The future of Stereolab

I like this ok, but man, doesn't Gane ever get tired of the Neu! formula that he always builds from?

shhh :)

Those are the most Tim Gane songtitles ever! Excited to take a listen to this.

It's hard to believe that Margerine Eclipse is a decade old this month. I popped it on the other day and was struck at how good it was. I think that they had something to prove with it, and succeeded admirably. In retrospect, they probably should have called it a day after that.

yeah the funky reprise of "dear marge" that closes the album out would have been a perfect way to draw the curtains

True, though the record right after that had moments

I think the Chemical Chords/Not Music twofer was a pretty nice exit, nothing to be ashamed of at least. Margerine Eclipse was probably their best 21st century album, though, just by a hair.

I just could not get into Chemical Chords- I just remember every track fading out abruptly. Not Music has some moments but really feels like leftovers when you add remixes to the equation...but truthfully I haven't listened to it all that much.

There's plenty of good stuff on all their releases from Margerine onward, although none of it quite reaches the heights of the albums that came before.

Isn't there supposed to be one last album's worth of tracks or B-sides or something that they had talked about releasing? Whatever happened to that?

I remember really liking Fab Four Suture at the time. I should listen to it again.

I think that's what Not Music was-- all stuff that didn't make it onto Chemical Chords.

Yeah I played Margerine Eclipse a few weeks back and enjoyed it a lot. Vonal Declosion is probably my favourite album opener of theirs. That one and Sound Dust are crazy underrated and up there with their best for me. Think I'm a bit of an uncool Stereolab fan really, I'd take those two albums over any of the first three. Also Dots & Loops is my second favourite album and don't a lot of people think that's when they started to lose it?

dots & loops is when i tuned in! in retrospect transient random-noise bursts is my favorite but i'm a big fan of the mcentire era

Cool. I know there's fans that think they started making the same album around that point but I love those albums. I should really give Cobra and Phases another chance at some point. Being such a big fan of the albums either side I would probably like it more than I remember.

Should point out Emperor Tomato Ketchup is my favourite album of theirs by quite some distance.

Sound-Dust is a favorite of mine, although I like all their early stuff too. Margerine not so much with the exception of a few tracks.

Sparkle Motion:

When Chemical Chords came out, they said they had 2 more albums in the can. One was the second half of material that they recorded for Chemical Chords, which became Not Music, but they also supposedly had a collection of outakes and b-sides from the last decade that they were planning to release as a similar collection to Switched On, Refried Ectoplasm, Alluminum Tunes, etc.

Sound-Dust is incredible. Properly got me back into them after becoming disillusioned with them around the time of Dots & Loops.

i think i liked not music more than anything they did since aluminium tunes

thanks Moodles. I'd gladly take another volume of Switched On. I do believe I have a couple of tour 7"s that didn't make it onto long-playing release I've ever seen.

All said I'd love to see them get back together as soon as their batteries are recharged.

I suspect it ain't happening, but who knows?

Laetitia's last solo album Silencio was really solid.

Generally pro-Chemical Chords/Not Music anyway, but their live sound on that last tour was tremendous. Liked seeing them as much then as back in the beginning.

I'd gladly take another volume of Switched On.
[...]
I suspect it ain't happening, but who knows?

Tim, from a recent Q&A with Record Collector magazine:

Is there anything still unreleased?
"For Stereolab, nothing really, though some of the more obscure stuff will be compiled on a future Switched On. Enough for a double LP. We’ll also soon begin remastering all of the Stereolab LPs, in order, from the original two-track tapes, and try to have a limited-run box set, finances permitting, as well as issuing them separately. We’ll also try to have a separate disc of the four-track demos to all the songs on a particular LP, placed in order, and with a mini facsimile sleeve. Some have been lost or damaged, but they’ll be replaced by something suitable from the same period."

Only for Stereolab could "nothing really" unreleased = a double LP of unreleased material.

Well no, he's saying it's obscure stuff not unreleased stuff. So limited editions, b-sides etc.

This whole remastering and demo plan is intriguing. I forsee myself re-buying lots of Stereolab stuff if this plan actually happens. When was that interview from? Was there any indication of when any of this stuff would be released?

I used to have this dream of owning all the Stereolab albums on vinyl. I bought vinyl copies of a couple albums, Peng! and Dots and Loops, and was shocked to find that the sound quality on them was terrible. I wonder if these remasters will include higher quality vinyl releases.

I love "Chemical Chords" on Chemical Chords. It sounds a lot like the sequel to The High Llamas' sublime "Glide Time."

Generally pro-Chemical Chords/Not Music anyway, but their live sound on that last tour was tremendous. Liked seeing them as much then as back in the beginning.

Yeah, it was by then I think the band had also figured out how to gel in the absence of Mary. The first tour after that seemed so hesitant, but by the final tour things had fully clicked. Glad they bowed out that way.

Been thinking about the band a lot lately, partially due to cleaning up my digital music collection. (Have the first disc of what I guess was a three CDR live collection of tracks via the old fan list; need to ask Mackro about that.) Also, the venue that I ended up most associating them with, the Detroit Bar down here in OC, has been sold and will close soon. Stereolab played the opening night back in 2000 or so and ended up performing there every tour after that, so I saw them around four, five times there over the last decade. Good memories, including seeing Andy Ramsay sitting down at a meal at Taco Mesa two blocks away before the show. (Kinda love how Andy became the secret favorite of a lot of people over the years; he really was a hell of an anchor and a deft overall performer with them.)

I bought vinyl copies of a couple albums, Peng! and Dots and Loops, and was shocked to find that the sound quality on them was terrible.

Yep, I took my copy of Switched On back to the store the same day I bought it.

xp yeah seeing them on that last tour, ramsay really brought a lot to the whole experience, especially on the latter day material -- those songs "breathed" a lot more in a live setting.

absolutely agree that Ramsay was key to their sound. He's a master of the eighth-note kick drum.

Generally pro-Chemical Chords/Not Music anyway, but their live sound on that last tour was tremendous. Liked seeing them as much then as back in the beginning.

Never thought my first time seeing them (which was on that tour) would be my last time seeing them. ;_;

I used to have this dream of owning all the Stereolab albums on vinyl. I bought vinyl copies of a couple albums, Peng! and Dots and Loops, and was shocked to find that the sound quality on them was terrible. I wonder if these remasters will include higher quality vinyl releases.

― Ornate Coleman (Moodles)

Are these the reissues that came out last year? I keep seeing these around and I'm always tempted to get some of the ones I don't have. They just brought out Sound Dust which looks cool but I definitely won't bother if the sound is that bad.

my copy of Dots and Loops dates back to when the album was originally released. The Peng! copy is newer, but I've had it at least a few years. I haven't heard these new ones that came out last year, maybe they are better.

yeah my underwhelming Switched On LP was from years ago

I thought I'd seen something somewhere already that these reissues are a bit dodgy. We need a thread on vinyl reissues to avoid really. They're bringing out so many cool things on vinyl now but I've read various things about the quality of a lot of them being terrible.

To complicate matters I seem to recall a slew of recent vinyl reissues that were not licensed by the band. If you just see one in the record store you may not know what you're getting.

I used to love Stereolab. I bought transient random-noise bursts when it came out because of the review in Spin and the cover was beautiful. It was fun listening to them back then, not knowing much about music and how exciting everything was to me, the design, noise, synths. I think the first disappointment was Emperor Tomato Ketchup. I'm not sure why because I liked most of the songs, some of them are my favorite Stereolab songs, but with each release I listened to less and less, and after Cobra And Phases, I haven't heard anything. I'd probably buy a deluxe vinyl box set with complete lps though. I sometimes miss having stereolab in my life and being exciting about what they were doing.

I recall reading Latetia once describing their music along the lines of "we're not rock & roll... we're more just roll". I think that kind of sums up the band before & after ETK.

Meantime, thinking of when I've seen them -- this has made the rounds a bit, but the very first time I ever saw them, at UC Irvine back in 1993, was videotaped (still don't know who by) and surfaced on YouTube, along with Unrest, who were headlining the tour. As I was involved with the radio station and was friends with the campus promoter I was also doing some help throughout -- sitting at the entrance and Mark E. Robinson coming up asking where to load in was kinda funny. Still remember being asked to get some food for the band and I took Tim and Laetitia across from campus to get some pizza. I remember explaining Irvine's planned community nature to her and she was very bemused! I had interviewed her by phone shortly beforehand -- great fun. Not sure if I have the tape around, I hope I do. Anyway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE4CBKerRNs

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

I think the Stereolab reissues on 1972 may just be sourced from CD masters (e.g. their Cobra and Phases doesn't have the longer version of "Blue Milk" that showed up on the original vinyl).

Have the first disc of what I guess was a three CDR live collection of tracks via the old fan list; need to ask Mackro about that.
yes please

I thought I'd seen something somewhere already that these reissues are a bit dodgy. We need a thread on vinyl reissues to avoid really. They're bringing out so many cool things on vinyl now but I've read various things about the quality of a lot of them being terrible.

― Kitchen Person, Wednesday, January 15, 2014 8:46 AM

here you go:

Search & Destroy: New Vinyl Pressings (And Reissue Pressings) What's Worth Buying?

I saw them in touring ETK, this was the set-list:

French Disko
Motoroller Scalatron
Melochord Seventy-Five
The Extension Trip
Lo Boob Oscillator -> Für Immer (NEU!)
Spark Plug
The Noise of Carpet
Anonymous Collective
Percolator
Super Electric
Ronco Symphony
Metronomic Underground
Crest
Ping Pong
Stomach Worm
Spinal Column

The ETK tour was the only one I missed, I think -- and I'm STILL annoyed with myself for that. Not only was Sonic Boom playing with them but Prolapse was opening. One of my few honest to god full regrets when it comes to missing shows by anybody. IIRC I was at a radio station retreat that weekend.

Meantime one of my favorite times seeing them was the Stereolab/Mouse on Mars/High Llamas bill in LA around Thanksgiving 1997 -- hot on the heels of a full High Llamas performance the previous night, with string section. I remember this vividly as well because at one point I turned around in the line to get in and two people back was John C. Reilly, who I'd just seen for the first time a couple of weeks beforehand in Boogie Nights.

ETK tour was super good, probably best concert I've ever seen.

Ned, thanks for the Irvine '93 vids! /watch later x 2

You're welcome!

yes please

Tylerw: I asked and Mackro didn't remember offhand. But the other two discs have gotta be around somewhere. Will do some checking...

STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND FIND THEM IMMEDIATELY NED