The future of Stereolab

yes, they split a while ago.

Keep in mind, this was only expressed by Laetitia, I have no idea if Tim agreed. My impression is that the last tour was not a particularly positive experience, but I have no idea how true that is or what the problem was.

judging from the Gane interview in Tape Op, he was basically burnt out:

It's pretty simple. While I was finishing the last sessions, I'd I felt like I'd exhausted any ideas that would work for Stereolab. I didn't want to make the classic "bad record" that some long-time bands seem to put out. I don't think we've made one of those yet. I can't think in a creative way within the limitations of Stereolab anymore, because there's just too much around it. The other part of it is that I was really tired of being away from my home and my wife for seven months out of the year. I wasn't sure whether to stop it completely, or keep it open, in case any good ideas came; like a good offer that sparked some creative thoughts. If that happened, I would do it. But until it does, I don't want to do it. It's as simple as that. We can call it a "hiatus."

So Tim and Laetitia split years before the band broke up? I don't really know anything about their personal history.

At a performance on 21 June 2013 at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival held at Pontins in Camber Sands, Cavern Of Anti-Matter (a trio featuring former Stereolab members Tim Gane and Joe Dilworth) were joined onstage by Lætitia Sadier for a performance of "Blue Milk" (from Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night), thus effecting a partial Stereolab reunion

i worked there one summer (1997), but all we had was Boney M without the main guy, Rolf Harris, and Freddie and the Dreamers without Freddie. Oh yeah and a tribute to Freddie Starr.

So Tim and Laetitia split years before the band broke up? I don't really know anything about their personal history.

Yeah five years before the "hiatus"

So around what album?

just before margarine eclipse?

Emil.y witnessed the ATP performance according to this thread

I saw them only once, in 2008, despite being a fan since around when Cobra Phases came out. It really caught me off guard how much they rocked. They were funky as hell.

Yeah I guess I saw them around that time too...had pretty much lost track of their recorded output by that point but they put on a really good show.

he was the best bassist imo

I witnessed that too (ATP mini-reunion), they had a spare vocal mic hanging around all performance, but COAM were so damn great I didn't even get excited about it. Being the Deerhunter ATP Bradford Cox was up there too. Have a shitty photo.

http://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash2/t1/1004737_10100773448187428_166785064_n.jpg

Every time I see this thread title I imagine an album that ends w/ someone saying "Tell me about the future of Stereolab?" and Tim Gane says "The Future of Stereolab is a..."

And then silence.

just a little empty infinity

Xpost

Funny you mention that, I always think of "the future of the groop is in doubt."

And yet it isn't until just now that I realized those two quotes bookended that album, which I've only listened to about a million times

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rQ94tLkEX8

I'm glad Stereolab kept going just so we could get this:

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

Huh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6odrRSNxYY

I've heard that song a hundred times but never made the Stereolab connection because it was always in the context of the rest of the Eurythmics record. As a standalone, I hear it quite differently.

And "Caveman Head" is the Th' Faith Healers song off In The Garden.

On the Stereolab forum, a fizzy-bubbly unreleased track (circa Dots and Loops) from a Museum Exhibit with Charles Long has been unearthed.

http://www.stereolab.co.uk/forum/stereolab/topic/7405/flat/0/

(scroll down a little to get the dropbox link)

Thanks - it's good.

Yes, great find! Still awaiting more Switched On comps.

didn't they say they had another one coming when they announced they were going on hiatus? never heard anything more about it...

Yeah, 'Not Music' came out.

I've been on a big Stereolab kick lately. I can't say I've ever been the *biggest* fan of the group—I love Emperor Tomato Ketchup to death and have spent passing time with some of their other albums or individual tracks, but I've never done a formal deep dive into the discography. Been spending the last few days with their early albums, Peng through Mars Audiac Quintet. Kinda does something to you to just play all their albums in a row for four hours.

I've also been on a renewed Stereolab and Broadcast kick the last year or so. I'm weird in that even though my first Stereolab album was Emperor Tomato Ketchup, my favorites were 'Dots and Loops' and 'Cobra and Phases Group...', more the xylophone and brass and strings and bouncing baselines side of things, less the motorik-based side. For some reason I stopped following around 'Sound Dust,' though--perhaps too busy exploring their inspirations--but I recently realized their supposed fall-off was vastly exaggerated (probably by people who preferred their guitar-based early sound), so I went out and bought everything they've done in the last decade, and so much of it is really excellent!

I don't think either introduced me to their more motorik/Krautrock-influenced forebears, as I think I discovered Can and Neu and Faust along with them in my late teens. But I know for sure they lead me to things like USA and White Noise and BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which lead to David Axelrod and Placebo and a much fuller exploration of library stuff and Italian/French/German/UK soundtrack music, as well as to Ghost Box and newer stuff that drew on all of the above.

Thinking of all this got me to make a couple of mixes recently that I just uploaded that Stereolab fans would probably appreciate, so check them out here:

https://images-mix.netdna-ssl.com/w/300/h/300/q/85/upload/images/extaudio/261a03b5-422a-4c9b-9899-3d95302f647d.jpg

'La Diffusion' (1957-1975)

https://www.mixcloud.com/musicophilia/musicophilia-la-diffusion-1957-1975/

01 [00:00] Raymond SCOTT - "The Rhythm Modulator" (Manhattan Research Co., 1957)
02 [01:12] Silver APPLES - "Oscilations" (Silver Apples, 1969)
03 [03:55] Barry FORGIE - "Dawn Mists" (Stringtronics, 1972)
04 [07:17] Jean-Michel JARRE - "Black Bird" (Rarities, 1972)
05 [10:24] Mother Mallard's Portable MASTERPIECE CO. - "Cloudscape for Peggy" (Self-Titled, 1970)
06 [13:40] Jacques THOLLOT - "Cecile" (Quand le son Devient Aigu, 1971)
07 [15:33] White NOISE - "Your Hidden Dreams" (An Electric Storm, 1969)
08 [20:36] Paolo RENOSTO - "Confronto" (Here and Now Vol. 2, 1974)
09 [22:50] Ian LANGLEY - "Frantique" (Reggae for Real, 1973)
10 [25:27] Blue PHANTOM - "Equilibrium" (Distortions, 1971)
11 [29:11] Braen's MACHINE - "Obstinacy" (Underground, 1971)
12 [32:46] Karl Heinz SCHAFER - "La Victime" (Les Gants Blancs du Diable, 1973)
13 [36:23] Jacques SIROUL - "See" (Midway, 1973)
14 [39:53] David AXELROD - "Holy Are You (Instrumental)" (Release of an Oath, 1968)
15 [44:14] Piero UMILIANI - "La Rinuncia" (La Ragazza Fuoristrada, 1973)
16 [46:23] GOBLIN - "School at Night (Lullaby)" (Profondo Rosso, 1975)
17 [50:00] ORGANISATION - "Silver Forest" (Tone Float, 1970)
18 [52:27] Franz AUFFRAY - "Sweet Popcorn Part 2" (Original Popcorn, 1969)
19 [55:13] Guy BOYER - "Pop Sticks" (Ballad Pour un Vibra, 1971)
20 [58:12] Ennio MORRICONE - "The Victim" (Maccie Solari, 1974)
21 [61:41] Alan PARKER & John CAMERON - "Survival" (Afro Rock, 1973)
22 [64:47] Ananda SHANKAR - "Metamorphosis" (Ananda Shankar, 1970)
23 [68:02] United States of AMERICA - "Cloud Song" (The United States of America, 1968)
24 [71:32] Billy GREEN - "The Death of Doctor Death" (Stone, 1974)
25 [72:58] Alessandro ALESSANDRONI - "Galleria di Immagini" (Prisma Sonoro, 1974)
26 [76:52] Alain GORAGUER - "Valse des Statues" (La Planete Sauvage, 1973)
27 [79:14] Jacqueline THIBAULT - "Le Loup Quie Pleure" (Laurence Vanay, 1974)
28 [81:12] Manfred HUBLER and Siegfried SCHWAB - "Necronomania" (Der Teufel Kam Aus Akasava, 1971)
29 [83:33] Tom DISSEVELT and Kid BALTAN - "Moon Maid" (Electronic Music, 1962)
30 [86:34] Free DESIGN - "An Elegy" (You Could Be Born Again, 1968)
31 [89:25] Philippe BESOMBES - "Theme Grave" (Libra, 1975)
32 [91:21] Gianni ODDI - "Omerta" (Style, 1974)

https://images-mix.netdna-ssl.com/w/300/h/300/q/85/upload/images/extaudio/360e3aa2-e697-4f31-b9c4-23252683aabd.jpg

'Memories of Tomorrow' (1997-2015)

https://www.mixcloud.com/musicophilia/musicophilia-memories-of-tomorrow-1997-2015/

01 [00:00] Death and VANILLA - "Necessary Distortions" (To Where the Wild Things Are., 2015)
02 [05:55] BEAK - "Lulsgate" (Beak II Bonus, 2012)
03 [08:15] Jane WEAVER - "Argent" (The Silver Globe, 2014)
04 [16:10] Mount Vernon ARTS LAB - "The Black Drop" (The Seance at Hobs Lane, 2007)
05 [19:22] Last EX - "Trop Tard" (Last Ex, 2014)
06 [23:57] His Name IS ALIVE - "Everything Takes Forever" (Ft. Lake, 1998)
07 [28:02] The SOUNDCARRIERS - "Let It Ride" (Harmonium, 2009)
08 [33:45] PORTISHEAD - "The Rip" (Third, 2008)
09 [38:05] Belbury POLY - "Goat Foot" (The Belbury Tales, 2012)
10 [41:03] BROADCAST - "Unchanging Window" (The Noise Mde by People, 2000)
11 [44:48] CARIBOU - "After Hours" (Andorra, 2007)
12 [50:44] Yo La TENGO - "The Sea Horse (excerpt)" (The Sounds of the Sounds of Science, 2002)
13 [53:13] BECK - "Paper Tiger" (Sea Change, 2002)
14 [57:56] IVY - "Back In Our Town" (Apartment Life, 1997)
15 [62:27] TORTOISE - "I Set My Face to the Hillside" (TNT, 1998)
16 [68:19] STEREOLAB - "The Emergency Kisses" (Cobra & Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, 1999)
17 [74:12] The Advisory CIRCLE - "The Patchwork Explains" (As the Crow Flies, 2011)
18 [77:04] AIR - "Ce Matin La" (Moon Safari, 1998)
19 [80:35] Erykah BADU and Flaming LIPS - "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (Heady Fwends, 2012)

Thanks for those links! Will check out La Diffusion for sure.

Yeah, 'Not Music' came out.

― Mark G, Sunday, August 23, 2015 11:17 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The way I understood it, they planned a b-sides compilation spanning multiple years and sessions in addition to Not Music, which was all material from the Chemical Chords sessions.

It's probably in Japan, or some such..

Meantime, I'm due to interview one L. Sadier in fifteen minutes, so should you have any burning questions...

cool, thanks for the mixes!

you could ask her if there is a Stereolab b-sides compilation waiting in the wings? also, is there a recommended pressing for Stereolab vinyl? I've seen various versions with very mixed reviews.

Alas I forgot to ask her about same! Mostly concentrated on her current work and album.

Today looking out the window on a bus and "Miss Modular," - "Do we do we do we do", and also the one in 5/4: "Diagonals"

is Tim Gane just retired now? It's weird how Sadier seems so much more active/productive post-Stereolab.

see here:

http://www.discogs.com/artist/3445802-Cavern-Of-Anti-Matter

not sure how available this stuff is, I have not heard it

fairly recent interview -- he mentions "soundtracks and installations" taking up a lot of his time http://thequietus.com/articles/16983-cavern-of-anti-matter-tim-gane-stereolab-interview

it's strange how his quest to keep things interesting for himself - compositionally, sonically, etc. - led to such boring results. (I have real problems with most Stereolab stuff post-Cobra Phases) Like his micro-managed approach to random compositions, it sounds like an interesting thing to try but the odds of it producing anything worth listening to seem really low.

During their lifespan there were times when it felt like a bit of a slog staying with them but now it's done it seems like one of the most sublime bodies of work that any band has managed to produce.

it's just interesting that his approach to songwriting became so abstract, almost mechanical. The idea that interesting/engaging work can be produced by following a more or less random set of rules. I mean every songwriter has techniques and tricks and boundaries that they draw on but he seems to have taken it to a very extreme level. And you can hear it in the work produced imo - the songs where every bar is different, or melodies and changes that sound completely random, everything just feeling chopped up and atomized and sort of beyond any standard musical logic. That stuff sounds very alienating to me.

3 Cavern of Anti-Matter tracks are on Spotify (+ a collab w/ Mouse on Mars)

I have a Cavern of Anti-Matter album called Blood-Drums. It's really awesome, actually. I find it much more interesting than the last two or three Stereolab albums.

They're also releasing, or maybe they have released, a single for Ghost Box's "Other Voices" series.

You can still stream that album on Staalplaat's bandcamp, if you were to be so inclined.

http://staalplaat.bandcamp.com/album/blood-drums

I probably can't explain why without just gushing, but I find a lot of Stereolab's most beautiful music came post-Cobra, especially on Sound-Dust and Chemical Chords. While I can perceive how one might see more immediacy in the earlier material, I tend to turn to the later albums more often. The Stereolab Origins videos on YouTube help excerpt some latter-day highlights and give a sense of the band's range, almost as much because of as in spite of the overtness of quotation the videos sometimes reveal. There's no group I miss more.

i prefer the earlier stuff, but i still think there's a lot of great stuff on the latter day releases. gane's discussion of his working methods is pretty interesting -- it doesn't sound like a fun way to make music to me, but it must be rewarding for him.

They're also releasing, or maybe they have released, a single for Ghost Box's "Other Voices" series

Out on December 4th, pre-order from this Friday. Based on the clips on soundcloud and iTunes, the A-side could end up being my track of the year. And for those who like "the earlier stuff", the B-side sounds like a lost instrumental from the Mars Audiac Quintet sessions.

Those tracks sound a lot like both Stereolabs I know and love.

Tim Gane's soundtracks with Sean O'Hagan are very pleasant.