The future of Stereolab

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

Just picked up the new reissues of Sound-Dust and Margerine Eclipse...

Wow, some seriously different beginnings/endings (and maybe mixes? Unsure as of now) on some tracks... much more extreme than on the other reissues thus far.

Also curiously/disappointingly brief liner notes on Sound-Dust and a moving, sad essay in lieu of individual song notes in Margerine.

Both sound and look incredible, of course.

Yeah, I'm hearing different mixes on the Margerine tracks, as well about 5 or 6 major re-edits. Sound-Dust doesn't seem to differ much from the o.g. vinyl edition, but I dare say the remastering has had a more subtle impact.

I ti sinteresting to hear the demos vs. the polished product. I used to have a live bootleg of dots and loops live performances taht were neat. I think the tape broke

I may be able to help with that...

Extended version of "Gus The Mynah Bird" is nice. What a cool song.

On the FLACs from them, Margerine Eclipse is now 57:17 rather than 53:35. Biggest change: "Hillbilly Motorbike" goes from 2:23 to 4:52.

and Sound Dust goes from 1:03:32 to 1:06:23. "Gus the Mynah Bird" has gone from 6:11 to 9:05 and most of the other tracks look like they've been slightly shortened?

The new ending of "Vonal Declosion" is tripping me up every time I hear it!

Picked them up today -- nice that that basic run is complete of 'the Elektra years.'

Speaking of which -- idly checking Stereolab's Discogs page just now led me to discover that back this July, Terry Tolkin posted this huge entry on that page in comments about being their A&R guy in the early 1990s. Needless to say it's a treat. Just scroll down past the album entries, it's the first thing you'll see.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/388-Stereolab

Wow, what an amazing little story tucked away there! Particularly liked this detail:

One thing he didn't like was when we wanted to use old Elektra Records logos from 1960's and 70's.
"What, Terry? Why? Do you know that I spent 250,000 fukin dollars on our new logo?"

Yeah I loved that.

h/t Raymond Cumming, how many of us had heard of this? not me!

https://www.discogs.com/Mary-Hansen-Hybird/release/2300268?fbclid=IwAR3glfVHxQ6mrUCTdG3ttiOdzYH7uvnPRx80leCuCNdeVBT4Fc6kdGjHnY0

Not heard that.

The other release on that label also appears to involve her.