Stereolab: Classic or Dud

oh also this is the Lab's worst cover art by a *huge* margin

Since I'm assuming the Mirri board version (that means it's shiny, right?) will end up in brick and mortar indie retailers, I think I'll skip the preorder this time around.

PRE-ORDER: Stereolab - Electrically Possessed (Switched On Volume 4)
LOCAL & REGULAR CUSTOMERS - there is a very ltd ed of this with "mirrorboard sleeve". If you order this, we'll put names in a hat and a few lucky ones will get the ltd ed upgrade

Oscillons from the Anti-Sun still has a lot of stuff that's not collected here? Or does this round up all of that?

Yes I thought Oscillions was basically the stand in for SO volume 4

Duophonic don't own Low Fi so they aren't in control of remastering/rereleasing/compiling it. Too Pure still owns it, and they did put remastered versions of Peng! and Space Age Batchelor Pad Music in the last few years so hopefully they'll put Low Fi out again. And Duophonic was somehow able to license the Super-Electric EP from Too Pure so they could put Switched On out again (at least on vinyl), so maybe they'll work together on something.

I love Low Fi and wish they'd actually put out that entire session as an LP. As best I can tell these were all recorded in one June 1992 session:
Low Fi
(Varoom!)
Laisser-Faire
Elektro
Mountain
Revox
John Cage Bubblegum
Sadistic

I went to duophonic pretty much as soon as this was announced and the colored vinyl was already sold out.

xps amazing and very helpful info, yeah that might be my fave Lab session ever!

kind of a bummer about the Too Pure rights, though

My sense was that the colored vinyl was super-limited (and only available from Duophonic) while the Mirri board version was less limited and available from indie retailers (similar proportions to the clear vinyl with tape obi vs. without tape obi last time).

Stereolab - Series en Direct (Live 1993-2019)

Pretty great. Happily downloading the FLACs as I type...

insane, really looking forward to blasting that 2002-era 12+ minute version of John Cage Bubblegum as soon as I can

this is gonna make my weekend

this is exciting!

there are also more collections at the bottom of that archive dot org page (!)

September/October tour dates for US and Canada announced

I've had the "Dots and Loops" CD in my car for three months straight, AMA.

do you prefer the cover with the green background and the blue foreground or vice versa

although i guess there are other choices now

Blue? I see it as two different shades of green (or maybe blue-green and yellow-green)

maybe their most sparkly album

My favorite album of theirs along with Transient Random…

do you prefer the cover with the green background and the blue foreground or vice versa

although i guess there are other choices now

― mookieproof

i have no idea what color the cover of my copy of "dots and loops" is, the cd is in the car, not the cover. i guess in my mind it's green as the background and blue as the foreground but god knows if i'm remembering that right.

Peng! and Dots and Loops are constantly being played around here.

Ok ask a question, then… mm rate the songs from best to worst:

I find the original Swtiched On Stereolab to be one of the most perfect collections I know.

I keep seeing the vinyl reissues at the local shop and I'm considering getting them. the material they're made out of is pretty neat at least

they are very well done reissues, fwiw

agreed, worth it for the demos alone

yes, the reissues are very worth it, nice extras, they sound great, all have full lyrics and song-by-song liner notes

Ok ask a question, then… mm rate the songs on 'Tadpoles' by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band from best to worst:

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, June 15, 2022 8:53 AM (four hours ago)

fixed

I guess my question would be, do you still refer to Laetitia Sadier as 'Ms. Sadier' or do you call her 'Tish' now?

Tish, that's French

Shirt
Canyons of Your Mind
Tubas in the Moonlight
Mr. Apollo
I'm the Urban Spaceman
Ali-Baba's Camel
Laughing Blues
Hunting Tigers Out in 'Indiah'
By A Waterfall
Monster Mash
Dr. Jazz

Laughing Blues
By A Waterfall
Tubas in the Moonlight
I'm the Urban Spaceman
Mr. Apollo
Shirt
Canyons of Your Mind
Hunting Tigers Out in'Indiah'
Ali-Baba's Camel
Monster Mash
Dr. Jazz

I keep seeing the vinyl reissues at the local shop and I'm considering getting them. the material they're made out of is pretty neat at least

― frogbs

vinyl? aren't most records made out of that?

so here are the answers i have to the questions that have been asked

Ok ask a question, then… mm rate the songs from best to worst:

― ✖✖✖ (Moka)

i hate to give a non-answer but i kind of like all the songs in different ways! i just have a hard time rating one song as being "better" than another, the reason it's been in my car for three months is because all the songs are good. if there was a song i didn't like i'd wind up skipping it, and i don't ever skip any songs.

Ok ask a question, then… mm rate the songs on 'Tadpoles' by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band from best to worst:

― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse)

you know, i respect the bonzo dog doo dah band and all but i'm not sure i've listened to any of their records straight through, including _tadpoles_. i guess maybe i'll try to do that after meditation, but if i get distracted or bored i'll probably turn it off. i know i've heard a lot of the songs, like their version of "monster mash", "mr apollo", "canyons of your mind", "i'm the urban spacemen", probably "readymades", but i can't remember what any of them _sound_ like. i like "eleven mustachioed daughters" and "cyborg signal" by vivian stanshall's big grunt. i don't like "the strain". i'm not generally interested in songs about constipation, and if i were, screamin' jay hawkins' "constipation blues" is better, especially given how much he sounds like david lee roth. i also like "unfinished words" by the rutles.

I guess my question would be, do you still refer to Laetitia Sadier as 'Ms. Sadier' or do you call her 'Tish' now?

― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse)

i don't call anybody "tish". "tish" to me is short for "tishoumaren", not that tishoumaren comes up in conversation, but it's not a word i can particularly spell or pronounce so "tish" seems like a good way of referring to it. hopefully that's not offensive.

"laetitia" in a word mostly makes me think of the obscure but very good actually weirdo black metal band "laetitia in holocaust", which probably is _not_ a reference to laetitia sadier. also, i have a hard time spelling and pronouncing ms. sadier's (well i guess there's your answer) first _and_ last names - in my mind she is some disowned relative of sgt. barry sadler of "ballad of the green berets" fame.

i would also like to give a shout-out to Laetitia Tamko of Vagabon. i've barely heard the album but what i heard i liked.

she was listed as Seaya on their earlier records, so I assume that's her actual nickname

Great answers, Kate! "Tish" to me is reminiscent of 'Tisch School of the Arts' I guess, but that's because I live in New York. Does Tim Gane smell European?

lottery emails going out

For Switched on Vol 5? How does one get in on this, if one is not already on their mailing list?

you needed to be on their mailing list and opted in to the lottery
this is just for the limited edition though

tracklist

Simple Headphone Mind’ b/w ‘Trippin’ With The Birds’ was the second collaboration between Nurse With Wound and Stereolab. A 12” disk released on yellow vinyl [1000 copies] and black vinyl [4996 copies] The sleeve was made from a 'Mylar style’, aluminium coloured, material that was glued and sealed – each purchaser had to open the sleeve to discover which colour vinyl they had bought. The CDs were also released in a sealed sleeve. Originally released 28th April 1997 via Duophonic Super 45s. Catalogue numbers DS33-11 / DS45CD-11.

The ‘Low Fi’ EP - ‘Low Fi’, ‘[Varoom!]’, ‘Laisser-Faire’ and ‘Elektro [he held the world in his iron grip]’ was originally released as a limited edition clear vinyl 10” [approx 500 copies], black vinyl 10” and CD. Released 28th September 1992 by Too Pure. Catalogue numbers Pure 14 / Pure CD14.

‘Robot Riot’ and ‘Unity Purity Occasional’ were both written for sculptures made by Charles Long - an artist that we had previously collaborated with on the ‘Music For The Amorphous Body Study Center’ project. ‘Unity Purity Occasional’ was used in 2000 for Charles' sculpture of the same name - "Unity Purity Occasional is a sculpture with six hand-blown, tear-shaped glass cups filled with antibacterial hand gel that the visitor can pump out and disinfect their hands with. The song is channeled through three tubes that simultaneously blow the visitors’ hands dry with warm jets of air." [Text by Niki Kralli Anell]. ‘Robot Riot’ is previously unreleased.

‘Spool of Collusion’ and ‘Forensic Itch’ were originally released on August 18th 2008 as a black vinyl 7” that was given away with the initial pressing [5000 copies] of the ‘Chemical Chords’ LP. Released via Duophonic UHF Disks / 4AD. Catalogue number AD2820. ‘Spool of Collusion’ was also added, as a bonus track, to the Japanese CD release of ‘Chemical Chords’.

‘Symbolic Logic Of Now!’ was one side of a split 7” with Soi-Disant. 100 copies on blue vinyl and 2000 copies on black vinyl. Originally released in 1998 by Luke Warm Music. Catalogue number LWM001.

‘Ronco Symphony’ demo – a demo version of the track from 1993’s 'The Groop Played "Space Age Batchelor Pad Music"’ album. Previously unreleased.

A cover of the track ‘ABC’ by The Multitude from The Godz album ‘The Third Testament’. The track was originally recorded for a Godz tribute album called ‘Godz Is Not A Put On’ and released in an edition of 500 copies by Lissy’s Records in 1996. The track was later released as one side of a yellow glitter 7” that was part of an exclusive Japanese box set edition of ‘Aluminum Tunes [Switched On Volume 3]’. Yellow glitter 7” – approximately 3000 copies. Catalogue number D-UHF-D21.

‘Magne-Music’ and ‘The Nth Degrees’ were added as bonus tracks to the UK limited edition CD of ‘Chemical Chords’ released 18th August 2008 via Duophonic UHF Disks / 4AD. Catalogue number CADD2815CD. Both tracks also appear on the Japanese edition of ‘Chemical Chords’.

‘Blaue Milch’ was recorded for a Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra compilation album – each artist on the album was sent a Peter Thomas audio track and was asked to build it into a new track. Originally released in 1998 by the Bungalow record label. Catalogue number Bung 048.2.

The original recording of ‘Plastic Mile’. The re-recording was released as a 7” b/w ‘I Was A Sunny Rainphase’ and subsequently compiled onto Stereolab’s ‘Fab Four Suture’ album. Previously unreleased.

‘Yes Sir! I Can Moogie’ was originally released in 1995 as part of a single sided 3 track 7” flexi-disk via Wurlitzer Jukebox. Catalogue number WJ03 - 1000 copies were pressed.

‘Refractions In The Plastic Pulse’, a track from the ‘Dots And Loops’ album remixed by Autechre. A 12” disk released on 20th April 1998 via Duophonic UHF Disks. Catalogue number D-UHF-D19. 500 copies pressed on translucent yellow vinyl and 2972 copies on black vinyl.

‘XXXOOO’ was originally released in 1992 as part of a single sided 3 track 7” flexi-disk via the Encore! label. The flexi-disk was given away with edition #6 of the 'Tea Time' fanzine. Catalogue number Encore 001.

A live version of the ‘Emperor Tomato Ketchup’ album track ‘Cybele's Reverie’. Recorded 26th September 2004 when Stereolab supported Air at The Hollywood Bowl, CA. USA. Previously unreleased.

This is likely the last Switched On, isn’t it?

Probably? Apparently due to licensing issues the Low-Fi EP tracks on Vol. 5 are not on the digital release, just on the CD and Vinyl versions.

After five volumes, Switched On series to be Switched Off, and here’s why/that’s ok.

Not true that Ronco Symphony Demo had never been released! I got this flexi somewhere: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/stereolab-submariner/space-watch/

nice to see Low-Fi get a high quality vinyl re-release

lol that was my reaction, I have that 5” flexi with the Ronco Symphony demo on it

Just listened to Robot Riot - would fit right in on MAQ so I'm a bit surprised that it was actually planned for one of the Charles Long collabs (or, to put it another way, it makes sense that it wasn't used for such in the end).

Really pleased that Unity Purity Occasional is going to be on this comp; that's the one ultra rare Lab "release" I've never heard. This is what the sculpture looks like:
https://www.magasin3.com/en/artwork/unity-purity-occasional-2/

Saw them at Roadrunner in Boston last night, which is a terrific venue. Enjoyable but the absolutely terrible sound (their live sound person's fault as the opener had great sound and a very similar lineup) made the experience a lot less pleasant than it should've been. Current band is pretty tight tho and the song selection was very good.

Gerald McBoing-Boing to thread?

Y'all want this thread. :-D

The future of Stereolab

Oh, Refried Ectoplasm! I love thee so.