Stereolab: Classic or Dud

yes flappy i've seen them do ping pong live - and they indeed can rock the shit out of a venue.

They played Jenny Ondioline (full) which was money

That rules! Bummed I'll never get to see them, though they made so much music, it'll take me years to absorb it all. Cobra is the only LP I know by heart.

Monade opened for them lol

Never say never, my friend.

they were a surprisingly great live band

I saw them a bunch through the 90s and they were loud as shit. Sometimes those synths and organs were ear-piercingly loud, and Andy hit the drums super hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMs2YEbZ9oQ

^ Yeah!

Stereolab and Spiritualized were two bands that blew me away live. I think what made Stereolab impressive live is the switch from their space age bachelor pad shtick to the mono rock heaviness. Clearly they could dip in and out of any era with a startling command. One of those shows where you can close your eyes and be transported

It did seriously bum me hearing Mary replaced with a horn, but it was a tribute to her in an affectionate way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv0f8sELf5Y

Got to see one of the later live shows, but would have loved to have seen that Sonic Youth/Stereolab tour in 2000.

First time I ever saw 'em -- and so very glad somebody recorded this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE4CBKerRNs

i only recently got into stereolab in the past year but fell for them hard. when i told my friend i was totally into them he said "well i bet you wish you'd gone with me to that stereolab/espers show, eh?"

WHY YES I DO WISH I'D HAVE GONE TO SEE TWO OF MY FAVORITES THAT I WILL PROBABLY NEVER GET THE CHANCE TO SEE AGAIN

lol they are so young in that UCI clip. And Tim actually hops up and down

i think this is the oldest video of them out there, before Mary joined. whoever was filming zooms in on the bulletin board behind them, where there's a "FEMALE SINGER WANTED" sign :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waavrYs8vSA

There are a few other videos from right around that time (if not slightly earlier), based on the line-up. The clips of Changer/Orgiastic/Contact at the top of this playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeWPnyT2WYQ-5-z71RsvVcbyQBh1T6xK2

so did anyone buy one of the 100 copies of "Eaten Horizons Or The Electrocution Of Rock"?

― zappi, Thursday, October 25, 2007 7:50 AM (nine years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i love youtube so much

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGBF9aZkum8

0:00 Crest
2:10 John Cage Bubblegum
3:46 Mountain Instrumental
5:12 Reich Song
8:11 Cybele's Reverie Pt. 1
9:33 Cybele's Reverie Pt. 2
11:04 French Disko
13:44 Happy Pop Song
15:37 Jenny Ondioline
19:28 Lucia Pamela (ICC)
23:04 NWW Drone Instrumental
25:08 Plastic Pulse One
26:48 Plastic Pulse Two
27:35 Plastic Pulse Three
28:32 Plastic Pulse Four
29:43 Sad Chicago Organ
32:27 Brigitte Pt. 1
34:21 Brigitte Pt. 2
35:35 Infinity Girl Pt. 1
36:32 Infinity Girl Pt. 2
38:13 Cobra Tune
39:30 Heavy Munich
41:07 ZigZag Song
44:38 Monday Song

ha, "Cobra Tune" has the exact same guitar line as "Sweet Adeline" by Elliott Smith, the only unintentional musical quote i can think of by Stereolab

thanks!

That's a fine album.

I saw them quite early on at places like the White Horse in Hampstead and they sure were loud then, but it's hard not to be in a tiny basement with a very low ceiling.

It's surprising Joe Dilworth's drumming doesn't get acknowledged so much, especially as he's back playing with Gane, but he was obviously an important contributor the early 'lab groove. Not showy but a lightness and bounce to the motorik. I adored Th' Faith Healers groove as well.

Yeah Dilworth is very good

found chords for Italian Shoes Continuum

A)
(2 bars each)
Emaj7 Bb7(11) A7 G9sus Fmaj7 F#7
B)
(1 bar each)
Emaj7 D7 Emaj7 D7 F7 Emaj7 F#7

A and B repeat until 2:14

C)
Gm7 Am7 (sometimes Gm9 Am7)

The first 7 posts on this thread are so OTM.

I've wondered why I keep finding myself disagreeing with your music opinions, but now I understand: you are keeping the torch burning for the challops of 2001 ILM.

That's incorrect, and the first 7 posts on this thread are still OTM.

v incorrect

a beguiling band with a dense, varied discography unique among their peers

otm ^

turrican aggressively wrong, again

That means nothing coming from someone who thinks Animal Collective is some sort of gold standard of anything.

Agreeing with those 2001 posts is hardly your most controversial opinion, but I definitely don't agree since Sound-Dust is probably my favorite Stereolab album and D&L is also fantastic.

when you start breaking down the things they do into individual components - lyrics ranging from marxist sloganeering to abstract cutups, ye-ye vocals, dizzyingly complex chordal and structural exercises, aggressive editing, motorik beats, insanely loud drone rock, brass and orchestral arrangements, analogue synthesizer experiments, multi-layered female harmonies, etc etc - it's insane. what other bands do these things? Covering and packaging such a disparate range of sounds and influences and references in such a consistently coherent way is a singular achievement.

even if I did get off the boat (mostly) after Dots and Loops.

and I think it's important to remember them in context - they were not part of a scene or group of bands that were also pursuing these things, they were in their own little universe.

Margerine Eclipse is surprisingly good- and it's dual mono, hard panned which produces a very interesting effect i haven't encountered much elsewhere

There's definitely a bunch of bands, mostly grouped in London and Chicago, that I think were pretty closely aligned with what they were doing:

Th' Faith Healers, Broadcast, The High Llamas, Imitation Electric Piano, Tortoise, Jim O'Rourke, Pram

xp

I absolutely love, love, LOVE everything from Transient... up until Emperor Tomato Ketchup, with Mars Audiac Quintet being my absolute favourite of theirs and quite possibly one of my favourite LP's of the '90s. I even like parts of Dots and Loops, but I find albums like Cobra... and Sound-Dust a bit on the boring side.

I definitely agree that they kinda seemed out there on their own during the '90s... I remember seeing them live circa Emperor Tomato Ketchup and I can't think of anyone else who was quite like them at that time. I begun to hear their influence in various things over the next decade, though.

Stereolab were well into their career before Broadcast made their debut. The High Llamas don't really count as Sean O'Hagan was also a member of Stereolab.

of Moodles list Broadcast is the only that came close imo, but I feel like they went down their own weird rabbit-hole as the line-up contracted

personally I absolutely hate the High Llamas, Tortoise, O'Rourke

xp

Cobra and Phases is my favorite by far, I prefer the Groop's records from ETK on over the earlier heavy distorted drone stuff but it's all pretty amazing, from the Low-Fi EP up thru Not Music.

and yeah while those artists were unique and strange in their own way (and collaborated with the Group), Stereolab were completely in their own universe.

I like O'Hagans string arrangements for other bands, but I'm not into his own music with The High Llamas. I'm not a fan of Tortoise or O'Rourke at all.

(xpost)

given that MAQ is one of your favorite albums of the 90s, I'm a little baffled that you rate a bunch of posts that conclude this band is "dud" (or "mostly dud") Turrican.

The thing that most/all of those posts have in common is the opinion that up to 1997 they were great, and afterwards not-so-great, which happens to be an opinion I share.

I agree with that thesis but as Ned pointed out in 2001,they've got a massive amount of one-offs, compilations tracks and collaborations that are fascinating and very different than their contemporary albums, all the way up to the end if their career.

their mini-albums / post-LP singles especially (thinking of First of the Microbe Hunters and Fluorescences, which should've been on ETK or D&L - their one hit wonder in another universe).

Agreed. Their EPs are like little universes unto themselves. I've been meaning to make a playlist of them in order, unlike the way the "Oscillons" box mixed them all up.

The only album they released which is less than great is the final album Not Music. Even it is good but it somehow sounds unfinished and tossed together and it's the only one with kinda an ugly cover.

Not Music has the ugly cover?? I love it, looks like vintage Stereolab... Chemical Chords is the one that's garish and remarkably bad. Looks like a Matt & Kim album.

not music is tossed together cuz it's a continuation of material left off of the vastly superior "chemical chords". not music is still a-ok tho

I can't look at the album cover without reading it as "Snot Music". Has some good tracks though...

the opener "Everybody's Weird Except Me" is in my Stereolab top 10

Among their shorter form works, let us not overlook Music From the Amorphous Body Study Centre - one of the few times I have tracked down a rare release and it has been absolutely worth the effort. Not that it's hard to get anymore of course.

disagree with the revive based on sound dust alone, can't think of a more perfect album for fall/winter, different vibe than their catalog in a fine way

moodles also OTM re Pram

tortoise is great but i don't see the connection to stereolab