LM Artist Poll No. 74 · STEREOLAB · Results Thread

http://i.imgur.com/l7ma5FW.jpg

Alternate Pun Title: Refractions in the Plastic Polls
Track Ballots Received: 040 Tracks Voted:177
Album/Compilation/Eps Ballots Received: 034 Albums/Compilations/Eps Voted: 023
Results rollout: top 10 albums / top 60 tracks
Date: 04/04/2016 to 04/08/2016
Spotify Results Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/moteldemoka/playlist/3Hro45YZYadpgVLSZSkYFR

coming up next! top 10 albums

http://i.imgur.com/sKjkkhx.jpg
10. The Groop Played Space Age Batchelor Pad Music 6 votes, 183 points. 0 first place votes. Year of Release:1993

http://i.imgur.com/oFPyrZo.jpg
09. Switched On Stereolab Vol. 1 7 votes, 231 points. 1 first place vote. Year of Release:1992

http://i.imgur.com/MFt9Ldg.jpg
08. Peng! 8 votes, 268 points. 2 first place votes. Year of Release: 1992

http://i.imgur.com/QXpLHYX.jpg
07. Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night 9 votes, 300 points. 2 first place votes. Year of Release: 1999

http://i.imgur.com/zPwyu5r.jpg
06. Sound-Dust 13 votes, 444 points. 5 first place votes. Year of Release: 2001

Wow, you don't mess around. Seems I woke just in time. How exciting. And pretty!

I didn't get a chance to make a ballot, but I'm excited for this! rooting for a strong showing by Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night

the graphics are coool

http://i.imgur.com/Yn2t9Sd.jpg
05. Dots & Loops 15 votes, 533 points. 5 first place votes. Year of Release: 1997

Switched on was by far their best album. Why does nobody else get this? There are no clunkers on that album. Everything is still fresh and tasty. And hypnotic like hell. They never came close to it.

I'm excited to learn a lot in this poll, as my knowledge of the discography ends right around 1998.

There was a definite shift in the early ballots and the late ones. Originally Peng! was top 3 and Sound-Dust was nowhere to be found! Cobra and Space Age were also saved by the last ballots. They were in 11 and 12 respectively.

http://i.imgur.com/8fciNr5.jpg
04. Mars Audiac Quintet 17 votes, 558 points. 3 first place votes. Year of Release: 1994

very pretty results thread!

didn't vote (prospect of trying to parse out the 14th best vs the 51st Stereolab track defeated me), but looking forward to this

http://i.imgur.com/8mon6fb.jpg
03. Refried Ectoplasm: Switched On Vol. 2 19 votes, 660 points. 6 first place votes. Year of Release: 1995

http://i.imgur.com/ZOMbRbU.jpg
02. Transient Random Noise-Burst w/announcements 23 votes, 752 points. 4 first place votes. Year of Release: 1993

http://i.imgur.com/KFwmQ3E.jpg
01. Emperor Tomato Ketchup 26 votes, 863 points. 4 first place votes. Year of Release: 1996

Need to go for a couple of mins, I leave you with the album results. Will come back and I will only post 10 songs as an opening tease, top 50 rollout until tomorrow.

I'm a little surprised that MAQ and Refried Ectoplasm are so well-loved. Was hoping to see D&L get more love.

Top 10 results have the same albums but in different order than this poll:

The Stereolab Albums Poll

I'm a little surprised that MAQ and Refried Ectoplasm are so well-loved. Was hoping to see D&L get more love.

― Check Yr Scrobbles (Moodles)

The first handful of ballots positioned D&L as a top 3 album but late ballots brought it down.

Yeah, D&L was my #1
xxps

Such sensible people, those late voters.

I seem to recall MAQ was my highest-ranked 'proper' LP in the end, and Refried my #1, but probably couldn't have expected much different from this outcome.

Moka, is it possible to pace out the track reveals so we can discuss them individually for a bit?

Nice to see Sound-Dust do well. That and Margarine Eclipse were so underrated.

Emperor Tomato Ketchup deserves to be at the top. One of my five favourite albums ever.

Yes Moodles! I'll do tracks more separately. Just wanted to clear albums quickly first.

these rollout graphics are sweeeet

I think we should all chip in to a stipend to hire Moka as official ILM Ballot Poll Graphic Designer.

Transient is for me their only "complete" album that I can listen through without fatigue, but I guess that's because I'm still a rockist.

I'd like to imagine there were a few #1 votes for the later sprawling singles comps. Would seem like one of many possible perfectly rational choices.

Tracks results coming up. I added album covers to this ones. Sometimes they work, sometimes they dont :p

http://i.imgur.com/vF64wbc.jpg
60. Pop Quiz 4 votes, 100 points. 0 first place votes.
From:Music for the Amorphous Body Study Center EP, 1995.
https://youtu.be/KAqy-JpoBO0

Blimey! Lucky I switched to a ranked ballot. My #2. Robbed, etc, etc.

I had never heard this EP prior to this poll and I was pleasantly surprised. The opening three tracks are all great.

http://i.imgur.com/WLhtX6Y.jpg
59. Changer 4 votes, 106 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Stunning Debut Album 7”, 1991.
https://youtu.be/7O9mwPMd7i0

This is where it all starts.

http://i.imgur.com/ExPZ3L9.jpg
58. Avant Garde MOR 4 votes, 108 points. 1 first place vote.
From: Space Age Batchelor Pad Music, 1993.
https://youtu.be/OrcaCYTErTg

I feel bad about not acknowledging SABPM in any way on my ballot. I knew I would.

That's one of the many holes I have in my Groopological knowledge, going to have to redress that!

So, there are a couple of ties in the countdown. I'll follow crut's method on the depeche mode poll: ties are broken first by number of #1 votes, then by number of total votes. If they have the same votes and points then a tie is mentioned, otherwise that will be the method of ranking them.

http://i.imgur.com/1mVeinv.jpg
57. Puncture in the Radax Permutation 5 votes, 109 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night, 1999.
https://youtu.be/KA6vh2wVfQM

Yeah, I did that on the Fall ballot too, accidentally or so I thought. (Xpost)

http://i.imgur.com/Q8ob6g3.jpg
56. K-Stars 5 votes, 109 points. 1 first place vote.
From: Peng!, 1992.
https://youtu.be/QzFiCRw1XAw

I love this one (everything on this album, actually). It sounds like Young Marble Giants would in the 90's, a bit of shoegaze influence in there... could be partly responsible for setting that Morr label micropop a decade earlier.

Slow down, Moka! Jesus.

Yes @ #57! You were blessed if you heard Mary sing this live. She only did it once or twice, I think.

Hahaha, sorry! I have to leave to work in 30 minutes and I want to cover all the ground possible. I promise tomorrow results will rollout very slowly.

Possibly the Peng! track least likely to be mistaken for an entirely band when juxtaposed with #57. :)

entirely DIFFERENT band

http://i.imgur.com/GVTUkCC.jpg
55. Peng! 33 4 votes, 110 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Peng!, 1992.
https://youtu.be/6993BdVL_0k

'incredible things are happening in this poll' was another alt title I was considering.

http://i.imgur.com/ydxjVXk.jpg
54. Spark Plug 5 votes, 111 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Emperor Tomato Ketchup, 1996.
https://youtu.be/Girx3PL5o-g

http://i.imgur.com/RHYgvhy.jpg
53. Nihilist Assault Group 6 votes, 111 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Mars Audiac Quintet / Wow & Flutter EP (1994)
https://youtu.be/QqdxiW7A2fY

I really should've voted in this but couldn't get myself together

(MAQ too low)

lol M.O.R. was my #1 and here it is at #58

I have to go so I leave you with the final results of the day. A tie, actually.

Apologies for the hasty rollout today. Tomorrow I'll be rolling them out with 20 mins at minimum in between.

http://i.imgur.com/vZLrmJC.jpg
TIE 51. OLV 26 5 votes, 112 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996)
https://youtu.be/5Zm5H-116mQ

http://i.imgur.com/7GpCvMd.jpg
TIE 51. New Ortophony 5 votes, 112 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Mars Audiac Quintet (1994)
https://youtu.be/808qJizotKA

Gee, I might have stayed on Team "New Orthophony" if I realised it had broader support. As mentioned on the other thread, such a vote would have been very firmly for the far superior unedited (Aluminum Tunes) version. (Haha, okay, the version in the link in other words.)

I'm considering the first release as the one to mention in almost every track but yes, the new ortophony unedited v. is awesome!

just catching up now, will have some more organized thoughts on this a bit later. For now, will just say that I'm impressed that none of these dipped below 4 votes. I was expecting lots of 1 vote tunes. Also, the graphics do indeed look fantastic!

It's kind of insane how much stuff they cranked out between '92 and '96, they covered a huge amount of ground in their first few years.

I love how varied the opening songs are. Dimisses criticism of naysayers that their songs all sound the same.

Also early stuff is very charming.

There weren't many other tracks on the compilations that weren't previously on singles/etc were there? That long "NO", countrified "Tone Burst", "Sadistic" and... perhaps a couple of further things on Aluminum Tunes. Does this mean 20-something-th anniversary deluxe reissues with squillions of bona fide outtakes are on the horizon? Bwahaha.

WHOA

https://www.discogs.com/Stereolab-Eaten-Horizons-Or-The-Electrocution-Of-Rock/release/1124263

I have MP3s of this that I never listened to, just figured out what they were

Gosh! Seems it's on YT too: https://youtu.be/MGBF9aZkum8

Haven't heard these, checking them out now.

WHOA

https://www.discogs.com/Stereolab-Eaten-Horizons-Or-The-Electrocution-Of-Rock/release/1124263

I have MP3s of this that I never listened to, just figured out what they were

    Last Sold: 16 May 13
    Lowest: $427.17
    Median: $463.59
    Highest: $500.00

I know!

Stereolab could have made a whole career out of stripped-down Joao Gilberto-style acoustic-guitar-and-voice arrangements, I'm now thinking.

Bummer, I'm traveling this week, so few chances to check in on the rollout.
Concerned about the state of my ballot after seeing my #2 crossed off (Olv 26).

Terrific early results, and I'm especially happy to see two ETK standouts - over the years, "Spark Plug" and especially "OLV 26" have really deepened for me. "K-Stars" is one of those tracks on Peng (like "Super Falling Star" and "Stomach Worm") that seem to have more to do with the wider world of indie at the time than their own hermetic method; looking back, I think they were generally really good at straight pastiche and I kinda wish they had done more. Likewise: those giant swooning strings on "Pop Quiz"!

I'm going to be busy tomorrow so I'll be posting only 10 songs throughout the morning. Actually 9 since I'll post number 50 right now from my mobile to see if the code and ordering doesn't fuck up and make sure I can post from mobile without problem.

Without further ado. Number 50!

http://i.imgur.com/uOoagoi.jpg
50. Percolator 6 votes, 113 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Noises EP / Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996)
https://youtu.be/KmvUPGaMeGw

It works. Excellent! I'll see you tomorrow!

Wednesday I'll do 40-21 then and Thursday 20-1.

The Spotify playlist will not be updated until evening, the youtube links should work unless I didn't copy them correctly.

IF I HAD VOTED I would have voted for "Percolations" which is my all-time favourite remix.

That is a great remix!

Here it is for anyone curious: https://youtu.be/UBXCGy5emEY

I'm a little surprised that MAQ and Refried Ectoplasm are so well-loved.

I didn't vote - too many choices plus have had crazy stressful week - but these are my top two albums so I feel reassured we are in safe hands! (insert whatever the more tastefully ironic modern equivalent of a winking emoticon is here)

Loving the graphics. Always a fan of colour gradients.

Thought Peng! 33 might be a lot higher and NAG too maybe, but I am excited for what is ahead. Hope to see some favourites high up but my knowledge is patchy post-2000 and also for the very early era so I look forward to new discoveries too. Thanks Moka and thanks to all voters!

"K-Stars" is one of those tracks on Peng (like "Super Falling Star" and "Stomach Worm") that seem to have more to do with the wider world of indie at the time than their own hermetic method

This feels profoundly OTM for a pretty big proportion of Peng!. Working backwards after SABPM and RTNBWA had been released, this definitely made for a "this isn't really the shtick I thought I'd signed up for" sort of post-purchase experience. Which is not to say I actually regretted purchasing it.

Adding to what others are saying about the graphics ... they look amazing!

No real surprises from the albums poll, except maybe for "Refried Ectoplasm" at #3. I thought "Dots and Loops" was an ILM favourite, but at least on this poll the damage was limited and it came in at #5. It's by far the worst of the top ten.

dots and loops and sound dust each had 5 first place votes so they woulda been 2nd/3rd if everyone only had one vote, they just had less consensus support

Thanks for putting this together, Moka!

I scrambled to put together a poll yesterday afternoon, raiding Discogs and YouTube as I did so, to remind myself of titles and MY GOD, it was just an overwhelming task. It's made me want to re-rip everything I have and stick it all on my phone (I think I did that around the time of Marge Ecl but that iTunes library got lost somewhere along the way), but even that is going miss out on so much vinyl. I'm not sure how much is collated on Spotify. Agreed on Percolations - I used to play that 12" a lot.

As with Kate Bush and David Bowie, I will check my gmail Sent folder in a few months' time and think "how did I miss that out?"

I like iatee's reasoning. So really Refried is #1. :)

Once upon a time, in some circles, putting Refried at #1 would have made me boring Mr Consensus. (Non-LP tracks from their golden era! An era in which they seemed determined to put their very best tracks anywhere other than on LPs!)

I'm really kicking myself that I didn't make the effort to vote, but I have a 24 year relationship with Stereolab (mind blown one night seeing "Super Electric" on TV and realising this was the band I had waited for) and felt too daunted to break it down to rankings. With live recordings my iTunes lists 38 albums. Heck, I even have Simple Headphone Mind. That spring in 1996 listening to ETK on repeat through a Discman with tiny speakers while I read Fred Hoyle's "A for Andromeda" and "The Black Cloud".Searching for six months for a copy of Amorphous Body Study Centre and mail ordering it from Exotica in the UK (I'm in Tasmania). Mary's death and the bittersweet redemption of Margerine Eclipse.
If I had to choose one, it would be "Avant Garde M.O.R." No, wait, "Super Electric". Or "Diagonals". Nope, can't even contemplate it.

Also, I voted for the Charles Long collab, Amorphous etc, in my albums poll but I didn't follow the noms thread to see whether that was actually considered a full album. It's included in almost its entirety on Aluminum Tunes (the vinyl of that *still* smells so good), skipping the truncated final track, so I wasn't quite sure. Anyway.

Digging the Amorphous Body Study Centre love. It missed out on explicit vote from me, but yep, it's the #1 reason why Aluminum Tunes was on my compilation-heavy ballot.

I'm still slightly terrified by "sur ... des ... rosiers ardents" TBH. Likewise OLV26.

Holy crap "Blips, Drips and Strips". I'd forgotten how much I like Cobra.

Percolator would have been my number one if i voted, what a bassline

Glad to see "K-Stars", but sad that it's so low. Was my #1, and I would have said the same in '92-'93. As simple and beautiful a sound/song as they ever made. Gorgeous, lambent drone medicine, like a five-watt filament in a darkened hash fugue. Lovely lyrics, too.

"K-Stars" is one of those tracks on Peng (like "Super Falling Star" and "Stomach Worm") that seem to have more to do with the wider world of indie at the time than their own hermetic method

This feels profoundly OTM for a pretty big proportion of Peng!. Working backwards after SABPM and RTNBWA had been released, this definitely made for a "this isn't really the shtick I thought I'd signed up for" sort of post-purchase experience.

Vote better.

Hello everyone! We'll start the day with an epic song that gives this poll its pun title!

http://i.imgur.com/TI8e6Fg.jpg
49. Refractions in the Plastic Pulse 5 votes, 113 points. 1 first place vote.
From: Dots & Loops (1997)
https://youtu.be/RQOrv1EmrJk

nice, didn't vote for this one, but probably would have if the first part could be taken as it's own song. I love the melancholy vibe of this and various other tracks from D&L. That ascending line they sing together is so great, like a sad spaceship climbing into space and then landing on an alien world.

re: Percolator - one of my favorites, seemed like such a bizarro track compared to just about everything they did before. When they performed this on the ETK tour, it escalated into a climactic moment where the whole band came together and the entire mix was fed through a distorted Moog. It sounded absolutely insane.

A few more notes

Pop Quiz - this was one of the first indications that they were starting to move in a different direction, although I didn't expect they'd come up with something as radically different as ETK.

Puncture in Radax Permutation - One of the best features for Mary Hansen

K-Stars - I agree with contenderizer that this sounds like pure Stereolab, such a nice moody piece. But yeah, at this point, they maybe hadn't quite differentiated themselves from other shoegaze or dreampop bands.

Peng! 33 - Lyrics cribbed from One Hundred Years of Solitude

Spark Plug - This is a great example of how ETK just piles layers upon layers of sounds to an overwhelming extent. They got more subtle with this later on, for better or worse.

Nihilist Assault Group - probably my favorite MAQ track. I love how they come back in the end with a more amped up version of the main tune. The distorted Farfisa drones are huge.

http://i.imgur.com/Wf8TeIW.jpg
48. Baby Lulu 4 votes, 116 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Sound-Dust (2001)
https://youtu.be/-eqHVGscSpg

Love the horn section in this one. Is 25 mins in between tracks ok?

in case any of you haven't seen this essential thread:

List The Direct References of Stereolab

Yes to 25 mins.

Nice to see a bit of pink at last. Sound-Dust did well in the albums poll so hopefully some more to come.

Baby Lulu was the last song I cut from my list. Happy to see get a decent position.

Really should have had Refractions on my list. They just have too many incredible songs.

Next up a Cobra song which might or might not be inspired by french film "baisers de secours"

http://i.imgur.com/DrTScew.jpg
47. The Emergency Kisses 5 votes, 118 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night (1999)
https://youtu.be/mmfrPS4K1IQ

It's good to see Cobra and Phases has its supporters. I still remember reading that NME review where it got 0/10. It was such a bizarre review.

Johnny Cigarettes, I believe. He might have posted here once.

Love Cobra and Phase and the last two above were way up there in my ballot.

0/10 is a joke for any Stereolab album or EP. Even at their worst they're still an interesting band. They don't deserve a score below 6.

Yeah it was Johnny Cigarettes. It still made their end of year albums list so it obviously wasn't an opinion shared will all the writers. It was their last album to make any of those kind of lists though. Shame as Sound-Dust and Margarine Eclipse were really strong.

Coming up a tie between two early songs, one is a b-side that I hadn't heard prior to this poll.

http://i.imgur.com/9pVHG4o.jpg
TIE 45. Perversion 6 votes, 120 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Peng! (1992)
https://youtu.be/MPJ_AIfntwg

http://i.imgur.com/nyev8Y5.jpg
TIE 45. Eloge D’Eros 6 votes, 120 points. 0 first place votes.
From: John Cage Bubblegum 7" (1993)
https://youtu.be/A5ZPxNzeFA4

Heaven knows that I like a long song, but "Refractions" really meanders for me. :\

Hey Nag! Did you cop your handle from "Nihilist Assault Group"?

Cabaret Voltaire, surely? ;)

0/10 is a joke for any Stereolab album or EP. Even at their worst they're still an interesting band. They don't deserve a score below 6.

otm, and why I found the prospect of ranking them so daunting. Going through these songs as you post them, and really enjoying them. Early stuff particularly, because my first record by them was actually Microbe Hunters, and didn't even try to go really far back until much later.

I remember a bunch of bad reviews for that stuff then too (I think pfork also had a really bad Cobra & Phases review?), and not getting it. Like, what was there to hate? Not like, find boring, that's fine, but saying a record is completely worthless implies some kind of offense taken -- and I can't imagine taking offense at anything these guys and girls did.

Recapping. . .

'Refractions': My #15. The phased out moogs are so dreamy.

'Baby Lulu': My #5. That bassline is so good. Sounds like Carol Kaye on a David Axelrod song.

'Emergency Kisses': My #8. The violin is just sublime.

i remember finding cobra & phases a bit dull, but only because i was stupid

Yes , for a casual listener you can accuse them of being boring or homogenic sounding maybe, but saying a whole album by them is worthless requires some very strong opinion against them, and you're right they don't seem the kind of band that you actively hate. They're easy to ignore and were mostly private about their life and creative process.

Cobra and Phases feels a bit unfocused and unambitious compared to the albums that came before it, but really it has a ton of great tracks

yeah, I do think it's kind of too long. However, if I'd voted, I would for sure have included its longest tune "Blue Milk", IMO one of the best distillations of krautrock ever

Perhaps Cobra is the album where the easy listening music started bleeding too much into every track, but they keep things interesting with complex rhythm arrangements I love Blips Drips and Fuses.

and Free Design, which might actually be my favorite Lab track

Well, being inoffensive could be the very crime they were getting slammed for, right? I'm sure Mr Cigarettes (real name Sharp) had a visceral distaste for the sort of vision of pop music Stereolab were peddling, and Cobra & Phases was the crest of the particular creative curve they were on at the time - a kind of refinement (and enlargement - Blue Milk!) of everything that anyone who went off them in '93 (or never liked them) would find annoying. The British inkies had a grand tradition of giving LPs (or gigs) to the writer who would give it the most florid trashing. S'lab have had a few savagings in here!

It made me angry at the time, and that was the idea.

xxxp

"Baby Lulu" and "Emergency Kisses" = two favorites that didn't make my top 20.

"Refractions" is a fascinating experiment, but I really only love the last part, from 12:45 on thru. Someone from Plaid must have been involved, right? Plinky-plonky bit sounds very Plaid.

Coming up another track from an ep I didn't know about but seems to have heavy support. Even a first place vote in there.

http://i.imgur.com/aDndUPv.jpg
44. Check and Double Check 5 votes, 124 points. 1 first place votes.
From: Laminations EP (1996)
https://youtu.be/h8qqdyGrHcQ

great track!

Cobra is overlong, tracks like "Italian Shoes Continuum" and "Op Hop Detonation" tread water, whole thing goes out of focus at/after "Velvet Water". Still a great album.

And yeah, the full immersion in "innofensive" easy listening was a difficult hurdle for me at the time.

Refractions is interesting. It's flowing so nicely just before the 4 minute mark. But after that it becomes a kind of strenuous exercise. Not really working, i find. Too serious, where is the lightness gone? In the second half it sounds exciting and surprising. Not like stereolab more like a slightly experimental electronic band like early autechre. But when the strings come in i'm bored again. A mixed bag.

Totally a difficult hurdle for me as well. Stuff like Cobra and Jim O'Rourke's Eureka were frightening me with the prospect of growing up and appreciating lighter fare, when what I wanted from pastiche at the time was to either have my mind blown or my ass handed to me (Cornelius, Trans Am).
xp to Contendo

http://i.imgur.com/YcKId6W.jpg
43. The Free Design 6 votes, 133 points. 0 first place votes.
From: The Free Design EP (1999)
https://youtu.be/QPcc07HqZUc

aww, too low

love it tho, like James Bond jazz made out of a Can loop

it's funny that people thought of cobra as easy listening. it's such a dense record, packed w/ ideas, almost proggy. I don't consider it light fare at all.

http://i.imgur.com/0e17lfW.jpg
42. Diagonals 7 votes, 133 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Dots & Loops (1997)
https://youtu.be/VNyCK9Xb1SI

Wow, I was the first-place vote for "Refractions" and I'm kind of shocked it's not higher. It's such an epic journey through space and time and I love every minute of it haha. Actually, the last four minutes alone would still probably be my favorite Lab track. That section has the most beguiling, chills-down-the-spine chord progression and melody. And there's a sort of reverse-"Aguas de Março" Shepard illusion going on where it seems to rise and rise into infinity without actually arriving anywhere. I hope I'm making sense, but I've gone 30 hours straight without sleeping so idk.

Also, Free Design too low :(

But K-Stars made it, so I'm happy.

awesome! really had no idea how popular "diagonals" might be. one of my favorite phase II trax.

it's funny that people thought of cobra as easy listening.

it's a genre

I don't like diagonals. It's so repetitive in a boring, annoying kind of way. Especially the singing. I hope there will be something from switched on soon.

I love the funky drumming on "Diagonals." Is that McEntire playing or just McEntire-influenced?

I have discovered Stereolab in 1992 on the french radio programme of bernard lenoir. And for me they were the first retro band. Very much inspired by neu! and their motorik beat plus melody and almost angelic female singing. I loved their sound. Then they released so many albums. And the quality of their music was suffering. They changed style. From krautrock motorik tuneful to easy listening muzak and soundtrack etc. And i lost interest soon. In the beginning they were a special band to me, later on they became so generic and vacuous. Maybe i am the only one who feels like this but i can't change it.

http://i.imgur.com/f4ZpffE.jpg
41. Laisser-Faire 6 votes, 134 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Low Fi EP (1992)
https://youtu.be/f7yu6JezvRM

I love this one and this ep. There were some votes for Laissez Faire which is the ABC live version. Counted them as the same song.

10 first place votes - if only!

it's a genre

sure, but not a genre I would ever attach to an album that starts w/ 'fuses'

Hahaha oops error in the image should be 0 votes.

Maybe I can do 5 more when I get home. 15 tomorrow and 20 on Thursday. What do you prefer?

It's that option or 20 / 20 next days.

5/15/20 would be great if you ask me.

Alright! I'll try and post the remaining 5 when I get home.

Genuinely shocked by these comments. Shocked! To my mind, "K-Stars" is Stereolab, The Groop in their most essential form.

I don't actually disagree. It could be the most 'Stereolab' track on Peng!, an album that frequently sounds not altogether 'Stereolab'. But it's probably not the best example of this broader tendency. Indeed, I'd previously (clumsily) suggested it makes for a less jarring juxtaposition with the neighboring late-90s track than most of Peng! would.

Not that the late 90s is where 'real' Stereolab lies. LOL. Christ, I'm digging new holes for myself.

Also disregard 'But' in the third sentence above.

http://i.imgur.com/h1Vx4Rg.jpg
40. Tone Burst 6 votes, 135 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Transient Random Noise-Bursts... (1993)

Yes. Enfin. That's my kind of Stereolab. Melodical, simple, naïve, hypnotic. What an amazing band!

Forgot the youtube link!

https://youtu.be/tnn4HsnbTjw

Spotify playlist has been updated.

And how it all falls apart near the end. Absolutely brilliant.

http://i.imgur.com/NWw61Dr.jpg
39. Three-Dee Melodie 7 votes, 135 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Mars Audiac Quintet (1994)
https://youtu.be/k45VWW_sYhQ

I like how the organ and guitar sound like they are ready to explode by the end of Tone Burst

There were some votes for Laissez Faire which is the ABC live version
Nah, I'm just forgetting my French grammar, Moka - as apparently did the BBC! - it was the Lo-Fi version I was voting for.

Voted for Diagonals too. Alex, I feel the air of the other planet you are on.

Xp. Three-dee melodie is sounding nice but there is no tune or let's say the tune is no good. It has no soul. I don't get most of Stereolab after Transient random noise, many tracks are just annoying and anemic. With margerine eclipse they come back for me.

http://i.imgur.com/u6EJoOz.jpg
38. Pinball 5 votes, 137 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Fluorescences EP (1996)
https://youtu.be/XtA34xPPcig

xpost

I like it, but the melodies are like a collection of background vocals, which is kind of a good way to approach their melodies in general IMO

Pinball fans really really like Pinball.

I like MAQ but it is a disappointing album after hearing TRNBWA, Lo Boob 7", French Disko 7" and the singles Wow & Flutter and Ping Pong.

I didn't vote for any of this batch. But with perhaps one exception I could've happily voted for all of them. I'm not sure if that means that y'all have good taste or that the groop are ludicrously consistent.

Hey Nag! Did you cop your handle from "Nihilist Assault Group"?

Hehe. Funny you should say that: the unexpected acronym keeps leaping out at me.

XPOST: Ah, I did vote "Pinball". Yay!

Pinball is the first of mine to place. They were on fire in 96. One perfect album and probably my favourite EP of all time. I ended up voting for three of the tracks.

I voted for a bunch of FFS tracks, but IIRC not many people rate it so I think that we're not going to see any of them. :(

Pinball my #3. The vocal melodies are astonishing, like so effortlessly memorable and buoyant, that I keep forgetting the actual lyrics aren't in English.

I just started listening to the spotify playlist and got to "Puncture in the Radak Permutation" and the part where the vododer background vocals come in is one of the best moments of any Stereolab song.

I think "Tone Burst" was the first 'Lab song I ever heard (I bought "Transient Random ..." based on some good reviews of the band, and it's the first song on the album).

"Laisser-Faire" is so great (I voted for 3/4 of the "Lo Fi" EP). And "Perversion" ... their most Velvet-y track ever? It was only a few months ago that I realized it's nearly a carbon copy of "What Goes On", I've been a fan of Stereolab and the VU since forever and never made the connection.

Tone Burst would have been a serious contender for #1 on my ballot had I voted.

I think "Tone Burst" was the first 'Lab song I ever heard

Same here

Pinball has something about it. I think it is in the singing and the harmonies. After the unsexy binary sounds in the beginning this song really evolves into a scenting, beautiful rose which tries to grow into my ear.

Man, those "Eaten Horizons" demos are absolutely killing me right now.

http://i.imgur.com/J1378bM.jpg
37. Anamorphose 6 votes, 138 points. 1 first place votes.
From: Mars Audiac Quintet (1994)
https://youtu.be/ksR2AnpgPo0

I like when the horns come in on this one.

^ Word

Are there any bands that made the kraut-motorik thing with a horn ensemble prior to this one? It makes a nice pairing.

great song. I think MAQ might be my favorite Lab album, just such a great balance of their early and later sounds

xpost
Faust's "Munic B" is basically horn + motorik, but I wouldn't say they sound much like this ("Rainy Day Sunshine" is the one Lab seems to prefer)

Xp. Annoying repetitional singing on this. This is horrible. How many times does she repeat the sentence? 50 times, 60 times or more? That is so awful and unimaginative. Makes me think of a spastic who can only utter one phrase. Sorry. I am totally flabbergasted how anybody can vote for this minimalistic nothingness in view of the rich catalog of stereolab songs

haha it's another one where all the vocals are background vocals! I don't know, think of it like a Philip Glass piece

Hahahaha Mars Audiac Quintet is hit or miss for me. It's their most homogenic album I think... For example I really, really like when the horns enter but I also think the song could be cut in half and I wouldn't mind.

But glass is awful as well. Always the same shtick. The emperor without clothes.

Last track of the day! An old one too, turn up the speakers:

http://i.imgur.com/bTatmtY.jpg
36. Harmonium 5 votes, 140 points. 2 first place votes.
From: Harmonium / Farfisa 7” (1992)
https://youtu.be/-MQOrXRCQBg

xpost

I'm actually surprised you can think that and still like Stereolab. I hear bits of Music in 12 Parts all over their discography

Aaaaaaaaargh. About 30 places too low!

So, yeah, my #1. REALLY glad I switched to a ranked ballot now.

That's more like it. A nice tune to end the day. And we turn and we turn and we turn. Till the end of time.

I saw phil glass live in the 80s. Don't remember what it was. Anyway it all sounds the same. And i think it was the first time i had this impression of immaculate, sterile, fascistic beauty in music. I haven't listened to him since. And it did not harm.

Never really got Anamorphose

Well, I guess it isn't surprising you like early stuff more. It seems like the early Stereolab favored minimalism a la Velvet Underground, Neu, LaMonte Young, where later Lab sub'd for Glass melodies, Reich percussion

Are there any bands that made the kraut-motorik thing with a horn ensemble prior to this one?

https://youtu.be/CmgFBSmoLmc

oh great, another poll where we have to listen to alex in mainhattan complain after every other result, and talk endlessly about how these tracks that lots of people love are so horrible and worthless

Anamorphose was my #16, fantastic cyclic Glass-worship

Are there any bands that made the kraut-motorik thing with a horn ensemble prior to this one?

https://youtu.be/CmgFBSmoLmc

― Check Yr Scrobbles (Moodles)

Oh wow! That's is actually spot on.

LOLOLOLOL. Nifty.

Cut "Anamorphose" in half? It's the opposite -- it should be 15 minutes long.

I don't understand the criticism about it being repetitive. Of course it's repetitive, that's the point. And it builds beautifully to the horn parts at the end.

You can imagine most of the tracks on MAQ getting extended by another 3-4 minutes, there's no necessity in cutting off "Transona Five" or "Three Dee Melodie", so I'm not sure why they "chose" "Anamorphose" to be the long one.

"Metronomic Underground" is more repetitive than anything on MAQ, but I don't think it'll be criticized for that.

Xp. I'll stop complaining. It doesn't lead anywhere, i know. Great poll, Moka. Thanks for all the effort put in this.
And the thing about neu! and vu as influences in the beginning and glass and reich later on might be true. I actually like reich, drumming is a personal fave..

wau that supremes track!

President Carter loves repetition. Chairman Mao, he dug repetition...

Cut "Anamorphose" in half? It's the opposite -- it should be 15 minutes long.

I don't understand the criticism about it being repetitive. Of course it's repetitive, that's the point. And it builds beautifully to the horn parts at the end.

You can imagine most of the tracks on MAQ getting extended by another 3-4 minutes, there's no necessity in cutting off "Transona Five" or "Three Dee Melodie", so I'm not sure why they "chose" "Anamorphose" to be the long one.

"Metronomic Underground" is more repetitive than anything on MAQ, but I don't think it'll be criticized for that.

― NoTimeBeforeTime

you could edit it but I wouldn't.

I was the #1 vote for Anamorphose... the groop at their peak imho which dovetailed with my peak fandom of the band as well.

Somewhat shocked that it barely made the top 40, but then again this is ILM.

l n'y a rien de,
De plus vrai que,
De plus vrai que le,
Plus vrai que le souffle,
Il n'y a rien de,
Plus vrai que le souffle.

my #8

Poll has made me want to buy Stereolab vinyl but the reissues are very expensive! I have Peng! and D&L, was thinking about buying Transient and Sound Dust next... I don't know if the switched on comps have ever been printed in vinyl... would buy Refried in a heartbeat.

Only 4 other people had the good sense to vote for "Harmonium," and only myself and Nag! put it at #1. Shame on y'all.

Refried 2LP is available from Drag City. Shouldn't be too expensive.

I'll look into it, if there is one band in my mind that deserves to do the whole vinyl collector fetishism, it's this one.

It's funny. Kent and I are acquainted outside of ILX, but we rarely to seem to agree on anything in these polls. This time an off-thread outrageathon over "Harmonium" has commenced. :)

Only 4 other people had the good sense to vote for "Harmonium," and only myself and Nag! put it at #1. Shame on y'all.

It made my long list!

I was walking to work today and listening to Transient, which I don't do too often, and listening to Golden Ball I started to think: wow, this evil mess is actually really good! It was never what I looked to them for, but they could totally execute it.

When I checked back into the poll the results seemed practically random: Anamorphose, Laisser-faire, Check and Double Check? All those songs that blended together around my favorites? Which is glorious - there are like a million ways to love the Lab! I won't quite understand if Klang Tone or something makes the top ten but I'm really enjoying hearing these things anew through other ears.

whole show from '94 here, and pretty great sound too. These guys were as tight live as on the records, and luckily I got to see them before Mary died.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw5bZWFM9BM

nice!

I saw them for the first time 6 days before that Danbury show at The Middle East in Cambridge, MA

Yes, I've seen that Danbury '94 show, it's the best live document of early-ish Stereolab I've seen on youtube.

I also saw them on that tour, eight days before the Danbury show, opening for the Fall in Toronto.

Posted this thread on the stereolab.co.uk forum and apparently a couple of readers are wondering why Margerine Eclipse isn't in the top 10 albums. I voted for two tracks but had no idea it had a fanbase. Only one of you included it in his albums list in 3rd or 4th place iirc.

Unrelated: not a single one of you voted for Whisper Pitch and you're missing out on one of their best latter songs.

Which albums do the "Margerine Eclipse" boosters not rate highly? The early stuff I guess?

Margerine Eclipse might be the least familiar of their LPs for me. Though it's mostly fun, and I had "La Demeure" on my shortlist until a late cull. Somewhere in the ILX archives is a regrettable thread I started shortly before its release in which I asked whether we even needed any more Stereolab recordings at that point. Doomed before I even heard a note!

I think Nov '94 was the best Stereolab show I saw - Sheffield Leadmill (Laika and David McAlmont supporting! Not together, sadly). I guess I saw them... six times, maybe, between '92 and '04.

No, I've checked the web and I went to nine shows...

Oct '92 Boardwalk, Manchester
Oct '93 Garage, London
Nov '94 Leadmill, Sheffield (Laika, McAlmont)
Jun '95 Lomax, Liverpool (Yo La Tengo)
Sep '95 Riverside, Newcastle (Tortoise, Mouse on Mars)
Mar '96 Forum, London (Tortoise, Broadcast)
Nov '99 Heaven, London
Apr '00 ATP, Camber Sands
Apr '04 9:30 Club, Washington DC

!!! The web suggests that my equivalent, er, list is:

1998-02-03, Prince of Wales, Melbourne

I have an old VHS of a live gig filmed from the side of the stage, you can easily imagine you are on stage with them, playing bass maybe.

At one point, band member asks Tim what's next, tim replies "Harmonium Percolater" or some such, band member goes "ah, which one's that?" and Tim goes, "you know, langalanga dungung nerrrr"

(Quotes from memory, probably not exact)

Posted this thread on the stereolab.co.uk forum and apparently a couple of readers are wondering why Margerine Eclipse isn't in the top 10 albums. I voted for two tracks but had no idea it had a fanbase. Only one of you included it in his albums list in 3rd or 4th place iirc.

I listened to Sound-Dust and Margerine Eclipse back-to-back a while ago and remember being struck by how joyous the former was and how deflated the latter, despite some lovely material. I had liked Margerine a lot upon release, when I still had little sense of who was in the band and what Mary Hansen's passing meant for them (despite Sadier singing "goodbye, Mary") — I'd been a fan since '98 but still didn't really know who the group were (had never seen them). The relative anonymity of the band members ("Anonymous Collective," no group photos in the album artwork) seemed key to their utopianism; yet in another sense Stereolab weirdly didn't seem like "people." The separation between the knowingly allusive track titles (which, like a lot of us, I often don't remember) and emotionally/politically direct lyrics (which I often do) performs some of this displacement, too — the "meaning" seemed to be in the gap between the two things, but in a way the meaning was the gap itself. I wonder if insisting on this gap became difficult to sustain over time. More recently, reading interviews where Laetitia Sadier has talked about the band's "industrial" production methods (recording a huge number of tracks very quickly, basically), which she seemed to find increasingly dehumanizing, was rather poignant. I actually love Chemical Chords (my #2 album), whose making she described as particularly difficult, but where I hear this sense of looking out in longing over the horizon on the title track, and seeing the end of something on the closing track. Not sure if they knew it was the end (at least for a while) when they were making it, but it feels that way.

Only one of you included it in his albums list in 3rd or 4th place iirc.

from the opposite pov - I like margerine eclipse fine but it feels very unambitious after their previous string of albums. post-sound dust it really does feel like they're just doing beep-bloop stereolab.

I was at the Forum and Heaven shows that Michael attended too! Probably saw them about a dozen times altogether. Most exotic location was, erm, probably Eindhoven.

Actually, it was a different '96 show. Got confused by the reference to Broadcast. Think I saw them in Kilburn with Broadcast supporting (and Squarepusher?), around the time Fluorescences EP was released.

from the opposite pov - I like margerine eclipse fine but it feels very unambitious after their previous string of albums. post-sound dust it really does feel like they're just doing beep-bloop stereolab

OTM. "Chemical Chords" is much of the same, but catchier. They were mostly running in place in the last few years of their career.

I think there are lots of great individual songs in there, but yeah, overall there was just less joy in what they were doing after Mary passed

Good morning! The rollout today starts with a collaboration.

http://i.imgur.com/yMJEidj.jpg
35. Animal or Vegetable 6 votes, 143 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Crumb Duck 7" w/NWW (1993)

wow, crazy

[no comments due to everyone listening to the full duration of this track]

Always thought Crumb Duck EP was one of the cooler things they did

Shoot forgot the yt link:

http://youtu.be/h56tXx8JHMI

one of my favorites, voted it high

http://i.imgur.com/KbSQGPY.jpg
TIE 33. The Light that Will Cease to Fail 7 votes, 143 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Super 45 10" (1991)
http://youtu.be/5F1OcUB3GKM

http://i.imgur.com/3IOmluw.jpg
TIE 33. The Noise of Carpet 7 votes, 143 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Noises EP / Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996)
http://youtu.be/8qisn5damOI

I think I for gat about Noise of Carpet when I put my ballot together because it definitely is one of my favorites. I love when she gets real strident in her vocal delivery. I wish the continued to do heavy songs like this every once in a while after this.

*forgot

http://i.imgur.com/DYTQbzn.jpg
32. Transona Five 6 votes, 145 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Mars Audiac Quintet (1994)
http://youtu.be/FKrYdhMdBfM

that's five from MAQ! has any album placed as many so far?

'We're on the road againnnnnnn'

I think ETK has?

Oh no, youre right four from ETK.

http://i.imgur.com/gwL1DTM.jpg
31. Tomorrow is Already Here 7 votes, 149 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996)

5 vs 5 now

http://i.imgur.com/ppX509g.jpg
30. Motoroller Scalatron 6 votes, 150 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996)
http://youtu.be/QHMe2nW0d08

6 now! New record.

Have any 1st-place votes shown up yet?

cool song, and something about it striking me as very Deerhoof. Like, if you raised the lead vocal up an octave, and sped it up by 20 bpm, it could be something on Apple O

Yes, several! Not in today's count though.

There are a couple in today's countdown later on. Most of them are stacked on the top 20.

Just checking out their UK chart history, and there was a moment '94-'97 (washed onto commercial shores with BritPop, I guess, though they stood far apart from it) when they sort of had a fringe mainstream presence - and then it promptly vanished:

Mars Audiac Quintet #16
Music for the Amorphous Body Study Center (mini) #59
Emperor Tomato Ketchup #27
Refried Ectoplasm #30
Dots and Loops #19
Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night #92
Sound-Dust #117
Margerine Eclipse #108
Chemical Chords #102

I mean, jeez, #117 with a bullet for Sound-Dust? I've probably seen terrible indie chancers playing third on the bill on the toilet circuit who managed that with a bit of favourable press and some Lamacq/Peel-as-was radio play. I honestly thought everything they released debuted inside the top 20 up to and including the 4AD record.

Xpost: yes, it does sound Deerhoof-esque. A bit tighter but it's the same sort of sonic palette they use.

Tomorrow Is Already Here and Motoroller Scalatron always reminded me of campfire singalongs

I think Sound-Dust was terribly overlooked. I think Cobra at the time was an album that made many people lose interest and it didn't help with the organic hype. If Cobra had stayed an ep or series of eps, I think the hype surrounding Sound Dust would have helped them have a better comeback (sales-wise) on the new decade. The album is excellent, maybe even with Cobra deflating interest in the band, marketing efforts would have helped.

There also seemed to be a shift in the "indie" audience from the 90s into the 00s, at least from my perspective. Early 00's electro and hip hop were in vogue, poptimism had won and the indie crowd were more into party music than the more introspective and delicate songs in Sound Dust.

Speaking of which... Final tie in the poll and contains one of my favorite sound dust songs:

http://i.imgur.com/jBIibVn.jpg
TIE 28. Captain Easychord 7 votes, 151 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Captain Easychord EP / Sound-Dust (2001)
http://youtu.be/KZ9z0Puurgk

http://i.imgur.com/TPCTKlC.jpg
TIE 28. Our Trinitone Blast 7 votes, 151 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Transient Random Noise-Bursts... (1993)
http://youtu.be/IZsuqlJ4kUI

wow, nice. Our Trinitone Blast is another one, like The Noise of Carpet, where Laetitia's vocals sound much more impassioned and forceful. Love it.

Really like the outro on the album version of Captain Easychord.

Amazing run so far today, five of these nine were on my ballot.

There was definitely something uncool about Stereolab in 2001, they were a safe firm of retro that seemed so unadventurous all of a sudden. At least compared to what they'd been doing five years earlier. I blame John McEntire's production (I'm sort of serious about this).

Safe form of retro, rather. Maybe I'll think this over some more when I'm not typing this on my phone.

The show I saw on the Cobra and Phases tour was easily the largest I've ever seen them play, and it was also fairly uninspired. I felt bad because I had excitedly dragged a couple friends to it who had never seen them before. Don't know if this was a common experience at that time.

On the flip side, shows that I saw in support of Microbe Hunters and Sound-Dust were some of their best and had lots of energy.

I never experienced a bad or even lacklustre Stereolab show. They were always good. Even on the final North American tour (2008 I think) they were on fire. Best shows were in the mid-90s though. Love live Stereolab so much. I had ABC Music on my ballot for this reason - it's the best representation of what they sounded like live. It's brilliant that there are complete concerts on youtube now.

Oh man, I kind of wish I listed ABC Music on the album portion now -- yeah, they have this louder more aggressive sound that appeals to me a lot.

I sadly only got into them during Chemical Chords, which was the only time I got to see the play live. Still one of the funnest gigs I've been to, though.

MAQ vs ETK goes 6 on 6 once again.

http://i.imgur.com/lVKrnUJ.jpg
27. Wow & Flutter 6 votes, 153 points. 1 first place votes.
From: Wow and Flutter EP / Mars Audiac Quintet (1994)
https://youtu.be/JI-G5Cd6OeU

haha hanging chad MAQ vote here!

actually, it's really cool how often single and album versions would be different, like the synth stuff on the EP version

Love that song but didn't vote for it haha. The contemplative stoner lyrics are great.

Years since I heard 'Our Trinitone Blast' didn't remember Laetitia sounding so 90's with that distorted vox effect, it's a really cool song.

I'm happy it was only a style exercise on this song, I'm not sure I'd love her using those vocals on a full album.

Probably wouldn't be great all the time, but I would like to hear it a bit more.

And once again ETK takes the lead. This is my favorite song on the album, so not complaining.

http://i.imgur.com/UYIYj56.jpg
26. Emperor Tomato Ketchup 6 votes, 159 points. 1 first place vote.
From: Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996)
https://youtu.be/SuwTHHHCGU8

great tune. in all seriousness, I might have truly learned to love minimalism through Stereolab.

Cool drums in this

http://i.imgur.com/vWcqDRA.jpg
25. Revox 8 votes, 162 points. 0 first place votes.
From: John Cage Bubblegum 7" (1993)
https://youtu.be/YaU48UtxrVc

To elaborate on what I was trying to say earlier: Stereolab in the 90's were a catalogue of then-obscure musical reference points. I hadn't heard anything by Neu or Can when I discovered Stereolab, and I think most other fans were in the same boat (reissues of their material didn't pick up steam until well into the 90's). So here was a band who were obviously way cooler and smarter than you and were in tune with all sorts of amazing music that most people knew little about. And they were pouring all that acquired knowledge directly into their music.

By 2001, Your Hard Drive was the album of the year, seemingly everything worth owning had been reissued during the 90's, albums that people would spend years hunting down were easily available through filesharing, so who really needed a band like Stereolab to tell you what was cool and worth listening to? They were starting to sound passe, and so Sound Dust was relatively overlooked.

And starting with "Dots and Loops", their music was sounding overly clean and digital, and all the organ drones and hacking rhythm guitar lines were gone or turned way down in the mix. Their earlier albums were so much livelier for me.

Dots & Loops is a great album! You take that back!

Or I'll post a D&L song.

D&L is one of their worst ... but still quite good, if you know what I mean.

>:( You brought this upon yourself:

http://i.imgur.com/UNKHn1M.jpg
24. Contronatura 7 votes, 167 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Dots & Loops (1997)
https://youtu.be/oH8WN-Dd3zw

But I never listen to it anymore. Most of their music is timeless, but the straight out of the 90's Mouse on Mars-y bleepy electronica on D&L isn't.

xpost oh well

Okay, this is my run, voted for the last three. Title track Emperor Tomato Ketchup, my #1, the pinnacle of the band for me. Organ right up front, perfect motorik groove (no surprise I love Yoko's "Why" so much), over the moon vocal melodies, lyrics I've never bothered to understand the meaning behind. Pure magic.

Hahaha. Somewhat related: I was looking at P4K's top 20 albums of 2001 list and they weren't as up to the times as I thought. Daft Punk's Discovery per example and the Strokes would end up in their top albums of the decade list and Discovery isn't even in there and the later is ranked at 15 I think.. Oddly enough, Mouse on Mars' Idiology is at 12 yet Stereolab... nowhere to be found.

The bleep middle section in Contranatura is a bit dull, but damn, the melancholy Sun Ra opening and disco outrageous are so fantastic.

Will never forget being in college in the depths of the library researching my thesis and stumbling upon a book of Feminist theory called The Future of an Illusion. Was one of those ah ha moments.

Contronatura is my favorite of the Lab Mouse experiments by far. Even tho exuberant rubbery house cut Schnick Schnack ought to be a discotheque staple.

Okay, this is my run, voted for the last three. Title track Emperor Tomato Ketchup, my #1, the pinnacle of the band for me. Organ right up front, perfect motorik groove (no surprise I love Yoko's "Why" so much), over the moon vocal melodies, lyrics I've never bothered to understand the meaning behind. Pure magic.

― Sushi and the Banchan (Spectrist)

Don't know if you knew this but the Emperor Tomato Ketchup song was also known as Ono! Mayhaps your Yoko reference to the song isn't accidental. The bass riff is pretty much the same as the Yoko one, might even be a sample...

Here's the translated lyrics and no, they don't make much sense:

The comings and goings,
labyrinth, well what's this I see?
The exit, I see it, it's there, not too far now,
much too close, from across, thick walls but I can do it,
bring down the screens of deception, of deception

Holding to emptiness, to smoke the balls are burst, start everything over.
What will we want to see? The curtain rises, silence is golden, I disagree.
To not make an effort and yawn a lot, to be able to rise up and salute you.
We are not pigeons, perhaps idiots, reality in another way

I was somewhat mm on "Dots and Loops", then about two years ago I was in Oxfam Reading, and they played it and of sounded so good I bought it. (I was fair, I went away and came back an hour later for it when they had finished playing it).

The double lp, obv.

Going back to the start for the next one.

http://i.imgur.com/dnKAEUx.jpg
22. Doubt 7 votes, 175 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Stunning Debut Album 7” (1991)
https://youtu.be/eiB_atFYAck

Oh shoot I ate up number 23... ignore 22 for a bit, we'll come back to it in a moment.

http://i.imgur.com/Xa1kwnq.jpg
23. The Black Arts 7 votes, 169 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Sound-Dust (2001)
https://youtu.be/CDbYgV1Wmr4

Did NOT know that about 'Ono'! It's as sensible a working title as any. Yeah those lyrics... the more I look at them, the more mysterious they seem. That's praise, of course. xps

I actually hated The Black Arts the first times I heard it... I'm not used to hearing Laetitia doing 'emotion' and the break sounds very awkward. In Captain Easychord the different sections work fine but in this one it feels very abrupt. Then I started hearing its beauty. The vocals sound stylized like a 60's Brazilian song... like Astrud Gilberto or something.

The break still sounds a bit awkward to me.

Should have voted for Doubt. ABC Music version is my favourite - sounds like McCarthy.

Haha, I'm a sucker for her at her most emotional

Xpost

I located all my S albums (proper) to see what I was missing: basically, their first and the last two.

should track 'em down with Discogs, really.

Not many people in here appreciate or are acquainted with their late albums/eps/singles. I should probably start a Stereolab 2000 - 2010 appreciation thread after the poll is over.

So much catchy up to do.

Moka, Tim has said the most recent vinyl reissues are really poor quality. He's planning to remaster them and do them himself but it has been held up for legal reasons. I'd love to get some more of their stuff on vinyl (I have Margarine Eclipse, Peng and the coloured vinyls of Dots & Loops, Emperor Tomato Ketchup and Refried Ectoplasm). I'm just going to wait until these new ones come out before getting anymore. See also Saint Etienne who are getting proper reissues done by the band who also said to stay away from the recent reissues.

Going back to Margarine Eclipse, That would have been in my top five if it had just been studio albums.

Oh I didn't know that. Any place I can check updates when those go for sale?

Those two albums I have Peng! and D&L are not reissues... at least not the recent ones, I've had them for almost a decade now.

I read that in an interview he did for the Cavern of Anti-Matter album. I'm not sure where I'd check for announcement. I'll be obsessively keeping an eye out for them, so I'll let you know on one of their threads or send you a message. Sadly, I got the impression it might take a while. He's desperate to get them out there.

Last song of the day! Apologies for the slight fuckup upthread. Coming up tomorrow: The heavy hitters. There's a significant point bump #16 onwards and keeps scalating from there, so I guess it means there's a more defined consensus on their top 15 songs.

http://i.imgur.com/niHqzJ8.jpg
21. Golden Ball 9 votes, 176 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Jenny Ondioline 7” / Transient Random Noise-Bursts (1993)
https://youtu.be/_sTN9ozglRo

"The Black Art" was one of my discoveries in preparing my ballot. Such an un-Stereolab song, too -- classically beautiful.

XPs WOOOOOH GOLDEN BALL.

Catching up on some of the songs. Great selection from Emperor Tomato Ketchup today. The title track ended up high on my list.

I remember hearing the single edit of Captain Easychord on the John Peel show and really not liking it. Then I heard the album version which changed everything. Great to see that and The Black Arts appear. Two of the songs that make Sound-Dust such a great song.

Totally thought Wow & Flutter would be in the top 10. Possibly the first song I ever heard of theirs.

I'm still so surprised when I see people saying Dots & Loops is one of their weakest albums. It's my second favourite behind Emperor Tomato Ketchup. Gorgeous songs with some really wonderful production.

So is it safe to say nothing post Sound-Dust is placing?

I don't think I voted for any even though there are plenty of worthy later tunes. It'd kind of interesting statement on the band's later years.

I was hoping Vonal Declosion would sneak in. I put it in my top five.

Sorry, not allowed to share info or results until the end of the poll.

still holding out for Kyberneticka Babicka

I like how "Stunning Debut Album" is neither an album or their debut. "Doubt" is stunning though and probably deserved better.

XP: "Kyberneticka Babicka" is surely yet to come. (It's the middle of the night; I'm allowed to be delusional)

Hahaha. Didn't see that final comment.

The Black Art is great, that was my gateway into Sound-Dust

still didn't make my top 20, though

"Doubt" is one of my least favourite songs of theirs from the 90's.

Golden Ball would have been my number 1. That motorik like beat throughout the song does some weird things to me.

best fake-out on record ever

Yeah I remember the first time I listened to TRNBwA and during Golden Ball when the vocal distortion glitched into clean, I walked across the living room to my turntable to remove what I'd thought was a dust bunny but it was just clever audio trolling (later to be copied by Tortoise).

I will never forget how HEAVY (like Broadcast) Stereolab was live in the 94-96 era. Golden Ball was such a menacing brutal dirge. Unfortunately they will never be remembered as a heavy rock band, but they did wear that costume quite well for a brief time.

The great thing about Doubt is that it does not really need any instruments or effects. It's all in the singing. The two female voices overlapping, embracing each other. The lead voice moving up and down whereas the background singer is humming in circles. Those harmonies still haven't lost their charm after all these years. Melancholic and upbeat at the same time. I suppose it is just laetitia's voice overdubbed, n'est-ce pas? There is only one criticism i have here and it is grave. The song is cut in the middle, it is much too short, i feel like a baby catapulted out of the womb of my mother when the song stops suddenly. It is that painful.

Nitpick - "Revox!" is originally from Shimmies In Super 8, not the John Cage Bubblegum 7".

It was later paired with John Cage on a New Zealand 1995 promo CD for Refried Ectoplasm.

aw man I really wanna hear those Huggy Bear songs, damn

Oh those 7" must be worth some money today. Darlin' was Daft Punk.

Ok, nitpicker here you go:

http://i.imgur.com/8orPLDX.jpg

Last Sold: 26 Jan 16
Lowest: $120.39
Median: $134.56
Highest: $179.88

hey amazon has a "like new" vinyl copy of The Groop EP for under $20 should i get it? is that an insane deal?

Groop and Peng are the only ones I see in record shops for reasonable prices that aren't those 1972 reissues that I mentioned earlier. That is a good price but I don't think it's an insane deal or anything.

You mean space age? It's a fair price I think.

https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=21207&ev=mb&format=Vinyl

I have Peng! on vinyl, I think it is a Too Pure reissue. Sadly, it has pretty poor sound quality.

ALL RIGHT I JUST HAVE TO COME OUT AND SAY IT. I REALLY REALLY HATE THE "PENG!" GUY ON THE COVER OF ALL THE EARLY RELEASES. HATE HATE HATE.
Love the music on those records but HATE THE PENG GUY. I know he was from some obscure German animated short.
Sorry for venting, that has been building up in me for a couple of decades.

i hear u

GOLDEN BALL TOO LOW

I love 'cliff'! Why do you hate it? I might do a vectorized version of it to print on a tshirt.

chickfactor: where did you get the image of the guy with the gun? what made you give it up on space age bachelor pad?
tim: “cliff” (as well call him) was taken from a swiss political comic from 1969. he’s a figure of the establishment who is eventually shot by the forces of the revolution (peng!). the recent mini LP was based on a hi-fi stereo sound effect record of the early/mid-60s. the record doesn’t sound like that but I just like that kinda cool image shit. all of the next records will be based on the sleeves of hi-fi/stereo effect records. it’s a juvenile thing. I like themes running through the records, things that connect them together so that we can have our own “blue” period and “op art phase.”

Here's the original comic if you want to see it:

http://www.koly.com/stereolab/ex-cliff.php

FPed MatthewK

I might do a vectorized version of it to print on a tshirt.

Oooh I would like to see the end result if you do this.

Will do! I want to either make a poster for my new house or a shirt. If I do it I'll pm you and post in some stereolab thread the file.

now remembering that I returned an earlier LP reissue of Switch On cuz it sounded like garbage (maybe even close to a decade ago??), it's so unfortunate that the vinyl reissues seem to have been botched multiple times

i will buy that shirt if you are selling

Nah not selling printing for my own use but I can send you the file and you can go print it anywhere.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/172154472637?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

Yeah, that's the one. Although if you print it yourself it wouldn't be that expensive. $20 tops... depends on the shirt you want to use. I actually made some mockups a while ago... didn't add Stereolab at the bottom just Cliff:

http://imgur.com/Mt5yUOQ

I have several of these shirts so I was thinking of doing this one for me:

http://imgur.com/Bi7B8Wd

but yes, Cliff rules. Do not hate on that logo. I love it.

that logo looks like it would work really well with screenprinting

Yeah that was the idea to make it look faded.

i love the original comic thanks for posting that! i hadn't seen it before, it's almost an animation

I've never had a music-related shirt but I've often thought I wouldn't mind a Cliff one. He's almost obscure enough that only fellow, er, cult members would even recognise it as music-related.

my ex-GF has a giant BEACH TOWEL with Cliff on it that she bought from the band at a show, great merch idea

My blue cliff shirt from that middle east gig fell apart due to overuse. Saw them for sale at Urban Outfitters about 10 years ago.

Just bought a secondhand copy of Oscillons. Somehow resisted doing so before this refresher course in groopological studies stirred up old feelings.

I've got the Stereolab laundry bag!!

Back in the 90s I saw the original "Stereolab" album that inspired Space age Bachelor Pad cover in a junk shop for a couple of bucks. I. Just thought to myself "oh I guess that's where they got it from", tried to explain to the shop guy what it was (he was watching Red Dwarf at the time). Then left without buying it. Stupid.

And I just bought my second copy of Oscillations in a pawn shop before Christmas. Stickers, the lot.

Oscillons is an incredible collection. One of the most essential compilations I own.

Oscillons almost made it to the top 10. Would've have if the last ballot received didn't pushed it down in lieu of space age.

Btw, here's the full album results:

ALBUM YEAR POINTS # VOTES 1 votes
1 Emperor Tomato Ketchup 1996 863 26 4
2 Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements 1993 752 23 4
3 Refried Ectoplasm (Switched On Vol. 2) 1995 660 19 6
4 Mars Audiac Quintet 1994 558 17 3
5 Dots and Loops 1997 533 15 5
6 Sound-Dust 2001 444 13 5
7 Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night 1999 300 9 2
8 Peng! 1992 268 8 2
9 Switched On Vol. 1 1992 231 7 1
10 The Groop Played Space Age Batchelor Pad Music 1993 183 6
11 Oscillons from the Anti-Sun 2005 168 5
12 Aluminum Tunes 1998 132 4 1
13 Fluorescences EP 1996 97 3
14 The First Of The Microbe Hunters 2000 89 3
15 Chemical Chords 2008 72 2
16 Music for the Amorphous Body Study Center EP 1995 64 2
17 Fab Four Suture 2006 61 2
18 Super 45 40 1 1
19 Low Fi EP 1992 36 1
19 The Free Design EP 1999 36 1
21 ABC Music 2002 33 1
22 Instant 0 in the Universe EP 2003 30 1
23 Margerine Eclipse 2004 28 1

Not Music the only zero then? It's good good stuff but feels so low-key, even non-canonical.

OK I surrender. I LOVE CLIFF.

Oscillons is a non-trivial distance ahead of Aluminum Tunes too! I guess I slightly prefer AT (nice to see it got a #1 vote), not least for bonkers stuff like "Iron Man" and "Speedy Car", etc. But I'm pretty sure both comps each house a greater number of my track selections than of any of the standard LPs!

xp: LOL

I am absolutely shocked at Microbe Hunters outplacing Amorphous, and deeply saddened at Margerine finishing 23rd. I should have voted. Since there won't be any focused discussion of Marge, I should point out that the album is mixed dual-mono, i.e. a separate mono mix of track elements was created for each channel, rather than a mix with the elements placed in a stereo field. Makes the headphone experience immersive, with separate things going on in each ear.

Amorphous (and Fluorences) may have got a raw deal, their contents being major contributors to the greatness of the aforementioned comps.

yeah how did Margerine Eclipse finish last. Does anyone actually think it's their worst record?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/172154472637?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, April 6, 2016 5:45 PM (4 hours ago)

I think I have that shirt somewhere? 22 years old!

To be fair, asking people for five favourites is not much of a measure of their position on the albums they didn't mention. ETK wasn't on my ballot either. I think I'd prefer that be read as at least as much of a rejection of ETK (which I don't really need to hear anymore) as a rejection of ME or NM!

https://www.instagram.com/p/3HQdo-tKs2/

If I was living on a desert island and could bring only one Stereolab album, it would probably be "ABC Music". As mentioned upthread, many of the live versions are better (and heavier!) than the recorded ones, and it covers the best ten or so years of their career. It's the closest thing to a comprehensive "best of" in their catalogue.

That said, I didn't vote for it in the albums poll because I've never thought of it as a "proper" studio album, and I guess most other people don't either seeing as it finished third from the bottom in the poll. But about half of my tracks ballot is made up of songs that appeared on "ABC Music".

Marge is a fantastic album - all of the dual mono recordings* are startling great, a conceit that Tim pulled off brilliantly - but I just couldn't find a place for it in a Stereolab all-time Top 5. I guess nearly everyone felt likewise.

*see also 'Instant 0 in the Universe' (which I voted for), "Variation One" and the 'Rose, My Rocket-Brain!' tour single

One thing which strikes me is how incredibly successful Stereolab were at achieving what they set out to do. From that first 10" single to Not Music they nailed their aesthetic every single time. There was never a moment which felt commercially calculated or compromised. Some records were far better than others, but they were always absolutely, inimitably, wholeheartedly Stereolab. That's an incredible thing to pull off amid the wreckage of the record industry and the wholesale transformation of recorded music, across two decades. Perfect. I can't think of many groups or artists who can say the same - Autechre, maybe.

(well, Autechre definitely, but it's pretty rare huh)

I did get that "Shimmies" double-set, it was somewhat expensive. The idea was, I could make a copy recording of it, then sell it on for the same price as I paid.

Which was pretty much what happened.

one of my favorites, voted it ["Animal or Vegetable"] high

― the 'major tom guy' (sleeve)

Me two! #2 on my ballot after thee immaculate "K-Stars", though it isn't really my 2nd favorite Stereolab track. Or even really a Stereolab track at all. But such a wonderful headphone ride.

http://i.imgur.com/SdZ4oV2.jpg
20. Mountain 8 votes, 185 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Mountain 7" (1993)
http://youtu.be/t-66TiJ1pY4

"mountain" and "revox" for ever and ever and ever and ever and

"Mountain" is one of my favorite early-period (ie. Martin Kean) deep cuts. Despite the release date, it comes from the Low-Fi session (which also had Revox, Sadistic, and [i think] John Cage Bubblegum).

btw I just got a mail from a mix by Tim on fact... haven't listened to it but thought you guys might care: http://www.factmag.com/2016/04/04/fact-mix-544-tim-gane-cavern-anti-matter-stereolab/

More Peng! Yessir:

http://i.imgur.com/z3CnD6n.jpg
19. The Seeming & the Meaning 9 votes, 189 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Peng! (1992)
https://youtu.be/5k4dRo48BaI

They seem to come in pairs. Here's another one. Very beautiful sounds but thought it was piano magic, not stereolab the first time I heard it.

http://i.imgur.com/ePHCL18.jpg
18. Super Falling Star 8 votes, 205 points. 0 first place votes.
From: Peng! (1992)
https://youtu.be/r1T4Lrg2Nx8

it will leave them with a pounding dream

voted for each of the last 4

cool song. Something to be said for early Stereolab, they never were a "genre" band, in that none of the songs ever really seem like excuses to use a particular synth, or particular Bacharach chord progression. Even when I don't like all the early stuff, the songs seem more synthesis than homage or exercise.

http://i.imgur.com/ysIboSA.jpg
17. Come and Play In the Milky Night 9 votes, 206 points. 0 first place votes.
From:Voltage in the Milky Night (1999)
https://youtu.be/C2RRpNd1-0s

This is on spotify and Amazon music as 'Come Andy Play' instead of 'Come And Play' is that a typo or was the title changed?

Opening has been sampled in at least 4 hip hop tracks... notably by Jaylib and Busta Rhymes. It's a really good bassline to sample.

Jaylib - the message: https://youtu.be/v9jVajloBpY

Busta - show me what you got: https://youtu.be/fHROoYCyBpE

another weird Deerhoof-y melody, can see them doing a version of this. Cool track, wouldn't necessarily have been out of place on earlier records

xxpost typo, but an amusing one

xxpost typo, but an amusing one

― Jeff W

Yeah it's weird. At first I thought I had fucked up but everywhere else it's as 'come and play'. Thought for a minute it was the real title and they were referencing their drummer Andy Ramsay at first.

Super falling star has got this time-machine madeleine quality. It beams me back into luxembourg 1992. Listening to it is like falling into a hole and coming out at the other side more than 20 years younger. It's less motorik beat and more wistful tune. Early Stereolab always has got this innocent childlike quality which touches something deep inside me. A very essential song.

The next section is where the points start increasing dramatically instead of one or two points between songs:

http://i.imgur.com/HUJh4a8.jpg
16. We’re Not Adult Orientated 12 votes, 258 points. 0 first place votes.
From:Space Age Batchelor Pad Music (1993)
https://youtu.be/I30I3jTbtfI

One of those votes is for the New Wave Live version.

d'oh neu

ok, Neu Wave Live sorry---

just wanted to use the harbly formed "joke"

On deezer it is come andy play as well. Much cooler than the other title. I didn't know it but it's quite nice. Her high-pitch singing reminds indeed a little of japanese singers like from deerhoof or blonde redhead.

wait more Peng! songs that I thought. never heard mountain before, terrific.

We're not adult orientated was pretty much on top of my ballot but it went down to #13. It feels too familiar, one of their songs i have listened to most often. Still a phantastic groove.

My 10 year old cousin loves the next one one. Have no idea where she got it from but I got very excited and nerded out talking about Stereolab with her but she clearly didn't care about the band just this one song. Was it featured on a cartoon channel ad or something?

http://i.imgur.com/latPFnE.jpg
15. Lo Boob Oscillator 13 votes, 286 points. 1 first place vote.
From:Lo Boob Oscillator (1993)
https://youtu.be/f8258BP42q8

was in the Hi Fidelity movie

My barely conscious brain at 4:30am thought "Hmmm, I wonder what number Moka is up to".

I didn't know to expect more Peng! at this point either, though I vaguely knew "SFS" was popular. All the others were on my ballot until quite late.

Fun fact: "We Are Not Adult Orientated" is the first groop track I knowingly heard. That video with the winding mountain road was on late night TV. Sounded cool. I think the vocals brought to mind...Shonen Knife.

Probably my all-time favorite 'Lab song

and omg shoulda kept my t-shirts (well I never meant to lose them)

was in the Hi Fidelity movie

― Jeff W

I don't think she's watched that one but who knows.

The
The moon is free I believe,
Which shines above,
Shines above the rooftops.
The moon is free,
More than one would believe,
She fluctuates between here and there,
[There are] parts that we never see,
Don't worry--she will return
And when she has been plunged
Into cold obscurity
It seems that she is drowning
But she quickly gets back on her feet
With these unstable appearances
She causes some people to doubt her
More faithful than one would believe
The moon is free

Receptive and absorptive
Of the light that she reflects
She radiates above the rooftops
And fluctuates between here and there
Changing, fascinating
And even blinding at times
That's how we see her
Perfect disc, luminous disc
Doesn't she remind you
Of the style of some people who lift up their heads
In the hope of elevating themselves a bit
Transitory, unique, symbolic
Of some imaginary visions
She makes more of an impression on
People who are afraid or delirious

She is above all that,
She is above all that,
She is free of all that,
She is above all that,
She is free of all that,
She is above all that

The moon is free I believe,
Which shines above,
Shines above the rooftops.
The moon is free,
More than one would believe,
She fluctuates between here and there,
[There are] parts that we never see,
Don't worry--she will return
Doesn't she remind you
Of the style of some people who lift up their heads
In the hope of elevating themselves a bit
She makes more of an impression on
People who are afraid or delirious
She is free of all that
She is free of all that

My first lab track was 'Ticker Tape to the Unconscious' when I was like 14 or 15, downloaded it from Napster when I kept reading good things about the band. It sounded amazing, oddly enough I loved it but didn't download any more songs or bought any album by them until 3 or 4 years later... had I known back then that I was only listening to one of their lesser songs.

To elaborate on what I was trying to say earlier: Stereolab in the 90's were a catalogue of then-obscure musical reference points. I hadn't heard anything by Neu or Can when I discovered Stereolab, and I think most other fans were in the same boat (reissues of their material didn't pick up steam until well into the 90's). So here was a band who were obviously way cooler and smarter than you and were in tune with all sorts of amazing music that most people knew little about. And they were pouring all that acquired knowledge directly into their music.

By 2001, Your Hard Drive was the album of the year, seemingly everything worth owning had been reissued during the 90's, albums that people would spend years hunting down were easily available through filesharing, so who really needed a band like Stereolab to tell you what was cool and worth listening to? They were starting to sound passe, and so Sound Dust was relatively overlooked.

And starting with "Dots and Loops", their music was sounding overly clean and digital, and all the organ drones and hacking rhythm guitar lines were gone or turned way down in the mix. Their earlier albums were so much livelier for me.

― NoTimeBeforeTime

Which bring to point this. I imagine for anyone curious enough in the 90's (or early 00's as was my case) hearing them for the first time was mind-blowing. There were no band like them and I don't think there will ever be another one. After I went on a Stereolab binge I was looking for similar bands but I kept bumping into Cibo Matto and Pizzicato 5 which also did the 'retro' thing but way less interesting. After those initial encounters I realized I had to go waaay back to the 50's, 60's and 70's to find the real point of reference. Nowadays is easy, back then without internet it was a daunting task.

The best thing is, yes, the band definitely had some really cool references that only the nerdiest of critics and musicians understood but they weren't just copying it. Dominique said it well upthread, it's a sound of their own not just exercises or homage. There are many rock bands that dig up obscure references only to copy them without really adjusting it to their own style.

The fight between MAQ and ETK for most tracks in the poll continues:

http://i.imgur.com/or31GMj.jpg
14. International Colouring Contest 14 votes, 296 points. 0 first place votes.
From:Mars Audiac Quintet (1994)
https://youtu.be/1JeLFvZH7U8

x-post

Yes! It was indeed mind-blowing to be turned on to all of these references at the time, reading interviews with them and Tim mentioning Sun Ra, or seeing a set list where they called Golden Ball "Chrome Tubby" and scrambling to hear what it referred to. I started listening to them after hearing the Too Pure Peel Sessions disc and then Switched On. Seeing a new release and new influences coming in with each through about '99 (when the internet made things way more available) drove my younger self to find Can Neu Faust Sun Ra etc.

My best friend introduced me to them around 93, and at first I didn't get it. A few listens to MAQ changed my mind. Sorry for not voting, but to this day I cannot match a song to a title, with one or 2 exceptions. Random Octopus Electrophoresis Multilayer Bong or whatever.

I imagine for anyone curious enough in the 90's (or early 00's as was my case) hearing them for the first time was mind-blowing.

I came to them after being a fan of McCarthy who from the beginning, with hindsight, had the droney hypnotic thing going on in their earliest songs. What is interesting is that you can plot a route where they slowly turn into Stereolab. Obviously when Laetitia, joined but also certain tracks or releases. ie. This Nelson Rockerfeller EP where they suddenly acquired keyboards and drum machines. Or tracks like this one, where there's a grinding drone, almost a krautrock rhythm section and of course the anti-establishment lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb2ENkP7t4M

I think maq was the album when i lost them. I had seen them live in nancy around 1993/94 and they were into this easy listening stuff. Which i found slight and totally uninteresting. Icc is nice and all but it still sounds to these ears like a major step back from the beginnings.

If I'd done a ranked ballot, ICC would have been pretty high — not my #1, but high. Oddly comforting.

http://i.imgur.com/mVLE15Y.jpg
13. Crest 14 votes, 324 points. 1 first place vote.
From:Transient Random-Noise Bursts… (1993)
https://youtu.be/5Z-ufNCiK48

so what will be #2 behind JO. Guessing FD

Incidentally, the Nancy, FR date in 94 had a pretty rockin setlist, no ICC

1. French Disco
2. Jenny Ondioline
3. Our Trinitone Blast
4. Ronco Symphony
5. Transporté Sans Bouger
6. John Cage Bubblegum
7. Lo Boob Oscillator
8. Super Electric
9. Golden Ball

Happy to see that yet another track I culled from my shortest of shortlists didn't actually need my help. MAQ was one of the first records I read about at length on this new interweb thingy before I heard it, such that I was suddenly atypically well-educated on an obscure reference like Lucia Pamela in advance.

(XXP)

No spoilers/guesses please.

Actually one spoiler: I paid Moka to lose all the JO votes down the back of the sofa.

http://i.imgur.com/PtC66Ew.jpg
12. Brakhage 13 votes, 324 points. 1 first place vote.
From:Dots & Loops (1997)
https://youtu.be/5Z-ufNCiK48

Incidentally, the Nancy, FR date in 94 had a pretty rockin setlist, no ICC

I have to be somewhere... start with the top 10 in 40 mins or so. I leave you with 11:

http://i.imgur.com/05dt8Ce.jpg
11. Super-Electric 14 votes, 342 points. 2 first place vote.
From:Super-Electric EP (1991)
https://youtu.be/8WzHKo3uex8

Brakhage is nice and jazzy. Airy and relaxed. I didn't really know it beforehand. Thanks for making me discover it, ilm.

brakhage is so warm, I love how it slowly unfurls. my #1

according to LastFM, Brakhage is actually their most popular track (!)

It's also their most listened song on Spotify currently.... used to be French Disko. I wonder why... I love it but it was never a single or anything was it?

I think it benefits the most from the being the first track on D&L. Have to say, never totally warmed up to that record, something about it seems underwhelming (which is a weird criticism to throw at Stereolab) -- but it seems to me the record that a lot of people go for, if not ETK.

I had to work backwards to McCarthy, and though I came to like them a lot, I was surprised to find the earliest, least 'Stereolab-anticipating' tracks by far the most arresting.

"Brakhage" survived to my final ballot. I was a bit slow to embrace either ETK or D&L, but "Brakhage" on the radio was the first major factor in getting me back on the wagon.

This top 20 has been incredible so far. Super Falling Star and Come & Play In the Milky Night in particular are two of the songs that make me love this groop so much. Crest has become my favourite song from Transient over time, happy to see that do well.

Turns out I have a few more minutes. Let's get it on.

http://i.imgur.com/k2feko7.jpg
10. Les Yper-Sound 15 votes, 348 points. 0 first place votes.
From:Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996)
https://youtu.be/jV9EFZ_GwqM

"Lo Boob" was my first taste of Stereolab, thank god for that Fruitopia commercial. (Some of this is not true.)

http://i.imgur.com/hvGoSPM.jpg
09. Miss Modular 16 votes, 395 points. 1 first place vote.
From:Miss Modular EP / Dots & Loops (1997)
https://youtu.be/pSBrNttSVpI

My love for "Les Yper-Sound" is all thanks to nabisco. I salute thee, wherever thou art!

"Miss Modular" just missed my final ballot, I squeezed it out in favor of "Brakhage" (I guess because it's a rather atypical Groop track).

my #1. the crown jewel of dots and loops.

It's also their most listened song on Spotify currently.... used to be French Disko. I wonder why... I love it but it was never a single or anything was it?

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, April 7, 2016 3:16 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Spotify Discover. Brakhage popped up on my playlist and a lot of others I imagine.

It was "Miss Modular" for me. It sounded so familiar when it came on, but I had no idea which album it was from.

That dorky video for Miss Modular is the greatest

yeah just watched it too, and realized that (yet again) the single version is different than the album one

There's decent amount of Stereolab singles that sound like they should have been hits. Miss Modular has to be right up there as one that should have got them in the top 40. Such a beautiful and playful melody.

Good top 12 so far.

Super-Electric 12" was my introduction to the groop. Single of the Week review in Melody Maker intrigued me, bought the record, thought: yes this act has got something. Couple of gigs later: this is my new favourite band and has been ever since.

I love Miss Modular, probably the song that got me into Stereolab. I don't think I had seen the video until now.

http://i.imgur.com/g40SxKW.jpg
08. John Cage Bubblegum 14 votes, 397 points. 3 first place votes.
From:John Cage Bubblegum 7” (1993)
https://youtu.be/iUmIusAZJAo

It's the most beautiful
And it's the saddest
It's the most beautiful
Landscape in the world

Misheard so many times "c'est le plus beau" as 'save the people'.

And there's my number 1. Essence of early Stereolab and greatest intro to any song ever.

ayyy-ayyy-ay-ayyyyyy ayyy-ayyy-ay-ayyyyy etc etc

Sitting here, cueing up tracks as they appear in the countdown on Spotify on my phone and AirPlaying to the stereo. I'm five behind!

No spoilers, but counting on my fingers rn... some gems are really going to get the shaft here

Seems like the next one was their most popular single?

http://i.imgur.com/fbadiie.jpg
07. Ping Pong 18 votes, 426 points. 0 first place votes.
From:Ping Pong EP / Mars Audiac Quintet (1994)
https://youtu.be/3_XswHm514w

well that's just a really Stereolab-y sounding song

http://i.imgur.com/zN1kX56.jpg
06. Metronomic Underground 17 votes, 431 points. 0 first place votes.
From:Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996)
https://youtu.be/AyCjTj0aAQY

I remember being really surprised when "Ping Pong" was released. Not disappointed though, because it's awesome. And the mostly readily intelligible lyrics are fantastic in this impossibly jaunty context. I can't even tell any more whether it represented much of a departure from what became before. Probably not in reality.

crazy
sturdy
a tor
pedo

MU live the couple times I saw them 96-99 so huge and awesome

http://i.imgur.com/qaA9SVt.jpg
05. Fluorescences 19 votes, 470 points. 2 first place votes.
From:Fluorescences EP (1996)
https://youtu.be/7TMoy6DNTO4

This song always sounded post-etk and post-d&l for me, up until this poll I thought it was a 2001 ep.

wow, great run, just catching up

What an incredible song. Made number 76 in the single chart which has to be one of the most frustrating chart stats ever.

I had no idea Fluorescences was so revered

xp Well, it is post-ETK.

Last of my votes to place, I suspect.

John Cage Bubblegum was my #2 (so Jeff W we should not like a certain Jenny come between us). ABC version is the first that I heard and is my preference -- it has this raw power that the Refried version, great as it is, lacks.

As a Stereolab fan their overall chart performance is one of the most frustrating things ever.

Jenny Ondioline Bubblegum would be an intersting mashup.

Glad I needn't have feared "Flourescences" being overlooked. Possibly the highest non-LP track?

Brakhage: I just love their jazzy, melancholy tracks from D&L and this is my favorite, the singing is filled with so much resignation. Cool drums on this too, I think it might be John McEntire?

Miss Modular: the intro to this is my ringtone

Ping Pong: agree with Nag! on this, it was a minor revelation when this came out, just to hear them with such clarity, especially the singing

Following song is sweet. Had no idea it was one of their most loved ones in here.

http://i.imgur.com/yivfa2R.jpg
04. Pack Yr Romantic Mind 19 votes, 473 points. 5 first place votes.
From:Transient Random Noise-Bursts… (1993)
https://youtu.be/_UgTOFW7T8w

forgot to vote for that but I should have

my #1, this was the song that hooked me into them

Oh! How did I forget this one!

Has the scrapped version with the uncleared George Harrison sample ever leaked? Would like to hear that.

Wow, I had no idea this was still to come. Didn't end up voting for it but it's a brilliant song.

my #1 too, was beginning to despair!

I didn't vote (shame on me) and I've been too busy to follow along (dang!), but I'm happy Crest came in so high. I hope French Disko wins!