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."

He also plays bass in Laetitia's band and in Astrobal.

ah! he was a highlight of the show imo. All of them sounded great and the material selection couldn't have pleased me more.

xpost I want to know more about Stereolad

you bet!

!!! spent a tour or three opening for themselves as an all-male Stereolab tribute act, Nic Offer swapping his shorty shorts for shorty pinafores.

Here's a distorted audience video of French Disko in Amsterdam, here's a review of the Seattle show I saw, and here's Offer's essay explaining the influence Stereolab had on him & bandmates in the '90s, that he wanted to pay back two decades later:
https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/reference-points/stereolab-stereolad-chk-chk-chk

great show last night but I wanted to hear Jenny and no Jenny on the setlist; glad they mixed it up a bit for people who were there the earlier two nights though, I guess. I think this was a more enjoyable show than the last time I saw them, which was whenever the last time they toured through here....I remember that show feeling incomplete, somewhat depressing without Mary.

we dragged our son to this (13 1/2, finally getting into music and playing guitar), he hated every second of it, probably because he likes guitar histrionics. Poo on him.

I had absolutely no expectations re: the setlist, and actually had not listened to them in quite a while, so it all sounded very welcome.

^Same! A little bit of everything. Love that MAQ got so much love on Saturday. But, I wish they wouldn’t shy away from Chemical Chords so much (hot take, lol), bc it’s been growing on me lately.

Chemical Chords is one of my favorites, happy to hear from someone else who feels the same.

Gotta say that laundry bag is one of the most useful pieces of tour merch I've ever bought.

I've made a point to revisit Chemical Chords every few years and have never been able to get into it. Something about the brevity of the tunes and the way they just come to a dead stop make it seem like it was a collections of demos or sketches or something. Anyway, my enthusiasm is renewed and I'm happy to give it another shot.

The dancy songs were the ones I connected to the most last night, and I found myself with a smile on my face during Lo Boob, though that's also because I remembered one of my least favorite jobs where a co-worker was annoyed that I had that song as my ringtone.

Also a little disappointed about a lack of Jenny, but this was my first live show in like 2 years so I'll take what I get. (Also maybe I'm getting old but I was surprised the sound wasn't that loud.)

Xp Chemical Chords was my first entry into the Groop! Still have fondness for it.

outic what did u think of Bronze?

Great show last Monday - Jenny Ondioline was probably 3 mins long so hardly worth it. No Blue Milk either but a lengthy Contranatura at the end. I guess they are only doing one opus per show.

I bought all five reissues at the show in a total splurge- very excited after reading the commentary upthread

I didn't keep track of the full set on Friday night cuz I'm not *that* much of a nerd but high points for me were:
Crest
Lo-Boob Oscillator
Metronomic Underground
Percolator

Bronze were... interesting. I dunno if I really liked it but I give them credit for being unusual both in sound and presentation. It is kinda funny that we are at a point where a guy theatrically turning a knob has taken the place of guitar theatrics. And the singer has an entertaining cowboy-in-Mulholland-Drive schtick going on. But the music itself was pretty goth-y and I got kinda bored with it.

They play Percolator so blisteringly fast I almost sprained my neck

what was the epic closing number? I lost track

I wasn't there but setlist.fm says the closer of the main set was Lo Boob Oscillator and the final encore was Contronatura

Bronze didn't play on Saturday -- Mia Doi Todd instead, but we were having dinner and missed her set. As for Stereolab's set, very nice all around -- it felt like seeing a good old friend again. My girlfriend is a Transient ride-or-die sort so she was a little bummed we only got "Crest" from it, but as that's one of their most perfect songs all around in terms of sound/aesthetic I was very happy. (I was also happy I got to replace my long departed shirt from the Transient tour itself with the new one with a slightly different design for the turntable image.)

Saw them in LA last night and they were terrific. But if a slow start but once it got going it was great. Lo Boob Oscillator and Metronomic Underground were the highlights here too. I don’t know all their song titles well but the encore was a very Steve Reich-ian thing that was mesmerizing.

Agree with the sentiments above that the bass player was a surprising secret weapon of the group.

xpost And while it was great to get "Blue Milk" I think the real highlight for me was "Metronomic Underground."

Contronatura

ah yeah that's what I was thinking of, cuz I didn't recognize it

yeah, that song is only ok to me.

" I was surprised the sound wasn't that loud" it wasn't, which was nice.

also just generally loved Laetitia's whole style throughout the show, relaxed, funny, engaged: "Let's play Ping Pong", "This song is about la resistance" etc

For me it was really good seeing Tim Gane do his head-back-and-forth thing he does when he's getting into something.

I think Tim Gane did that through the whole show in Minneapolis. He must have been really into it.

honestly the only thing that would have made the show more enjoyable for me would've been if Laetitia broke out her trombone

When they played Miss Modular I had my fingers crossed that she would

I don’t know all their song titles...

I can't think of another band that I love where I can match so few songs to their titles, and for some reason don't care. Had no idea what "Contronatura" is, googled to find it's the closer on Dots and Loops and still couldn't identify it. Ohhhh, the one that goes "My dearest friend..."

" I was surprised the sound wasn't that loud" it wasn't, which was nice.

yeah, I forgot my earplugs & was worried during Wand opening, but the 'Lab were mixed clear and great without being ~loud~ per se at all

I wouldn't have minded if the keyboards were a tad higher in the mix. But overall yeah it sounded great. When they did their long freakouts everything sounded perfect.

Yeah I know the titles of like 4 stereolab songs and with the exception of Jenny I probably couldn't match the titles to the songs.

let me also state here: the fucking floor at the Fillmore was disgusting. It's been a while since I've been there (I think Patti Smith at the beginning of the year) but I do NOT recall the carpet being this spongey and sticky in the past. maybe they'd cleaned it and it wasn't dry or something.

Loved the show in Seattle, but the keyboards and guitars were not mixed loud enough, particularly on the other songs like French Disko and Jenny where you want the guitar or moog to be a wall of sound. It was well mixed, in that the instrument separation was clear and balanced, but some dynamics from the original recordings were lost due to the balanced mix. Anyway, great show, can't wait for them to come back.

Meant 'older songs', not 'other songs' above.

Had a lot of fun seeing them, but wish they still used the farfisa and wurlitzer, those two were kind of central to the sound of so many of their records and shows.

carting those things around and keeping them working is a total nightmare

I'm sure it is, but they sounded awesome

are they coming back? are stereolab back for more stuff? will they record new material? or even tour again?

Been wondering that myself. These dates were it so far.

saw them last night. phenomenal. their mood was great, they were incredibly tight, and when they left i didn't get a sense from the band that they thought this was their last ever U.S. show, idk why they didn't say anything. but maybe because they were happy and then didn't give off any sense of finality.

" I was surprised the sound wasn't that loud" it wasn't, which was nice.

yeah, I forgot my earplugs & was worried during Wand opening, but the 'Lab were mixed clear and great without being ~loud~ per se at all

lol look at us oldsters.

they're touring Australia next year so they're not stopping just yet

Does Bleep always take forever to ship stuff?

the farfisa and wurlitzer, those two were kind of central to the sound of so many of their records and shows.

The Yamaha YC Joe Watson has on stage has a very good Farfisa sound library in it and won't break, go out of tune, and weights about 1/20th as much.

I mean, I get why they do this, I understand modern keyboard gear, so don't need to be told multiple times that there are newer, more reliable keyboards that do a reasonable simulation while being easier to cart around. Still does not sound the same.

If I can be nerdy down that path I thought the Yamaha reface was fine for the combo organ and a smart call, my complaint was using a Kong minilogue in place of the minimoog…and I own and love the minilogue but it’s a thinner sound and doesn’t do the bubbly moog they need...and there are newer dependable moons that could’ve filled that role.

I've finally given a spin to the new Dots & Loops reissue and wanted to join in saying it's stellar. Nice, clean pressing and just all-around great sounding. I've not listened to the album in a long while so I don't pick up any tweaks they may have made, but the care and emphasis on producing a great sounding record is evident.

Saw the DC show and I wished Sadier’s vocals were higher in the mix.

L.A. setlist:

Anamorphose
Ping Pong
Infinity Girl
Double Rocker
Crest
Need to Be
Lo Boob Oscillator
The Extension Trip
Brakhage
Miss Modular
Percolator
Metronomic Underground
French Disko

Encore:

The Stars Our Destination
Blue Milk
Contronatura
Come and Play in the Milky Night

demo version of Motoroller Scalatron is soooo lovely, really all these demos are such great snapshots