STEREOLAB - BETTER THAN NEW ORDER: OFFICIAL.

Well, I suppose there's nothing like stirring the shit is there? Last Friday, I was witness to my TENTH utterly transfixing STEREOLAB experience - that's NINE times more than I have seen the previously mighty, untouchable Order....Hmmmmm. They played Manchester University with Sean O'Hagan (High Llamas and StereoLABorator!!) supporting - him playing a one-man acoustic set. And what a heavenly night it all was!!

Like them or loathe them (I bet some of you have never ever even heard any records by them, if this is the case, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN THESE PAST TEN YEARS??!!!) but The 'Lab [as we analogue-machinery-worshipping sluts tend to refer to them affectionately as] have now just celebrated their first decade as one of our most consistently beguiling and underrated bands, and continue to enchant and enthrall with their deceptively simplistic but ever so deviously complex electronic moogscapes and motorik Kraut pop masterpieces. The core of the band, Tim and Laetitia, create a most unusual and unique marriage of stern sub-Marxist/Situationist lyrics coupled with sumptuously hypnotic and catchy electro-tinged tunes that, once heard, rarely leave your head. They've withstood all the constant (lazy) criticisms of all their songs sounding the same by evolving ever so subtly and craftily with each subsequent album so much so that by their latest meisterwork "Sound-Dust", they come across as a virtually different band from the one that made "Peng!" in 1992. Since then, their startlingly prolific output has put the likes of our own Order to shame - 13 albums in 10 years, and at least THIRTY SIX singles - in a variety of limited/unlimited/coloured vinyl/tour-only editions......!!!!

Anyway, live, they are a treat! Fleshing out their otherwise clinically-constructed recorded material with sonic wig-outs and enough curious and unpredictable diversions to keep you literally on edge (especially their knack for inviting their support band back for an extra-long, extra-wild and relentless electronic firestorm that usually leaves the gathered hordes delirious and punch-drunk at the end), the 'Lab never disappoint. In fact they come close to being damn near unimpeachable live....! It might come as a shock to the uninitiated, but this bunch can "rock out" with the best of them - though not through guitars, but rather through abusing their prehistoric arsenal of analogue keyboards!! Comparisons with seminal Midlands drone-rockers Spacemen 3/Spectrum are complimentary - if coincidental - since Pete Kember of the aforementioned band has appeared with them, wiggling twenty shades of shite out of his theremin.....fun times indeed.

The only other person on this message board who seems to have acknowledged this damn fine band is his lordly highness Buster Klumpy himself - so, if any body else feels they should take the plunge and jump deep into the world of The Lab and luxuriate in their voluptuous synth-pop bubblebath, you could do no worse than dive RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE - so to speak - and pick up their 1996 [ POP!! ] masterpiece "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" and work your way in either direction you fancy (preferably one year back to 1995's utterly gorgeous excursion into pure lounge-pop "Music For The Amorphous Body Study Centre" [don't let the titles put you off]), then work your way back up to the most recent stuff: taking in "Dots And Loops" (1997), "Aluminium Tunes"(1998), "Cobra And Phases"(1999), "First Of The Microbe Hunters"(2000), and bang up to date with this years LUSH (no other word) "Sound Dust". Really, you won't be disappointed. Then perhaps you may see why I now rate this band superior to New Order .

Three Cheers For The Lab!!!

Well they're OK I suppose.....

Nah....they're feckin' shite. Reckon Marty has had musical taste bypass surgery recently. CTD

Well, no accounting for narrowminded blank dismissal is there eh? You've probably not even heard any of their current stuff - or have you? Still. Like I said, the mighty Lab always divide opinion. Without exception. Most great bands do. "Taste by-pass" doesn't even figure in it, pal. :p

I wouldn't say that people don't know Stereolab. These days they probably are bigger/better known than the Order.

The albums to have IMHO are the compilation 'Switched on', their masterpiece 'Emperor Tomato Ketchup' and their newest 'Sound Dust' which I sadly don't have yet. Dots and Loops is wank. It should be avoided at all cost. (Luckily it doesn't cost anything to avoid it) Collaborations with Mouse on Mars should be forbidden or at least banished to room 101. Martian, if you disagree then you go in THAT team, I go in THIS team...

s.p.a.c.e.m.e.n.?. d.i.d. w.e. h.e.a.r. s.o.m.e.b.o.d.y. m.e.n.t.i.o.n. s.p.a.c.e.m.e.n.?.

Originally posted by Martian Gray Well, no accounting for narrowminded blank dismissal is there eh? You've probably not even heard any of their current stuff - or have you? Still. Like I said, the mighty Lab always divide opinion. Without exception.Most great bands do. "Taste by-pass" doesn't even figure in it, pal. :p

Ha! Thought I'd get your attention with that, Mart. Nice to have you back, BTW. As compelling an argument that "you probably haven't heard them" is, have you considered that it might be possible to not like Stereolab and not be narrowminded simultanously? Or alternatively, are all fans of Stereolab as openminded and level headed as yourself? Just stirring the pot... CTD

I've seen Stereolab 3 times now and have been impressed each time. The first Swithced On and Peng are my favorites followed by Emperor T.Ketchup, Dots and Loops, Mars audio quintet, Random Announcements....

I have all the albums including Sound Dust and Microbe...but it's Swithced On that rings the bell.

I too have noticed that their earliest stuff seems to do it for most people - the popularity of the "repetition factor" perhaps? (evident in so much of this trancey / "electronica" [US term, not mine - hence the quotes]) And indeed the first "Switched On" plus half of the second volume is a big hit with them. But their music got lusher and more esoteric/exotic as they progressed, surely that cannot be as underappreciated as I suspect it is? "Peng" has about five really good songs on it - the rest I couldn't tell apart from most of the first "Switched On". I think their first really strong LP proper was "Transient Random Noise Bursts..." because it showed The Lab beginning even then to branch out into other areas ("Pack Yr Romantic Mind" reminds me of Swinging London in a head-on collision with the vibe of Bohemian Paris c. 1968. Not forgetting the 18-minute "Jenny Ondioline" - feck - how more hypnotic can they be allowed to get???!!!), and then, when they started flexing their creative muscle, people starting thinking they'd abandoned their blueprint. Which is bollocks of course, as any listen to "OLV26" off "Emperor T.K." (surely their best and most eclectic POP collection to date) aptly demonstrates.

Martin, got very curious after reading your verhaal. So i went out and checked every possible recordshop in my town.....no stereolab to be found. Correct me if i am wrong , but didn't they play on Later with Jools?? You see i am always willing to listen to anyone who's raving about a certain band, especially if you are claiming them to be better than the Order but these bollocks recordshops overhere just don't want me to buy anything else besides hardcoregabber,trancenation nr.12,boyzone,Michael Pedofile Jackson,Kaotic and fuck knows what else..... I guess growing up with Punk and New Wave has given me an everlasting connection with Joy Division and New Order, therefore it is hard for any band to top my child and manhood heroes.Even when there is a band better i probably won't admit!! That's why these threads asking about the worst NO song do not work for me, cause i really dig every little fucking bit of music they make, they simply don't have bad songs inmy opinion. Quantity is another story! I agree that the Order is a slack bunch of O's in comparison with the aforementioned(nice word) Stereolab.With a bit of effort and some kicks in the gonads our four heroes could have achieved the same...they're merely a lazy bunch of whatever. Hell , i got a sudden revival in the eyelidfight! I am winning!!Must be caused by the fact that just now i was putting Xmas lights in the trees at work...indeed they do work!!It's getting darker slowly, or as the famous dutch writer Nescio(latin for I don't know)always said:the night creeps up from the ground and not what the general idea is: nightfall!! One only has to observe things to make a better understanding. Fooking hell , just now i'll be writing Haikus all over the toilet

Don't get me wrong Martin, I think the later albums are very progressive but they captured something on Swithced On thats more powerful and real than the experimental albums of late. Those guitars, the vocals--perfect blend of electronics too.....Swithced On/Peng were amongst the tapes stolen from my car. They do sound similar (like Milky Night/Sound Dust) but that's why their my favorites.

by the way, the discography at stereolabs website is super-sweet.

Martin, Doom! It's Seven O'Clock **Stereolab Mix

Never heard anything by them (I think) but I do know of them. Back in April/May they were featured talking about JD's influence on them in Resonance magazine. I'll have to check them out sometime...

Personally I have no interest In Stereolab at all - pretty dull group, but each to their own. However to compare them to NO (and make the bold, if rather odd statement that they are superior) is an excelleny way to stir up apathetic members of the forum, and so yet again Marty we salute you.

Well, let me go out on a limb and say :Spandau Ballet are better than NO!!!!!!

:headoff: :headoff:

Originally posted by Geaux Hagen Martin, Doom! It's Seven O'Clock **Stereolab Mix

Gasp! Don't even THINK of getting me started on ....THE BOO RADLEYS - BETTER THAN NEW ORDER: OFFICIAL next!!!!

Buster Klumpy- I hope you're reading this!!

Originally posted by phil Personally I have no interest In Stereolab at all - pretty dull group, but each to their own. However to compare them to NO (and make the bold, if rather odd statement that they are superior) is an excelleny way to stir up apathetic members of the forum, and so yet again Marty we salute you.

You're reading a lot into that for some reason, believe me it wasn't intentional!

Seen the 'lab 4 times, but unfortunately have not in the past 5 years.

Actually met Tim Gane from the 'lab at the Phoenix festival 1993 in the signings tent. He commented on my New Order tshirt being "cool and trippy" and proceeded to fall backwards off his chair. [It was the white t-shirt with the heart and wings on it, not that good IMHO. He must have been toking on some good shit!]. Great comedy moment, but their performance that year on the second stage was majestical and only came second IMHO to NO's appearence at Reading the same year.

My fave album is 'Mars Audiac Quintet' and best gig was at Edwards in Birmingham in 1995; so much atmos and improvisation.

Originally posted by Scott Seen the 'lab 4 times, but unfortunately have not in the past 5 years.Actually met Tim Gane from the 'lab at the Phoenix festival 1993 in the signings tent. He commented on my New Order tshirt being "cool and trippy" and proceeded to fall backwards off his chair. [It was the white t-shirt with the heart and wings on it, not that good IMHO. He must have been toking on some good shit!]. Great comedy moment, but their performance that year on the second stage was majestical and only came second IMHO to NO's appearence at Reading the same year.My fave album is 'Mars Audiac Quintet' and best gig was at Edwards in Birmingham in 1995; so much atmos and improvisation.

YES!! !!! So you count as another Lab admirer then! Cool!

Do try and check out some of their more recent records - you might be pleasantly surprised at how their sound has shifted. I think the last one Sound Dust is gorgeous, though I'm not sure if if floats your boat - give it a listen anyway if you can.

i wish id gotten into stereolab back in the early nineties instead of getting caught up in all that turgid britpop nonsense. oh well, you live and learn. and even now i dont know a soul (in the non-cyber world that is) whos a proper fan; same with the Order. i keep company with right dullards. as for them being better than new order. well their work ethic and commitment is absolutely remarkable, certainly putting NO to shame. i used to think NOs famed laziness was kinda cool, but im not so sure now. stereolab seem to be in it for the right (or at least what i perceive to be the right) reasons; namely love of music. i just dont get that with NO, they seem to be motivated as much by the lifestyle benefits as anything else. what is it with "dots & loops"? a lot of folk seem to view it as the turning point towards crapness. but i rate it. i love "miss modular" on that album. what i find so strange about "dots & loops" though is that sometimes you just can't get into it, it just slides past you, and leaves you cold. other than that id say that pretty much everything on "switched on", "emperor tomato ketchup" and "aluminium tunes" is marvellous. most of the "metronomic underground" era just gets better (and funkier!) with repeated listenings, not least because they keep the ba-ba-bas down. they seem to be a band who're continually and obsessively refining their approach, to the inevitable result that there are few jarringly obvious stylistic leaps in their sound these days, just many gradations of shade, still the vocal harmonies and the arrangements get better and more dynamic with each album, as "sound dust" proves.
so all-in-all i rate them pretty highly, i wish new order shared their attitude towards music-making, sadly they don`t.

Dear Santa,

I have been a good boy this year, (wouldn't tell you if I wasn't though!) so I was wondering if you could drop 'Sound Dust' down the chimney, oh yeah and enough cash to fly Down Under to escape Pop Idol and check out the gigs by the lads!

Please! Scott

Originally posted by velocity girl i wish id gotten into stereolab back in the early nineties instead of getting caught up in all that turgid britpop nonsense. oh well, you live and learn. and even now i dont know a soul (in the non-cyber world that is) whos a proper fan; same with the Order. i keep company with right dullards.as for them being better than new order. well their work ethic and commitment is absolutely remarkable, certainly putting NO to shame. i used to think NOs famed laziness was kinda cool, but im not so sure now. stereolab seem to be in it for the right (or at least what i perceive to be the right) reasons; namely love of music. i just dont get that with NO, they seem to be motivated as much by the lifestyle benefits as anything else.what is it with "dots & loops"? a lot of folk seem to view it as the turning point towards crapness. but i rate it. i love "miss modular" on that album. what i find so strange about "dots & loops" though is that sometimes you just can't get into it, it just slides past you, and leaves you cold. other than that id say that pretty much everything on "switched on", "emperor tomato ketchup" and "aluminium tunes" is marvellous. most of the "metronomic underground" era just gets better (and funkier!) with repeated listenings, not least because they keep the ba-ba-bas down. they seem to be a band who're continually and obsessively refining their approach, to the inevitable result that there are few jarringly obvious stylistic leaps in their sound these days, just many gradations of shade, still the vocal harmonies and the arrangements get better and more dynamic with each album, as "sound dust" proves. so all-in-all i rate them pretty highly, i wish new order shared their attitude towards music-making, sadly they don`t.

BRAVO!!!

YET ANOTHER LAB CHAMPION TO SWELL THE RANKS!!!

ok, so if you were to tell an ignorant what album one should pick up to sample stereolab, what would it be???

I'll be with you on this one soon, Martin, but I can't right now... Sorry...

Originally posted by Jim Giliberto ok, so if you were to tell an ignorant what album one should pick up to sample stereolab, what would it be???

EASY! It's a tie between "EMPEROR TOMATO KETCHUP" and "SWITCHED ON" (any of the three volumes will do)

I'll be there soon (so much to tell about the Lab...)

Until then, just a quick word to Jim :

You definitely have to try "Emeperor Tomato Ketchup" because it's the perfect blend between the old and the new Stereolab.

Also, it's their best and most exciting album... yet.

My second favorite being "Mars Audiac Quintet".

BTW, "SoundDust", to me, is their best album since "Emperor Tomato Ketchup".

See ya all, and you especially Martin, later...

Avec plaisir!! Thank you ever so much, Buster - you know how much I value your contributions on these topics that we share such enthusiasm in discussing!

A tout de suite! :) :)

Originally posted by Allen Jarvis Don't Stereolab sing in, like, 'French'?! Ugh, shiver at the thought. Bet you did't see Alex did you there, Marty? He was in Germany with the Chameleons....

Oh was he now? The Slut!!

At least without him hogging the front and telling other punters to stop shouting so loud over his minidisc recorder (he does too! ha ha ha!!) I was thus able to allow plenty of room for myself to wave my new hand-painted banners at the band as they played all their greats - much to the amusement of everybody else gathered there that evening !! Cooly cool!

And No - they don't sing exclusively in French, for your information! tut tut - Buster will have a few words to say with you.....! Quelle dommage!!