The future of Stereolab

Not so hot on including the entire "Microbe Hunters", unclear why they chose to do that - it's not like it's rare on the 2nd hand market unlike the "Amorphous Body Center" when they put it on "Aluminum Tunes".

My original list posted above covered their output until 2001, then I later realized the error of my judgement and expanded my personal Switched On compilation to cover their entire career.

They've been adding rarities onto their reissues, 6 tracks from my original lists are on recent bonus discs, but of that list I posted in 2010, almost all of it is still uncompiled. "Electrically Possessed" will take off another 13 rarities.

Here's what's still out there:
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. XXXOOO
7. High Expectations (demo)
8. Ronco Symphony (demo)
9. The Seeming And The Meaning (demo) - these 2 from the Spacewatch flexi
10. I'm Going Out Of My Way (WHFS session) - from "Inside Dave's Garage" split single
11. The Extension Trip (radio session) - Reading Present 1995 comp
12. The Eclipse
13. Yes Sir! I Can Moogie - these 2 from "The Cat's Miaow" split single
14. ABC (The Multitude) - from "Godz Is Not A Put On" compilation
15. Jenny Ondioline (live) - Upsapalooza comp
16. Cadriopo (full version)- from Fugu split single
17. Simple Headphone Mind
18. Trippin' With The Birds - from "Simple Headphone Mind" collaboration with Nurse With Wound
19. Persolator (live) - Phoenix: The Album comp
20. Endless Summer (as Microlab) - from "Microstonia - Reprovisers" compilation
21. St. Elmo's Fire (radio)
22. Less Time
23. St. Elmo's Fire (Red Corona)
24. St. Elmo's Fire (Spatio-Dynamic)
25. Impulse Rah!
26. St. Elmo's Fire (Snow) - these 6 as Uilab from "St. Elmo's Fire" collaboration with Ui
27. Miss Modular (Automator mix)
28. Refractions In The Plastic Pulse (Feebate mix by Autechre)
29. Contranatura (Prelude To The Autumn Of A Faun mix by Kid Loco) - these 3 from "Miss Modular Remixes" EP
30. Rainbo Conversation (Russel Simins mix) - from the "Miss Modular" US promo
31. Symbolic Logic Of Now! - from "Soi-Distant" split single
32. Chinese Whispers (Stereolab mix) - from "Chinese Whispers" compilation
33. Untitled / 008 - from Thurston Moore's "Root" compilation
34. Blaue Milch - from Peter-Thomas-Sound-Orchester's "Warp Back To Earth 66/99" compilation
35. Ticker Tape Of The Unconscious (Thievery Corporation remix) - from Thievery Corporation's "Abductions & Reconstructions" compilation
36. Brain Drain - from "Collaborations 2: Constant Friction" compilation
37. Négatités - from "Yeti 1" compilation
38. Alternative 1 (with Hairy Butter)
39. Alternative 2 (with Hairy Butter)
40. Alternative 3 (with Hairy Butter) - these 3 from "Alternative 3" soundtrack
41. Mudra (V/A - Dimension Mix)
42. Spool Of Collusion (Chemical Chords bonus single)
43. Forensic Itch (Chemical Chords bonus single)
44. The Nth Degree (Chemical Chords JP bonus track)
45. Magne-Music (Chemical Chords JP bonus track)
46. Valley Hi! (live) - FBI: The Live Feed comp
47. Neon Beanbag (Atlas Sound Southern Baptist remix) - Not Music JP bonus track

Feel like maybe it would've been better to expand Microbe Hunters into a full LP, then put out a separate Switched On 4.

Microbe Hunters was a full LP tho?
and the vinyl is expensive now, so reissuing it all on vinyl seems to make sense at least
sold mine a few years ago tho for a decent price, maybe I'll like it more this time round

Microbe Hunters was marketed as an EP/mini album but at 39 minutes is one of those weird "in '90s electronica terms EPs." The CD was priced below the premium (in the US, anyway) and it felt kind of like a stopgap.

A bit like the "bachelor pad" one back in the day?

I want everything to get scooped up in this reissue series because the CD sets are fantastic

xp GAHHH WHERE THE HELL IS THAT ONE ALSO?!?!

Forgot about that EP, "We're Not Adult Oriented" totally rules. I assume it has the same issues w/Too Pure as discussed re: Lo Fi above.

It was reissued (not remastered) a couple of years ago. Seems like Lo Fi has always been available.

the vinyl is getting pretty expensive:

https://www.discogs.com/Stereolab-Low-Fi/release/222171

It's amazing that the Cat's Miaow split and that Nurse With Wound thingy are still lost in the wilderness. Things aren't inaccessible in quite the same way as they were before '90s volumes, but I've been naively waiting more than half a lifetime for hear those via a subsequent Switched On. The decision to make 40% of Vol 4 a reissue of their weakest album (an EP mainly "in '90s electronica terms", OTM) is mildly offensive in this context lol.

yeah Simple Headphone Mind is so freakin good

lol I bought the Cat's Miaow split for the Cat's Miaow song at the time

Pretty sure that was the first time I heard of CW. They roolz innit. Their track from the 7" has been on a compilation for decades now, LOL

a reissue of their weakest album

Maybe they think it's too weak to reissue on its own.

SHM is downloadable from NWW's bandcamp, at around the price of one of these switched on CD comps.

Microb Hunters is possibly the Stereolab release I have listened to the most, I had it on repeat for a month or two, much of this is down to the time and place I was at though.

"I Feel the Air (of Another Planet)" would likely still go in my top 10 though.

picturing a Viz strip called Micro Bunters rn, abt dozens of tiny, miniaturized, rotund schoolboys

_a reissue of their weakest album_

OTM

Microbe Hunters is a solid EP, and I'm glad that I can now own it on vinyl. I was initially unimpressed with the inclusion of Amorphous on Aluminum Tunes, but am similarly thankful for it these days.

Lo-Fi isn't really very good, especially compared to the other stuff they recorded at that session

maybe I'm just mad I spent a lot for the 10" all those years ago and it was a mispressing with side A on both sides of the record

i like microbe hunters & dont mind having it in the set just on the basis of consolidating their discography onto affordable vinyl. id rather have it as part of this $30 set than if they excluded it and then charged $30 for it as a standalone reissue

I like the Lo-Fi challop ;-) I'm not all that familiar with it but have listened on YouTube while dithering over spending about a tenner on the CD (it's generally gone up since then) and not been sufficiently won over.

aw, I love it. probably my favorite EP of theirs

iirc Low Fi was Mary's debut which makes it notable. In retrospect I don't remember loving it as much as the pre-Mary singles at the time... though I'd need to revisit as this era was almost 30 years ago. How did Low Fi fare in the Stereolab poll?

It's probably my favorite ep as well -- it's got all the sides of 92-era Lab on one slab (a VU ripoff, some political lyrics I didn't comprehend at age 19, noisy drone loop, etc). But if it were replaced with "mountain" and "john cage bubblegum" repeated on both sides I probably wouldn't complain.

_a reissue of their weakest album_

Yep, I'd concur with that - Microbe Hunters was the final straw for me, I was convinced it was all over until Sound dust made everything okay again.

Now & again I give it a spin to see if I'd completely misjudged (the cobra & phases syndrome) and every time it sounds like an endless conveyor belt of bland jelly mould filler

last 2 mins of Elektro from Lo-Fi are so good, I wish that MBVish guitar that comes in the end went on for longer
would love a vinyl pressing of Oscillons but it's probably impractical, it would be what, 4 LPs? 5?

Love Microbe Hunters, and Outer Bongolia is a top three track of theirs imo. But no need to include it here when it's so ubiquitous as a second hand CD. A vinyl reissue would be nice.

Yeah I ended up with two CD copies myself, without trying.

Lol I've bought at least 3 CD copies or maybe even 4, because it's always like $2.

Ha, thoroughly enjoying microbe hunters, I take it all back. In what universe is it an ep tho....

household names ffs

nomus et phusis, retrograde mirror form <3

Microbe Hunters might be their least essential release but it still has great songs like “I Feel the Air of Another Planet" and "Retrograde Mirror Form" which would justify - at least for me - to buy it separately.

Saying it’s their least essential release doesn’t mean it’s bad. I’d actually recommend it on that basis alone; if you think this is how they sound at their most uninspired, imagine how the rest of their discography sounds like.

I see "Dimension M2" has been released as a "single", in so far as that means anything these days; it's on Spotify. Nice enough. From the 2005 Disko Cabine comp (Stereo Total, Etienne Charry and a bunch of other folks I've never heard of).

Stereolab/NWW falling out well-documented, I think (maybe that's all water under the bridge), but SHM isn't likely to appear on a Stereolab comp. I wish I hadn't ruined my Uilab 12" by trying to clean it.

SHM/tripping is $10 on NWW bandcamp page as previously mentioned, as are the other collabs (which i think ate all on previous SO comps anyway). shorter track has been out digitally before iirc. might even have got mine from mike.

i've checked and my uilab cd is sitting over there between the Turn On cd and Ultra Vivid Scene. probably haven't listened to it in 15 years.

(yes, SHM on 20 years of Wire comp and 30 years of Rough Trade comp)

Turn On! I'd forgotten about that. I assume you're not using Unicode ordering on your CDs, so all your U2 is down the end, before the Vs. :)

slander.

(actually, i do have blood red sky and war, both on vinyl, maybe both still in GL20, but either way they aren't filed with the cds. i think there may be a track or two on charity cds)

xxp btw AFAIK the 10:40 version of SHM on the Wire 20 comp is the same as what's on The Swinging Reflective i.e. an edit of Trippin' With The Birds. I don't know what's on the Rough Trade xomp but it's likely to be the same.

I'm going to re-evaluate Low-Fi, let's see if I love it now.

SHM b/w Trippin has been my favorite Stereolab thing since a decade ago at least (and probably favorite NWW thing). Do they have more stuff that sounds similar?

NWW's "Cooloorta Moon" EP, "Rock 'n' Roll Station" CD and maybe the "Huffin' Rag Blues" CD come closest IMO

Today’s Lab Report mentions that work is now starting on Switched On 5.

Great! Hopefully that'll clear most of the remaining decks.

my LP copy of vol 4 should be arriving today :)

"Electrically Possessed" is out and I must say that the Microbe material fits in well. I don't think I'd heard it since it came out and since then I've become more familiar with the original texts that Stereolab cribbed from, it all works very nicely for me now.

The Microbe material might get a bit of rehabilitation from being included here. It has been undervalued.