The future of Stereolab

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.

more US tourdates!

https://mailchi.mp/b978b55fc506/stereolab-the-lab-report-22-01-20?e=6d464d9535

PS - Keep an eye / ear out for news of Switched On volume 4 and Switched On volume 5 in 2020.

!!

Okay, THAT is key.

ooh, glad they are coming back to my neck of the woods — was out of town for their show out here last year.

Okay, now THAT'S the sort of reissue I can get behind. (re SO#4/#5)

What'll be on 'Switched On' 4 & 5?

A cover of When the Levee Breaks?

Don't tease me like that.

My post from 2010 itt lists what may show up on Volume 4 and the potential Volume 5 tracklist can be found in the Stereolab Albums poll.

It's all really good, too.

tickets for their show at Big Sur start at $300... that's utterly criminal.

Glad I saw them a few months ago...

$300 for two tickets, which is the minimum you can buy... looks like it's at some remote location, since the tickets include a shuttle to the venue.

yeah I misread the fine print... anyway sounds fun but over twice what I paid for the fillmore 2 months ago. The venue location is very beautiful....

yeah I misread the fine print... anyway sounds fun but over twice what I paid for the fillmore 2 months ago. The venue location is very beautiful....

whoops

Here's what I've put together. I skipped some demos, remixes, radio sessions and live versions and stopped at the end of 2001:
1. Super Falling Star (Moog mix) - from Volume 4 compilation
2. Low-Fi
3. (Varoom!)
4. Laisser-Faire
5. Elektro (He Held The World In His Iron Grip) - these 4 from "Low-Fi" EP
6. Ronco Symphony (demo)
7. The Seeming And The Meaning (demo) - these 2 from the Spacewatch flexi
8. I'm Going Out Of My Way (WHFS session) - from "Inside Dave's Garage" split single
9. The Eclipse
10. Yes Sir! I Can Moogie - these 2 from "The Cat's Miaow" split single
11. ABC (The Multitude) - from "Godz Is Not A Put On" compilation
12. Simple Headphone Mind
13. Trippin' With The Birds - from "Simple Headphone Mind" collaboration with Nurse With Wound
14. Endless Summer (as Microlab) - from "Microstonia - Reprovisers" compilation
15. St. Elmo's Fire (radio)
16. Less Time
17. St. Elmo's Fire (Red Corona)
18. St. Elmo's Fire (Spatio-Dynamic)
19. Impulse Rah!
20. St. Elmo's Fire (Snow) - these 6 as Uilab from "St. Elmo's Fire" collaboration with Ui
21. Miss Modular (Automator mix)
22. Refractions In The Plastic Pulse (Feebate mix by Autechre)
23. Contranatura (Prelude To The Autumn Of A Faun mix by Kid Loco) - these 3 from "Miss Modular Remixes" EP
24. Freestyle Dumping - from JP release of Aluminum Tunes
25. Symbolic Logic Of Now! - from "Soi-Distant" split single
26. Chinese Whispers (Stereolab mix) - from "Chinese Whispers" compilation
27. Untitled / 008 - from Thurston Moore's "Root" compilation
28. Blaue Milch - from Peter-Thomas-Sound-Orchester's "Warp Back To Earth 66/99" compilation
29. Galaxidion - from "Social (Bodies)" compilation
30. Caliméro
31. Cache Cache - from collaboration with Brigitte Fontaine
32. Ticker Tape Of The Unconscious (Thievery Corporation remix) - from Thievery Corporation's "Abductions & Reconstructions" compilation
33. The Super-It
34. Fried Monkey Eggs (vocal)
35. Monkey Jelly - these 3 from "The Underground Is Coming" EP
36. Brain Drain - from "Collaborations 2: Constant Friction" compilation
37. Négatités - from "Yeti 1" compilation
38. Free Witch And No-Bra Queen
39. Speck-Voice - these 2 from "Free Witch And No-Bra Queen" EP

here's what gerald posted in 2010 for Switched On 4 potential tracks.

Socialism or Barbarism $300

#24 already on expanded ETK reissue but yes to all of this

Got tickets to the Pappy & Harriet’s show!

Of the gerald / brotherlovesdub list, I think only 12, 13, 25, 30 and 33-39 are realistic candidates for SO4 & 5. Maybe some of the other collabs, but def not demos, session tracks or remixes. And I believe Beggars (who own Too Pure) still has the rights to Low-Fi.

29 was on the expanded Cobra reissue.

Plenty of other candidates though.

This isn't going to just be a repackaging of Oscillons, is it?

A box set of cd EPs. Plz