. While some tracks from The Free Design and Captain Easychord (which prefaced Cobra... and Sound~Dust, respectively) seem to be trying and failing to find the vigor and ease of earlier work, they’re still a pretty admirable extension of those earlier pop~experiment sidelines.
¤ And the tracks here seem to unfold into shinier gems the more you listen: “Soop Groove #1” like a tweaked~out cousin to “Metronomic Underground”, “Spinal Column” twisting melodic intervals like never before, "Les Aimes" doing spooky Brazilian, and “Long Life Love” letting the late Mary Hansen chirp her way from the moon~lounge to the earth~bound swing and back.
¤ In summary: Not even $25! This may not be the band~history primer some people would like to say it is; give it to your favorite teenage rockers and they’ll probably just wonder if people spent the whole of the late 1990s being quite so sweet and dreamy. And packing up like this certainly won’t stop Stereolab from becoming the kind of group whose new albums people buy because they’ve „heard so much about the band“ and then never really listen to. But for anyone who’s already tapped in to the peaks of this band’s career, the bulk of this stuff will prove exactly what you want out of EP material: Just as good as the albums, only different. (http://pitchfork.com/)
1993 Jenny Onioline
¤ The Ondioline was a pioneering electronic keyboard invented by Georges Jenny in 1938 and commonly called the Jenny Ondioline. The instrument was a predecessor to the modern electronic synthesizer.
Review by Francis Arres
¤ The beauty of early Stereolab lies in their unique vocals, delicate layering, and incremental repetition in a verse/chorus pattern. “Jenny Ondioline” has the drone of guitars that could be found in early ‘90s bands like My Bloody Valentine or Jesus and Mary Chain. The vocal trade between Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen are what set Stereolab in a class of their own. “Fruition” has a spy soundtrack feel with bass accents and organs that blip and bleep. Laetitia Sadier’s vocals set the track “Golden Ball” in motion, lifting and gliding to the next level. Droning guitars build, in the vein of Sonic Youth, and organs put in their part, adding layers and texture. “French Disco” ends the single building on repetition without you knowing that it is happening. The end sounds like a machine malfunctioning, leaving you wonder about the genius of Stereolab.
Credits:
¤ Duncan Brown Bass, Guitar (Electric), Voices
¤ Tim Gane Bongos, Composer, Group Member, Guitar, Moog Synthesizer, Tambourine, Vox Organ
¤ Mary Hansen Guitar, Tambourine, Vocals
¤ Sean O’Hagan Farfisa Organ, Guitar, Vox Organ
¤ Andy Ramsay Bazouki, Percussion, Vox Organ
¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer, Guitar, Moog Synthesizer, Tambourine, Vocals, Vox Organ
1994, April Ping Pong
¤ Three limited 7” runs were released in green, black, and pink colors.
¤ The Ondioline was a pioneering electronic keyboard invented by Georges Jenny in 1938 and commonly called the Jenny Ondioline. The instrument was a predecessor to the modern electronic synthesizer.
Review by Tim Sendra
¤ Stereolab’s Ping Pong EP from 1994 features the marvelous title track, which is taken from one of their better albums, that same year’s Mars Audiac Quintet. The EP’s title track is a marvelously light and bouncy (musically anyway, the lyrics are as political as ever) song with an inventive horn arrangement by the High Llamas’ Sean O’Hagan and charming second vocals by Mary Hansen. “Moogie Wonderland,” apart from the witty title, is a trudging bit of filler piled high with Moogie sound effects and trademark vocal “ba~da~ba”s from the female segment of the group. “Pain et Spectacles” is a peppy track, pretty standard with some nice Moog work and more fabulous vocals from Hansen. The last track is a live~in~the~studio version of “Transona Five” that sounds very much like the album version but has a slightly tougher sound and gives a good feel for how the band sounds in a live setting. This is a very fine EP and none of the songs appear on the Switched On series.
Credits:
¤ Duncan Brown Bass
¤ Alan Carter Flute, Sax (Tenor)
¤ Tim Gane Composer, Farfisa Organ, Group Member, Guitar, Moog Synthesizer, Vox Organ
¤ Katharine Gifford Farfisa Organ, Moog Synthesizer, Vox Organ
¤ Mary Hansen Guitar, Tambourine, Vocals
¤ Peter Morris Photography
¤ Sean O’Hagan Brass Arrangement, Composer, Guitar (Electric)
¤ Andy Ramsay Drums, Percussion
¤ Andy Robinson Trombone
¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer, Guitar, Tambourine, Vocals, Vox Organ
¤ Stereolab Mixing
¤ Paul Tipler Engineer, Mixing
1994 Wow and Flutter
¤ A limited edition of 3000 7” copies was released with hand~painted covers. Two of the tracks appear on Mars Audiac Quintet, which was released the same year.
Review by Tim Sendra
¤ Stereolab’s 1994 EP, Wow and Flutter, features the album mix of the title track (as taken from the group’s Mars Audiac Quintet), and three non~LP tracks. “Wow and Flutter” is one of the band’s definitive moments, and sounds even better when isolated from the sometimes numbingly great album. “Nihilist Assault Group (Parts 3~5)” is a reworking of a track from Mars Audiac Quintet. On the album the song is a noisy sprint that builds and builds in intensity; the EP version cuts dead about three minutes in, shifting to a mutated synth~drone with a vocal section before coming back in the last minute~and~a~half with a furious, almost punk, ending. “Narco Martenout” and “Heavy Denim” are wonderful tracks that could have easily made the cut on the album, the former being particularly charming, balancing some lovely vocals (lead and background) against a pounding wall of slowly oscillating noise, and somehow coming up with one of the band’s more haunting melodies. Of the three non~P tracks, only “Heavy Denim” appears elsewhere, and that is as a BBC session collected on ABC Music: The Radio One Sessions. Because these tracks are so good, this EP is a must~have collector’s item for Stereolab mavens.
Credits:
¤ Duncan Brown Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Fulton Dingley Mixing
¤ Tim Gane Composer, Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Katharine Gifford Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Mary Hansen Vocals
¤ Peter Morris Photography
¤ Andy Ramsay Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer, Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Stereolab Mixing, Primary Artist
¤ Paul Tipler Engineer
1996, November Fluorences
Review by Francis Arres
¤ Fluorescences showcases the early direction Stereolab has moved into with Dots & Loops, Cobra Phases, and Micro Hunters. This single has dense orchestration with a ‘60s lounge feel or cool jazz. Horns, flutes, and vibraphone create layers. The vocals of Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen are amazing, building upon one another. The lyrics of “Fluorescences” make the listener pay attention to the senses while you are partaking in a vivid sensory experience with this finely produced music, a comment on environment and the human psychological reactions toward it. Electronics and analog organs blip, bleep, and drone along, echoing the driving rhythms of the other instrumentation. While the other tunes of Fluorescences create texture to form a smooth layer, “Soop Groove #1” takes on a funky nature. Bass holds the funky bottom, creating melody while organs punch away and clean guitars provide the chunky accents. The tune is rhythmic, but flows due to the nature of the delivery of the casual vocals. Sadier creates a melody in the perfect pitch vocals against music that seems difficult to construct into a melody. This single is very successful and a must for any Stereolab fan.
Credits:
¤ Steven Brown Brass
¤ Tim Gane Composer, Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Mary Hansen Vocals
¤ Richard Harrison Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Morgane Lhote Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Mark Lockheart Brass
¤ Sean O’Hagan Bass, Brass Arrangement, Piano, Unknown Contributor Role, Vibraphone, Wurlitzer
¤ Andy Ramsay Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Andy Robinson Brass, Brass Arrangement, Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer, Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Stereolab Mixing
¤ Paul Tipler Engineer, Mixing
1996 Cybele’s Reverie
¤ The title track also appears in a longer version on their album Emperor Tomato Ketchup released the same year.
¤ All four of its tracks were later re~released on the Oscillons from the Anti~Sun compilation.
Review by Francis Arres
¤ Stereolab always offers up the best quality music, which shines in their singles. The single is very produced, every instrument and tone sounding very clean. Strings introduce you to “Cybele’s Reverie,” the rhythm~based opening song. The music always drives along with punchy keyboards that stitch the parts together. Laetitia Sadier's crisp voice moves the song with accenting backing vocals, keeping a sense of melancholy in the playful nature of the vocals. The track ends quickly bleeding into electronic and acoustic percussive syncopation. Robots talk using tones as their language. Stereolab bounces along layers swinging in a space ‘60s style with dancing Farfisa organs. Mary Hansen provides the hum~alongs to Sadier’s French lyrics. “Young Lungs” closes the single with a variety of instruments being showcased. Keyboards, saxophone, vibes, bass, and drums create an off~time danceable pulse. Vocals, as usual, are the icing on the cake. Stereolab makes a huge impression as you walk away from this single.
Credits:
¤ Duncan Brown Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Tim Gane Composer, Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Mary Hansen Vocals
¤ Sally Herbert Strings
¤ Marcus Holdaway Strings
¤ Morgane Lhote Unknown Contributor Role
¤ John McEntire Electronic Devices, Engineer, Maracas, Mixing, Producer, Synthesizer, Tambourine, Vibraphone
¤ Sean O’Hagan Organ, Piano (Electric), String Arrangements, Vox Organ, Wurlitzer
¤ Andy Ramsay Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer, Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Stereolab Mixing, Producer
¤ Paul Tipler Engineer, Mixing, Producer
¤ Brad Wood Saxophone
1997 Miss Modular
Recorded: March 1997 ~ August 1997
¤ It was produced in collaboration with the group Mouse on Mars.
Review by Jason Ankeny
¤ The lead single from Dots and Loops captures Stereolab at its most formally elegant. Digitally assembled from isolated studio elements, the aptly titled “Miss Modular” is musique concrète pop, a bubbly yet plainly synthetic effort that walks the tightrope between art and artifice. The three exclusive B~sides vary wildly. The breezy, bossa~influenced “Allures” evokes Astrud Gilberto, while “Off~On”’s percolating techno bears the obvious stamp of collaborators/co~producers Mouse on Mars. But the sylph~like “Spinal Column” is alone worth the cost of admission. Its celestial beauty seems to emanate from somewhere beyond the physical plane.
Credits:
¤ Jeb Bishop Brass
¤ Duncan Brown Bass
¤ Dave Crawford Brass
¤ Guy Fixsen Mixing
¤ Tim Gane Composer, Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Mary Hansen Vocals
¤ Richard Harrison Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Morgane Lhote Unknown Contributor Role
¤ John McEntire Electronics, Engineer, Producer
¤ Paul Mertens Brass
¤ Sean O’Hagan Brass Arrangement, Farfisa Organ, Fender Rhodes
¤ Andy Ramsay Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Ross Reed Brass
¤ Andy Robinson Brass Arrangement
¤ Steve Rooke Mastering
¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer, Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Jan St. Werner Special Electronics, Unknown Contributor Role
¤ Stereolab Mixing, Producer
¤ Andi Toma Engineer, Mixing, Producer
¤ Nick Webb Mastering
1999, September 6 The Free Design
Review by Jason Ankeny
¤ While the title of “The Free Design” pays homage to the cult-favorite harmony~pop outfit of the late ‘60s, the similarities end there. This percussive, Brazilian~influenced confection from the otherwise disappointing Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night is one of Stereolab’s busiest, most densely layered tracks, complete with a thoughtful Laetitia Sadier vocal that perfectly complements her profoundly metaphysical lyrics. The remainder of this four~song EP fails to measure up, however. “Les Aimes des Memes” continues the Brazilian infatuation of “The Free Design” with diminishing results, “With Friends Like These” effortlessly evokes the string~sweetened arrangements of Burt Bacharach’s solo LPs, and the electro~burble of “Escape Pod (From the World of Medical Observations)” suffers from the same been~there~done~that malaise that afflicts so much of Cobra and Phases.
Credits:
¤ Mark Bassey Brass
¤ Tim Gane Composer, Group Member
¤ Rob Mazurek Cornet
¤ John McEntire Engineer, Mixing, Producer
¤ Jim O’Rourke Producer
¤ Andy Robinson Brass
¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer
¤ Steve Waterman Brass
2001, July 30 Captain Easychord
¤ It was released on CD and 12” vinyl one month prior to the album Sound~Dust. “Moodles” is included on the Japanese version of the Sound~Dust album as a bonus track. The title track is edited down from the album version, which is 5:33.
Review by Sam Samuelson
¤ While not entirely revelatory, Stereolab’s first single for Sound~Dust does contain some interesting and fitting B~sides very much steeped in the same approach as the full~length. Other than the modus operandi for the single, the cut~up shifting styles of “Captain Easychord,” the main draw here lies in the fourth and final track. The seven~minute “Moodles” should certainly exist strictly as a B~side since the form copies much of the title track and many of the songs included on the long~player (without the same level of completeness or surety) — but as fodder for Stereolab fanatics and collectors, it provides the spark for this mini~release. [The Japanese version of Sound~Dust included “Moodles” as a bonus track.]
Credits:
¤ Tim Gane Composer
¤ Laetitia Sadier Composer
¤ Stereolab Engineer, Mixing
Discography:
Studio albums:
° Peng! (1992), Too Pure/American
° Transient Random~Noise Bursts with Announcements (1993), Duophonic/Elektra
° Mars Audiac Quintet (1994), Duophonic/Elektra
° Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996), Duophonic/Elektra
° Dots and Loops (1997), Duophonic/Elektra
° Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night (1999), Duophonic/Elektra
° Sound~Dust (2001), Duophonic/Elektra
° Margerine Eclipse (2004), Duophonic/Elektra
° Chemical Chords (2008), Duophonic/4AD
° Not Music (2010), Duophonic/Drag City
Compilations:
° Switched On (1992), Too Pure/Slumberland
° Refried Ectoplasm: Switched On, Vol. 2 (1995), Duophonic/Drag City
° Aluminum Tunes: Switched On, Vol. 3 (1998), Duophonic/Drag City
° ABC Music: The Radio 1 Sessions (2002), Strange Fruit/Koch
° Oscillons from the Anti~Sun (2005), Duophonic/Too Pure
° Fab Four Suture (2006), Duophonic/Too Pure
° Serene Velocity: A Stereolab Anthology (2006), Duophonic/Elektra/Rhino
Overall:
Releases:
° Studio albums 10
° Compilation albums 7
° EPs 18
° Singles 16
° Rarities 23
Fortaken: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereolab_discography
COMPLETE LIST:
LP:
° Chemical Chords
° Serene Velocity
° Fab Four Suture
° Oscillons From The Anti-Sun
° Margerine Eclipse
° ABC Music — The Radio 1 Sessions
° Sound~Dust
° The First of the Microbe Hunters
° Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night
° Aluminum Tunes
° Stereolab Sampler
° Dots and Loops
° Emperor Tomato Ketchup
° Refried Ectoplasm
° Music For The Amorphous Body Study Center
° Mars Audiac Quintet
° Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements.
° Space Age Batchelor Pad Music
° Peng!
° Switched On Stereolab
EP:
° Instant 0 in the Universe
° Captain Easychord
° Free Design
° The Underground is Coming
° Miss Modular Remix
° Miss Modular
° Laminations
° The Noise Of Carpet
° Fluorescences
° Cybele’s Reverie
° Wow and Flutter
° Ping Pong
° Crumb Duck
° Jenny Ondioline
° Low~Fi
° Super Electric
Single:
° Eye Of The Volcano
° Excursions Into
° Whisper Pitch
° Interlock
° Plastic Mile
° Kyberneticka Babicka
° Rose, My Rocket~Brain!
° Free Witch And No~Bra Queen
° The In Sound
° Soi Disant split
° Refractions In The Plastic Pulse
° Calimero
° Iron Man
° Cat's Miaow/Stereolab
° Fugu Split Single
° Simple Headphone Mind
° Noises
° Percolations
° Metronomic Underground
° Fuxa Split Single
° Spectrum/Stereolab
° Stereolab/Tortoise
° The Long Hair of Death
° Inside Dave’s Garage
° Unrest/Stereolab
° Lo Boob Oscilator
° French Disko
° High Expectations
° Shimmies in Super Double
° John Cage Bubblegum
° Spacewatch
° Harmonium/Farfisa
° The Light That Will Cease To Fail
° Super 45
° Stunning Debut Album
Lyrics and titles:
° Stereolab’s music is politically and philosophically charged. Lætitia Sadier, who writes the group’s lyrics, has reportedly been inspired by her anger at the Iraq War. The Surrealist and Situationist cultural and political movements were also influences, as noted by Sadier and Gane in a 1999 Salon.com interview. Stewart Mason commented in an Allmusic review that the lyrics from the 1997 song “Miss Modular” „sound influenced by the Situationist theory of the ‘spectacle’.“ When asked to explain her intentions in a 1991 Melody Maker interview, Sadier responded that „Basically I want to change the world. I want to make people think about how they live every day, shake them a bit.“
° Critics have seen Marxist allusions in the band’s lyrics, and several have gone so far as to call the band members themselves Marxist. “Ping Pong”, a single included on “Mars Audiac Quintet” (1994), has been put forward as evidence. In the song, Sadier sings „about capitalism’s cruel cycles of slump and recovery“ with lyrics that constitute „a plainspoken explanation of one of the central tenets of Marxian economic analysis“ (said critics Simon Reynolds and Stewart Mason, respectively). The song opens with the lines:
It’s alright ‘cause the historical pattern has shown,
How the economical cycle tends to revolve,
In a round of decades three stages stand out in a loop,
A slump and war then peel back to square one and back for more.