The future of Stereolab

Thanks for the heads up about Piccadilly, I got two of the clear versions from them and a third from Norman Records. No obis this time, but at least I know I won't be getting them as opposed to last time when I thought I had ordered an obi Transient, ended up with black vinyl, and had a protracted exchange with Bleep about how this came about because the order receipt and website didn't show which versions were placed on order. This soured me on the whole enterprise! And so I sourly scrambled to see where I might obtain more scratch cards this morning.

I was able to get all 3 with Obi this morning but it took 30mins of trying. Bleep was slow to get their stock up, so after duophonic sold out of ETK and D&L, I manically refreshed Bleep until they showed up. Cost me $15 more in shipping to buy from Duohonic than from Bleep. Got Cobra from duophonic.

so the next three albums' deluxe editions are up for sale? (I only want them on CD so I assume I don't have to rush)

"We're a dance band.." oh i liked that very much (on the Riley show).

There are fewer copies of the deluxe CD's than there are of the vinyl. 250 vs 500.

That's the 'obi' editions, yes. Stereolab fans seem to gag for the old vinyls though innit.

wow there's a With Friends Like These Pt. 2!!

Still some clear Dots and Loops at Jumbo as far as I can tell: https://www.jumborecords.co.uk/music-single.asp?product_id=DUHFD17RC

huh, the last batch of deluxe CDs were readily available on Amazon... these are more limited?

I think people are talking about the obi strip versions?

ah, nevermind me then... just need whatever 2CD edition is easy to get, looks like they aren't limited

Complaints ahead — — — — — — — — — —

I actually wish they'd tried to make the CD versions a little more desirable. They have all the same content as the vinyl versions, so it's not like they're trying to shortchange you, but the digipacks feel a little insubstantial. Something like a square slipcase with sturdy mini-sleeves would have been nice.

And while I've enjoyed reading Tim Gane's liner notes, they convey the sense that Stereolab was "his" band. One of the interesting things about being a fan was that I hardly knew who was in the band when I was getting into them — like I'd see a photo and I wouldn't know who was Laetitia Sadier and who was Mary Hansen. It was like they were a "lab," a team of scientists making sounds, where papers have group authorship. Of course the songs were credited Gane/Sadier, and if I'd read interviews I'd probably have known more about the internal workings of the group. But the liner notes convey the impression of an ossification around Gane's leadership, even as they also explain how some recording elements were the result of accidents and improvisations. So comments from other members, and maybe some vintage photographs or other documents, would have been welcome.

I'm also just disappointed that there isn't any new material thus far. Complaints about this revival as a touring museum retrospective may be, uh, rockist, but this band was always sort of premised on the tension between its forward- and backward-looking elements — now the tension seems resolved in favor of the latter. Of course there may still be new material, and I look forward to finally being able to see them. But I was listening to the latest Cavern of Anti-Matter on my bike the other day, and it scratched an itch for making the old seem new that reissues don't. I know a lot of people get off the Stereolab bus in the late '90s or early '00s, but I like practically everything. I even think I would prefer embarrassing, legacy-damaging new material to none at all. "Unless we try we won't know, we won't know, we won't know...."

Did you listen to the Red Bull? chat with Lateitia? It was Tim's band. She complained of feeling like a factory worker. It was illuminating. Didn't seem like the best atmosphere to be someone other than Tim in. I can detect there's still some simmering resentment in their comments on the BBC session they just did. I'll be surprised if this tour actually finishes.

Comments from Laetitia would at least be nice, although this Red Bull Music Academy video gives you a bit of her perspective

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1L0Uw1BU9s

Clearly they were the two calling the shots all the way through, but I think her contributions to the song writing process gets underplayed. The melodicism of her solo work vs the lack thereof with Cavern of Anti-Matter makes me think she had a much stronger hand in creating those classic Lab melodies than is sometimes portrayed.

I also wish there was some new material, but I kind of doubt that's going to happen.

LOL, brotherlovesdub thinking along the same lines as me

I did watch the Red Bull interview a while back and recall the factory worker sentiment. It did give me pause. Still, at one point — I'm not sure if it was in the same interview — she also said that if Tim brought the songs again, she would love to sing them. Gane's "do I have Stereolab ideas" vs. Sadier's "what are the hours" questions (as mentioned in the NYT piece a few weeks back) could be taken together to indicate that if they go in on new material, Gane's working methods require going "all in" in a way that Sadier might (understandably) not have the patience for.

I'd reluctantly have to disagree with Sadier being strong as a composer of melodies. I could see it in the sense that maybe Gane brings the chords, Sadier the melody, if it worked that way. Sadier's idiosyncratic English pronunciations, to which she held firm as indicated in the liner notes, suggest something of this. On the other hand, Sadier's solo and Monade records sound pleasant, but I don't find the songs especially memorable. The CoAM records, while not as consistently vital as most Stereolab, "click" more for me than Sadier's do, retaining some kind of aspirational drive. This is probably as much because of the groove as the melody, but you get the sense of a thing unfolding that eventually pays off. Stereolab only occasionally operated in that mould, of course; there's a divergence in the shape of the music the two have made separately which may contribute to the difficulty with new material.

Not going to argue much with anything in the last few posts except to say I think Laetitia’s contribution to the songwriting, at least up to and including the Instant 0 / Margerine Eclipse sessions, is underrated even by her. After that, it was I think more obviously a production line job, fitting lyrics to melodies she felt little connection to.

Oh and by the way, according to the blurb on the Duophonic site, Sadier does contribute to the liner notes of this latest set of reissues.

Or what Moodles said LOL

fuck! I missed out on the obi Cobra. that was the only one I wanted.

It's notable, I think, that most of the songs retained the music's working title.

Exceptions include "International Colouring Competition", I'm not saying all, obviously.

"Noise of Carpet (Broken Face)" is the only 'pair-off'?

I'm assuming most of those demos are culled from that tour only CD from 2007. like the acoustic demo of "Refractions in the Plastic Pulse"

Stereolab aren’t on the same page about why they’re touring again after a nine-year hiatus. “We’ve got seven albums coming back out...” says Tim Gane. “For the money,” Lætitia Sadier says simultaneously.

Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier pick their favourite tracks and reflect on two decades of pioneering electropop.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/04/stereolab-songbook-tim-gane-laetitia-sadier

Interesting Tim considers Sound-Dust joint favorite with Cobra. I've long considered Sound-Dust their best album.

it's certainly the most underrated imo

Sound-Dust is excellent and criminally overlooked. I think Cobra (and maybe D&L a bit too) kind of soured some folks on them to where Sound-Dust didn't really get the chance it deserved.

that's absolutely what happened for me, fortunately I later discovered how great it is

I was actually really high on D&L and Cobra, and Sound-Dust felt like a step down at the time. Haven't listened in a while, but I think I'd be more forgiving now.

I def gave up on this band after the one-two shitpunch of D&L and Cobra. after that I only sporadically paid attention.

i gave up after transient random noises to get back on the train with margerine eclipse. the concerts from 1993/94 on when they started doing stuff which sounded like easy listening with bossa nova and soundtrack elements put me off. i always preferred their early motorik krautrock pop period.

plenty motorik about MAQ

i have never listened to sound-dust before. loving it right now. thanks for the recommendation.

The world wasn't ready for Cobra in 1999

yeah there's tons of krautrock up until D&L afaict

I like Cobra, but it's too long and unfocused, not unlike many CDs of the late 90s.

D&L is excellent minus a couple clumsy electronic moments.

cobra is long and the production is reedy, but that works in its favour imo. it’s an absolute gem of an album. it takes you into another universe (‘blue milk’ being the most distant point) and eases you back out of it.

If it weren't for 'Dots and Loops,' 'Cobra' would probably be my favorite Stereolab, all these years removed...

A little annoyed that people are already getting copies of the new reissues, but I'm not supposed to receive anything before the 20th.

I love the all Mary demo version of the track "Emperor Tomato Ketchup".

The ETK demos are more like brief sketches compared to the demos for the 2 previous albums, which were more fully fleshed out songs. Kind of curious now how they got to the final versions, which were pretty far out there vs anything they'd done before. The "Metronomic Underground" demo sounds like a long lost CAN track.

Onto the next 2 albums!

Really like "With Friends Like This Pt. 2", pretty sure I've heard it before at some point. Cobra is easily the most generous with bonus tracks.

"Les Ypres Sound" has a different ending. Not sure I really get the rationale for altering the original tracks. Gives me a bit of an irksome Star Wars Special Edition vibe.

Isn't With Friends Like These Pt. 2 just With Friends Like These from the Free Design EP with the first part ("ban hate and violence/for our convenience") chopped off? It's an odd choice, but it's one of my favorite B-sides and it's kind of cool to have that part of the song isolated.

Also great to finally have the full-length version of Blue Milk.

The world wasn't ready for Cobra in 1999

― J. Sam, Wednesday, September 4, 2019 4:58 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

Wow, the extra stuff on "Blue Milk" is wild. This is a change I can get behind!

They extended 3 tracks on "Emperor Tomato Ketchup":
Les Yper Sound: 13s longer; I don't think they changed the ending, they just had the section around 3:45 loop longer
Percolator: 28s longer; later fade
Slow Fast Hazel: 14s longer; they loop section around 3:30 a bit longer

I think there might be a couple of extra lines sung by Mary towards the end of Les-Yper Sound that were previously edited out.

A few tracks on D&L are in longer versions as well.

I wasn't a fan of subsequent albums so someone else will have to A/B those.

I got my vinyl records today! They came 1-2 weeks sooner than planned, so I'm a happy camper.

Still waiting for mine (Royal Mail = fail). I have received the "Obi" CD of Cobra that I ordered though. I now own four copies of Cobra in different editions LOL

is the version of 'Blue Milk' on disc 1 of the reissue the same as the original LP version?

Yes, it's the 17 min version

Mine arrived last week, 3lp etk, obi and clear vinyl.

The cliff card was another fail, but I got three download card tickets!

One of the area record stores shared this recent acquisition on FB...

https://scontent.fhou1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/70281739_2468354663243835_4669236097702690816_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&_nc_oc=AQk69PKh9kKk_BFIKMYpAL0NO1_Rc8Y0i4cWxQkywH7kPbh-PTHEWGInoEc0jyeiYXk&_nc_ht=scontent.fhou1-2.fna&oh=5b259a3b3e6b7b8164c596a7fe155dfa&oe=5DF99078

An original press Cobra signed & decorated by the whole band (including Mary)