LM Artist Poll No. 74 · STEREOLAB · Results Thread

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.