The future of Stereolab

diminishing returns for a while now

Question: is the future of Stereolab any different than the past of Stereolab?

:( At least Chemical Chords 2 will still come out (and I'm glad I saw them this last tour)

yeah, me too! their show last fall was wonderful. still, if anyone deserves a break, it's probably them. they've never gone more than a year or two without an album over the past 20 years, have they?

they've never gone more than a year or two without an album over the past 20 years, have they?

There were a couple multi-year gaps in between Sound-Dust, Margerine Eclipse, and Chemical Chords though I think the box set comes in there somewhere.

yeah, maybe i'm just thinking that there are always various collections coming out in between records -- never seemed like they disappeared for any significant amount of time.

They were great when I saw them live last year. Like, really great, as much fun as the first time I saw them. If this is one of those permananent breaks then they are going out with a bang, at least as far as live music is concerned. I don't think I have any of their albums from the last ten years, but live performance is at least as important to me.

My thoughts on seeing them in September -- if that's the last time I'll ever see them, then the last song I ever saw them do was a great version of "Jenny Ondioline."

I guess one too many people made fun of their last album cover. It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Link to video of Sydney show with additional laundry bag: http://www.quartzcity.net/2009/03/12/stereolab-in-sydney/

Seriously, this is the greatest mersh idea ever. I only wish I had one of the old Peng beach towels from way back

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3450/3350087958_fbbd04240c.jpg

so is Chemical Chords 2 still gonna happen? wikipedia has nothing on it that i can find...

Hmm...received in a Drag City promo e-mail just now, word of this forthcoming release:

Stereolab
Not Music

Nothing listed on the official band website about this.

There was talk about releasing the other tracks from the Chemical Chords sessions..so it could be that. Last official word I heard from Stereolab was that 'no new recordings were planned', which basically means a hiatus/break-up; vague isn't it? Maybe 'Not Music' refers to some kind of DVD or any non-studio albums release like rarities for example. Also interesting how it's from Drag City, they did CC on 4AD because of the whole Beggars restructure.

Any new Stereolab product is welcomed for me.

There's tons of non-lp material yet to be collected, including numerous collaborations - plenty of gems left uncovered. I've compiled 39 tracks totaling 3 hours, would love to see it all officially released!

xp stuff that isn't on the stray tracks catch-up compilations like the Switched Ons and Oscillons. Where did you get hold of these tunes?

I hope they are finally getting around to releasing Chemical Chords 2 and the b-sides collection they promised a couple years ago. Though wouldn't these come out on 4AD?

Looks like Laetitia has been doing some solo dates in South America lately.

Where did you get hold of these tunes?

Isn't that a silly question in 2010? ;-)

Here's what I've put together. I skipped some demos, remixes, radio sessions and live versions and stopped at the end of 2001:
1. Super Falling Star (Moog mix) - from Volume 4 compilation
2. Low-Fi
3. (Varoom!)
4. Laisser-Faire
5. Elektro (He Held The World In His Iron Grip) - these 4 from "Low-Fi" EP
6. Ronco Symphony (demo)
7. The Seeming And The Meaning (demo) - these 2 from the Spacewatch flexi
8. I'm Going Out Of My Way (WHFS session) - from "Inside Dave's Garage" split single
9. The Eclipse
10. Yes Sir! I Can Moogie - these 2 from "The Cat's Miaow" split single
11. ABC (The Multitude) - from "Godz Is Not A Put On" compilation
12. Simple Headphone Mind
13. Trippin' With The Birds - from "Simple Headphone Mind" collaboration with Nurse With Wound
14. Endless Summer (as Microlab) - from "Microstonia - Reprovisers" compilation
15. St. Elmo's Fire (radio)
16. Less Time
17. St. Elmo's Fire (Red Corona)
18. St. Elmo's Fire (Spatio-Dynamic)
19. Impulse Rah!
20. St. Elmo's Fire (Snow) - these 6 as Uilab from "St. Elmo's Fire" collaboration with Ui
21. Miss Modular (Automator mix)
22. Refractions In The Plastic Pulse (Feebate mix by Autechre)
23. Contranatura (Prelude To The Autumn Of A Faun mix by Kid Loco) - these 3 from "Miss Modular Remixes" EP
24. Freestyle Dumping - from JP release of Aluminum Tunes
25. Symbolic Logic Of Now! - from "Soi-Distant" split single
26. Chinese Whispers (Stereolab mix) - from "Chinese Whispers" compilation
27. Untitled / 008 - from Thurston Moore's "Root" compilation
28. Blaue Milch - from Peter-Thomas-Sound-Orchester's "Warp Back To Earth 66/99" compilation
29. Galaxidion - from "Social (Bodies)" compilation
30. Caliméro
31. Cache Cache - from collaboration with Brigitte Fontaine
32. Ticker Tape Of The Unconscious (Thievery Corporation remix) - from Thievery Corporation's "Abductions & Reconstructions" compilation
33. The Super-It
34. Fried Monkey Eggs (vocal)
35. Monkey Jelly - these 3 from "The Underground Is Coming" EP
36. Brain Drain - from "Collaborations 2: Constant Friction" compilation
37. Négatités - from "Yeti 1" compilation
38. Free Witch And No-Bra Queen
39. Speck-Voice - these 2 from "Free Witch And No-Bra Queen" EP

xp Songs on eps and singles already count as officially released though.

But all the same I'm sure there is a mine of unreleased material in the stereolab vault.

cannot believe the Low-Fi EP has not been compiled on a CD collection yet, a real high point for the band imo.

Yes the Low-Fi Ep is amazing, blows my mind it was recorded in 1992... mmm need to submit to the ep thread...

Due to popular demand:

Oddities part 1 - http://www.divshare.com/download/11278093-b2c
Oddities part 2 - http://www.divshare.com/download/11278167-301

Oh wise and good soul.

:D

Gerald, thanks for this! I'm four songs into Vol. 2 and that Brigitte Fontaine is hitting the spot.

xpost Gerald McBoing-Boing you have made my day.

Man, that looks like a great little comp. I tried dl but divshare never coughed up the files just started countdown again. Anyone else have the same problem?

yes, do it twice. same thing happened to me, but they did download.

weird, the 'try again' links were different this time around but it worked! thanks.

Wow, thanks!

So - what do y'all think of this stuff? For me, some of it is unlike anything else I listen to and more experimental than their LPs and therefore has a special place in my heart.

(this stuff = the oddities I posted)

Thanks Gerald. Do you happen to have an mp3 version off this single? Both songs are up on youtube and they are quite different to anything I've heard from them.

http://www.discogs.com/Stereolab-Solar-Throw-Away/release/662709

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Y2s-7Qny4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biJW68Bh7-o

I don't, I lost interest around 2001 and therefore stopped my compilation at that point.

the two tracks from that 2006 tour single are probably my favourite stereolab tracks since ETK

I love this! The St Elmo's Fire cover was a surprise. The Godz cover is great, too.
Great to have it all, in one place, no less.

Moka, those two tracks are great!

SCUTTLE

Anyone care to reup the compilation somewhere else? Divshare showing unavailable until June 3rd due to number of downloads...

aw!

*cough* *cough*

thanks very much!

wow, lovely eno cover.

Is there anything he can't do?

Thanks, this is a nice collection of stuff, even though it underscores the fact that the quality of their music fell off a cliff starting with "Dots and Loops". Looking back I can't even understand why I liked D&L at the time -- I guess I forced myself to like it because it was Stereolab. They totally unraveled when all their music started sounding cute and quirky (thx for nothing John McEntire!). They could still bring it when they played live but their records sounded so flimsy.

"Lo-Fi" might be better than any Stereolab album save for "Mars Audiac Quintet" (and even that album is a bit overlong whereas "Lo-Fi" is 25 minutes of perfection).

I've had ABC on a mix-tape for YEARS but it was only pretty recently I finally found out where it came from, because I never saw it in Stereolab discographies anywhere and it wasn't on any of the Switched On comps.

They totally unraveled when all their music started sounding cute and quirky (thx for nothing John McEntire!).

So glad that people are coming around on this...

My theory was that they were one of those bands that improved their musicianship and got to the point where they could play the music they always wished they could. And lost what they had to a greater extent.

Their later stuff was an improvement, I would add. (I got that 6 (or was it 8) 7" singles set of stuff)

It's nice that they still save a lot of their best stuff for random limited run singles and whatnot.

I was just digging some random Aluminium Tunes song earlier tonight

I really enjoyed seeing them in December - a friend was there too and I bumped into him outside and he didn't think much of it. too much new stuff maybe? I didn't mind that at all because I'd seen them a couple of years ago when they played a lot of old stuff so I guess I'd got that out of my system. I was v happy they played Cybele's Reverie at the end though

I saw them in '19 in Vicar Street, Dublin. They seemed quite stiff. I felt like there was a bit of divorced couples energy going on too. I wasnt too keen on the setlist either. I guess they hadnt played in 10 years at that point. I never saw them in the 90s so Id no reference point so I thought they might be this band who sound good on record but a bit low energy live.

They were unreal tonight though. It was mostly stuff from the latest album but thats ok by me as I think its really good. "Melodie is a wound" in particular got really fleshed out and my ears were ringing beautifully afterwards. Yeah, I love Stereolab. What a great fucking band.

Kudos for them to coming to Limerick. Most bands couldnt be arsed

that's awesome - the only time I saw them was in the late 90's and I felt like I had already missed their prime, lol

Yeah "Jenny Ondioline" and "Space age batchelor pad muzak" was my entry point to them so I do wish theyd dip into the early stuff every so often (they did play "peng 33" tonight though) but when you see the crazy chord shapes Tim is playing on the guitar for "A flower called nowhere" you get why the old stuff might seem a bit boring to them now

I sadly had to miss their most recent tour, but the previous tour went very hard on the deep cuts, including a bunch of earlier songs I'd never heard them play live before. I really loved it, but I saw a lot of people grumble because they didn't do enough of the hits.

I dont think its a coincidence that they played "Simple Headphone Mind" because John Kelly plays it on his radio show over here a lot.