LM Artist Poll No. 74 · STEREOLAB · Results Thread

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.