LM Artist Poll No. 74 · STEREOLAB · Results Thread

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.