The future of Stereolab

This seems to be a popular view of Stereolab and not one I subscribe to at all. Their scamper away from the indie disco dancefloor down ever-narrowing corridors of fussy detail and texture mirrors my own shift in tastes, and as a result I've loved most of their records (especially Sound-Dust and the last quarter of everyone's favourite one to knock, ...Milky Night).

That said, an end to Stereolab now, after Mary's tragic death, would seem appropriate, but there are unpleasantly humdrum things like brand identity and paying the mortgage to think about.

On the contrary, they aren't fun enough

Agreed, this is why I sold Dots & Loops which gradually revealed itself to be not much fun at all.

This could be cool. I remember an Autechre remix (of a song I can't recall) that was completely out of the ordinary for them, and very good. Maybe they should hook up with Matmos or something.

Yeah that could have gone further...although like I said I don't think the D&L melodies are quite up to snuff.

Madness! There are some flaccid moments sure, but "Super Falling Star", "Mellotron", "Orgiastic", etc... I ask you?

Am I still the only person who actually thinks Emperor Tomato Ketchup has been the least durable record so far?

Laetitia may be impatient with fans -- after a hiatus they produce Sound Dust which is such a good record -- so consistent (i love roughly every second song) -- having heard loops and milky i say it is their best album after tomato, perhaps the culmination of that direction in their sound

that tv program Cold Feet had a millenium special episode that reprised cul de sac perfectly, since the drift/ island/ end metaphor worked perfectly for the 'end of time' hoop-la surrounding 0/0/2000 and the possibilities of ths show drifting, out to sea or beached, which it sure ended up doing, even if they didn't think they were drifting then

i liked those promo photos of stereolab, with the power poles vertically alligned with the pictures perspective -- like harry lime as the giant (film) wheel comes to a stop over occupied vienna, a snapshot, on the road to the castle or back ? waiting for the flood ? (i don't stereolab are misanthropic, the fans tiny dots or dust, as if viewed from harry's perspective)

i like this album art, the indication of a peak, however insular, an acknowledgement by the band that they may well be too disconnected from their audience yet wishing to take the chicago computer collaborations to a decent conclusion .. i bet they knew sound dust was make or break time, if not for the group then at least for that sound, which surely they got right on this album tens times more so than on the two albums seemingly leading in that direction, validating for me those experiments along the way -- good on them for acknowledging the alienating potential, yet admitting that this was the peak of that stereolab at least

yes, i think they will go looking for other peaks, somewhere else (Lionel Stander did get to work in hollywood again, after all)

maybe the boo-boos will have to go and a new angle for the lyrics taken with both Marie's terrible departure and the band learning the hard lessons of producing something so good by their own standards even if these didn't meet the demands of their audience -- the artistic journey has been completed -- that concept in light of Marie's death is almost horribly prophetic in a spooky new way, beyond their worst dreams i imagine (is Polanski a real king midas of horror and despair ? dark forces ?) (i do not wish to trivialise _anything_ in saying this)

of course the album + art stands on it's own feet as beautiful music with a variety of sentiment -- most of the band can return to the main land and pursue some other groove -- after a presumably respectful period of meditation and change of trade-name

"hiatus"

http://www.stereolab.co.uk/news/

Perhaps a necessary thing, really.

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."

fairly similar to Austin

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/stereolab/2022/acl-live-at-the-moody-theater-austin-tx-43b0cb9b.html

“Mountain”! Damn.

all the early tracks they revived sounded so good

I think “Mountain” was my first favorite Groop track (Refried Ectoplasm was where my fandom started, when a friend loaned it to me).

Holy fuck they’re doing Refractions In the Plastic Pulse?? For those who have seen them, are they playing the whole thing or just particular section(s)?

the whole thing

they seem to have developed a new way of approaching some of these songs with a light touch then suddenly revving them up into overdrive, very interesting way of playing with dynamics

there's a good quality video of the Dallas show up on youtube

Yep, all the way through. Hell of a treat!

they seem to have developed a new way of approaching some of these songs with a light touch then suddenly revving them up into overdrive, very interesting way of playing with dynamics

along these lines, Blue Milk was the highlight of the 2019 show i saw + Andy Ramsay is the MVP

he's always been such a key part of their sound, and yet it seems like he's stepping it up, playing more with dynamics, throwing all kinds of sequences and triggers into the mix along with the drums, just a total champ

Absolutely. So long as he's there with Tim and Laetitia, it is Stereolab and I will always happily support them and see them.

Amen!

Yeah, I love the ‘overdrive’ moments. I remember even ‘Ping Pong’ went absolutely haywire live in 2019.

So way upthread Gerald posted this:

Given this, there's still this out there. Most of these are alt versions of released tracks so not that crucial:
1. Super Falling Star (Moog mix) - from Volume 4 compilation
2. High Expectations (demo)
3. The Seeming And The Meaning (demo) - these 2 from the Spacewatch flexi
4. I'm Going Out Of My Way (WHFS session) - from "Inside Dave's Garage" split single
5. The Extension Trip (radio session)
6. The Eclipse
7. Jenny Ondioline (live) - Upsapalooza comp
8. Cadriopo (full version)- from Fugu split single
9. Persolator (live) - Phoenix: The Album comp
10. Endless Summer (as Microlab) - from "Microstonia - Reprovisers" compilation
11. St. Elmo's Fire (radio)
12. Less Time
13. St. Elmo's Fire (Red Corona)
14. St. Elmo's Fire (Spatio-Dynamic)
15. Impulse Rah!
16. St. Elmo's Fire (Snow) - these 6 as Uilab from "St. Elmo's Fire" collaboration with Ui
17. Miss Modular (Automator mix)
18. Contranatura (Prelude To The Autumn Of A Faun mix by Kid Loco) - these 3 from "Miss Modular Remixes" EP
19. Rainbo Conversation (Russel Simins mix) - from the "Miss Modular" US promo
20. Chinese Whispers (Stereolab mix) - from "Chinese Whispers" compilation
21. Untitled / 008 - from Thurston Moore's "Root" compilation
22. Cache Cache (Monade) - from collaboration with Brigitte Fontaine
23. Ticker Tape Of The Unconscious (Thievery Corporation remix) - from Thievery Corporation's "Abductions & Reconstructions" compilation
24. Brain Drain - from "Collaborations 2: Constant Friction" compilation
25. Négatités - from "Yeti 1" compilation
26. Alternative 1 (with Hairy Butter)
27. Alternative 2 (with Hairy Butter)
28. Alternative 3 (with Hairy Butter)
29. Mudra (V/A - Dimension Mix)
30. Valley Hi! (live) - FBI: The Live Feed comp
31. Neon Beanbag (Atlas Sound Southern Baptist remix) - Not Music JP bonus track

So I have a slew of these but not all -- here's what I'm missing:

5. The Extension Trip (radio session)
7. Jenny Ondioline (live) - Upsapalooza comp
8. Cadriopo (full version)- from Fugu split single
9. Persolator (live) - Phoenix: The Album comp
19. Rainbo Conversation (Russel Simins mix) - from the "Miss Modular" US promo
26. Alternative 1 (with Hairy Butter)
27. Alternative 2 (with Hairy Butter)
28. Alternative 3 (with Hairy Butter)
29. Mudra (V/A - Dimension Mix)
30. Valley Hi! (live) - FBI: The Live Feed comp
31. Neon Beanbag (Atlas Sound Southern Baptist remix) - Not Music JP bonus track

Gerald or anyone, any way to share these out? I'm essentially creating a 'Switched On Vol. 6' for myself and kinda interestingly it would all fit on two CDs so maybe one day... (Thinking about how Sonic Youth finally cleared out all those random B-sides and live cuts on singles from the 80s via a Bandcamp comp.)

here's the Upsapalooza "Jenny Ondioline"

https://www.mediafire.com/file/x6qziqmrnuqqixm/1-01_Stereolab_-_Jenny_Ondioline.flac/file

I know I’ve got that Miss Modular promo somewhere, I’ll see if I can rip a nice version of that track

Absolutely. So long as he's there with Tim and Laetitia, it is Stereolab and I will always happily support them and see them.

If it's Tim, Laetitia, Andy Ramsay and your gran' on the Grodeck Whipperjenny, it's Stereolab.

Thanks Sleeve! All help appreciated!

Anyone who wants these can email me at geraldmcbb (at) hotmail (d0t) com

Anyone want to buy two tickets for the 9:30 Club show in DC Saturday?

Would like them to round out the expanded editions with a Chemical Chords/Not Music 2-disc set, mainly because I never bought them in the first place

Posted this on the wrong thread ... but saw them at Roadrunner in Boston last night, which is a terrific venue. Enjoyable but the absolutely terrible sound (their live sound person's fault as the opener had great sound and a very similar lineup) made the experience a lot less pleasant than it should've been. Current band is pretty tight tho and the song selection was very good.

Defer to Gerald McBoing-Boing for his review as he was also there and much closer to the stage.

The show in Minneapolis had absolutely atrocious sound as well which I considered posting in this thread like 5 times but figured there would be no one to commiserate.

OK gang

what in the holy hell is going on with side 4 of the Dots and Loops 3LP reissue (tracks 8, 9, and 10 on the original CD)?

what is labeled as "Parsec"... is not, and it's 4:35 instead of 5:34 long

then the version of "Ticker-Tape Of The Unconscious" is a full minute shorter, and "Contronature" is maybe 20 seconds shorter

what the heck is going on here, and what is in place of "Parsec"? nothing about this on the Discogs page, which has had helpful breakdowns on some differences w/previous reissues

I'm going to have to go back and listen but they messed around with track lengths throughout the deluxe edition, mostly adding bits of new material here and there

yeah but it's a totally different song!! I am so confused, any insight is most appreciated

I bought that deluxe ed digitally from Bleep and the track listing is
1 Brakhage 5:31
2 Miss Modular 4:29
3 The Flower Called Nowhere 5:15
4 Diagonals 5:15
5 Prisoner of Mars 4:22
6 Rainbo Conversation 4:46
7 Refractions in the Plastic Pulse 17:32
8 Parsec 5:35
9 Ticker-Tape of the Unconscious 4:46
10 Contronatura 9:04
(plus 11 more tracks)
so exactly the same at the original release, more or less - the vinyl must differ?

The show in Minneapolis had absolutely atrocious sound as well which I considered posting in this thread like 5 times but figured there would be no one to commiserate.

Sounds like something technical went way off the rails. If it's a digital board, could it be that they had levels saved from soundcheck that failed to load correctly?

Everything sounded completely normal and clear at the show I went to.

I didn't notice any sound issues standing up front in Boston. Frankly, I was just closing my eyes and losing myself in the music. Observations:

Tim & Laetitia stood as far apart as possible. I forget if that's any different than the old days.

The bassist fellow took over Mary's backing vocals and did very well!

The drumming was OK but not as powerful as the material needed.

Favorite tracks were "UHF", "Mountain", a way too short "Jenny O" and the amazing encore surprise of "Simple Headphone Mind".

Not a great deal of stage presence, L's simple dance moves were really endearing though.

The couple of times I saw Stereolab pre-break Tim stood in the middle of the band surrounded by everyone else basically. So yeah, different from those times for sure.

I saw the Minneapolis show too and also found the sound unpleasant but wondered if it were somehow mixed for earplugs (which I forgot to bring; the music sounded better when I yawned, though). I appreciate hearing that it wasn’t just me.

Huh. Sound was perfectly fine in SF and the mixer there, who I gather was the tour mixer, is an acquaintance of a musician friend, Sarah Hennies, who was thrilled to note she was doing that job. Strange!

Yes, that's who it was in Boston. Sounds from her CV like she is super experienced musician/composer. Maybe they're dependent on whatever board the venue provides, I dunno. But hopefully they clean it up as the tour goes on. Not everyone wants to press themselves up against the stage like Gerald McBoing Boing!

So I listened to side 4 of the dots & loops expanded edition and the first song was definitely Parsec. Don't really know about track length changes though.

wtf

let me post what I have

here is the first minute or so of what begins my side 4 and purports to be "Parsec"

https://soundcloud.com/sleeve-the-dj/untitled?si=69f892dfeea846be90505ebb60bc5c54

oops that got removed, Moodles I will ILXmail you

So, decided to do a little Stereolab review project...but not about Stereolab specifically:

https://theshfl.com/guide/the-stereolab-halo

awesome

I haven’t had a chance to really dig in, but great concept - there’s so much to mine just outside of the official Stereolab canon.

Really is and I surprised even myself -- a ton of things I had no idea existed.

Lots of great albums on that list

Looks great. Richard Harrison played bass with the 'lab though, not drums/percussion.

Hm, must have misread something! Will correct.

also it seems to mention 2002 in the first para? surely that's 2022?

i love copyediting

Great piece Ned, lots of stuff I hadn't known about at all. Curious to check out that Ghost Power, had no idea!

Wow, nice article! I have about half of those, but it has inspired me to dig deeper - thank you!!
One minor thing (this is extremely nit-picky) - I thought Laetitia's singing debut with McCarthy was earlier than *Banking...*
Just did a little Googling, and this page says the *Get a Knife Between Your Teeth* EP is from April 1990 (on which Laetitia is credited), but this page says *Banking...* came out in August 1990.

IIRC the recent reissue boxset credit her with being on the At War EP. from 1989 and even the earlier Should the Bible Be Banned EP but it feels like an error.

Either way, by Enraged, they were starting to experiment more and showing the seeds of Stereolab.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb2ENkP7t4M

I will keep that in mind re McCarthy -- I've kept updating poor Caleb at Shfl all my glitches today so maybe down the road! But thanks all for the corrections, and of course the kind words.