STEREOLAB - BETTER THAN NEW ORDER: OFFICIAL.

Stereolab... Where to begin ? Well, let's say first that, although they're an amazing, ever exciting band making both high quality and highly enjoyable music, I don't rate them higher NO.

Well, NO IS my favorite band, so...

There's even bands I like even more than Stereolab, especially the aformentioned Boo Radleys...

To be continued in the upcoming post (just the time for me to regroup my thoughts)

So, let's say I think I must be one of the oldiest Stereolab fans on the block...

I bought their very first 10" at the time of its release (The Light That Will Cease To Fail"), then the second (the timeless classic "Super-Electric" and then the coloured 7" that was, if I remember well "Doubt" and "Changer").

Those 10 first songs that would later for the 1st volume of "Switched On", a series that regularly compiles all their singles, b-sides and other rarities. The 2 others volumes being called "Refried Ectoplasm" (with the magnificent "Lo-Boob Oscillator", heard later in "High Fidelity) and "Aluminium Tunes".

Although you probably will still miss things, this is still the best way to get all the goodies nott on the albums...

I SO Agree with you Buster - you know it's so wonderful to have someone who shares such passion in talking about favourite bands that may have escaped other people's attention: we stand united on the Lab, The Boo Radleys, Northern Picture Library/Field Mice, Disco Inferno, and how many others?? Gee - that's cool!

Infact my three most favourite bands of the nineties - EVER - are - in this order: SAINT ETIENNE, THE BOO RADLEYS, and STEREOLAB.

They all mean so much to me it's untrue.!!

It's difficult for me to really talk about Stereolab. They're almost like friends...

Let's say it's music that is guaranteed to make you feel better...

And, Martin, will I make jealous if I tell you that at two different gigs, on two different tours, Laetitia dedicated a song to me (although there was a reason for these specific dedications) ?

Those songs were Anamorphose and Super-Electric.

Yes, you're right, Martin...

Only trouble, I thought earlier of other bands we might share some love for but can't remember which ones right now...

Sain Etienne are not as essential to me as they obviously are to you but I really like them very much.

Gret lost and underrated song/hit : Like A Motorway

O yes, I remember who, and they're totally Stereolab-related : Quickspace, once known as Quickspace Supersport, from a former Th'Faith Healers Tom Something, the latter sharing the same drummer and label as Stereolab...

I became aware of Stereolab in December 1993 - so they'd been going a good 2 years before I cottoned on. The first records I got were all bought at the same time in one bulk purchase: these -

Switched On (Volume 1) - CD Peng! - Vinyl LP The Groop Played Space Age Bachelor Pad Music - CD Jenny Ondioline EP - CD Low-Fi - 10" single

The next batch, following in January 1994, were: Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements - CD French Disko/Jenny Ondioline - limited CD Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements - 2x Vinyl LP (cos I was a sad completist I guess)

Then, I bought every purchase I could get my hands on from that point - including a few rarities like the 7" of "Lo Boob Oscillator"/"Tempter" and the 10" with Nurse With Wound "Crumb Duck" amongst others. "Ping Pong" which trailed "Mars Audiac Quintet" is still one of my three all time fave Stereolab Singles EVER - such a breezy summery tune - even though we didn't have much of a summer in 1994. Other favourites include 1996's "Fluorescences" - probably the Lab's finest, and most overlooked gem of a pop song yet. (They never play it live for some reason, why? It's gorgeous!) and the simply luscious 1995 mini-lp "Music For The Amorphous Body Study Center" (which is now included in its entirety on the third Switched On compilation," Aluminium Tunes") - I would have loved to have gone to see that exhibition held in New York by Charles Long for which they did the songs for it...that would have been cool, alas, I couldn't get there until two years later. Their later stuff just got more exotic and esoteric yet always was easily identifiable as coming from Stereolab. No mean achievement for a band who have put out such a vast body of recorded work.

Yeah - that's the Lab all over - always the same, but always different.

My rarities :

Monade's 7" Turn On CD UiLab - St Elmo's Fires

Originally posted by Buster Klumpy It's difficult for me to really talk about Stereolab. They're almost like friends...Let's say it's music that is guaranteed to make you feel better...And, Martin, will I make jealous if I tell you that at two different gigs, on two different tours, Laetitia dedicated a song to me (although there was a reason for these specific dedications) ?Those songs were Anamorphose and Super-Electric.

This last tour I caught them only last weekend (7th December) at Manchester University - and I was there at the front as usual, waving banners at the band, trying to get them to laugh. (They loved them too - even Laetitia) and then I went backstage after the gig and chatted with them once again - this time I had a long, and really cool, conversation with Laetitia, she came across as very friendly and accommodating, although Margaret Fiedler from Laika once told me that Laetitia had a bit of a serious surly reputation - that never was apparent while I was chatting with her and Mary, the other singer (from Brisbane, Australia, did you know that?). so I managed to show them all the banners that they couldn't read from stage. Simon, their bass player, recalls being cracked up by some of the dafter ones: like - "PURE LAB! NO FLAB!!!" "ALL YOU NEED IS LAB!! BA-BA BA-BA-BA...!" and "GODLIKE!!!!" A few of my banners were also in French - just to try and impress Laetitia I suppose - she chuckled at an earlier one I did which read..... "ALORS...LAETITIA!! VOTRE MUSIQUE EST DELICIEUX!!!"
Laetitia also explained to me why Morgane L'Hote left the band - apparently she wasn't a very proficient Keyboardist and couldn't handle the more complex chords of their later songs.... After all I did wave a banner with the words "OU EST MORGANE??!!" at them. Better still, I exchanged a few gushing words with Sean O' Hagan as well as with Tim Gane - Sean being the key player with High Llamas as well as being a long time Stereolab collaborator. So that was a great night for me - being amongst the presence of gods so to speak.

That's cool that Laetitia dedicated some songs to you - SWEET!

I also have the Brigitte Fontaine collaboration on white 7" vinyl as well as CD And the "Turn On" CD / UiLab projects likewise but NOT Monade - which I understand is a collaboration between Laetitia and Rosie Cuckston from PRAM - another of my favourite analogue electronic left-field type bands. Spooky to say, I have Pram's last album "Museum Of Imaginary Animals" playing thru my headphones RIGHT THIS MOMENT as I type! How's that for coincidence??

So what is the MONADE project like? I think I'll have to hurry and send off for it soon - I think it's still available according to Martin, the lab manager - I get emails from them about upcoming gigs and events/releases....

Originally posted by Martian Gray 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, onceheard, 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!!!

For those of you people jumping on Martin's case, I think you don't understand what he means. So I'll interpret this thread for you...............................

Blah, B blah blah's blahing blah blahing the blah blah blah? Blah blah, B blah blah blah blah BLAH Blahly blahing SHITY GROUP WITH SOME TALENT blah - blah BLAH blah blah blah balh blah blah the blah blah, blah Order (ITHINK HE WAS REFRENCING TO THE GOD LIKE BAND NEW ORDER) ... Blahhh. Blah blahed Manchester Unversity Blah Blah O'Blah (Blah Blah and Blah!!) blahing - blah blahing a blah-blah blah balh. And balh a blahly blah blah blah blah!

blah blah or blah blah ( B blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah the blah, BLAH BALH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH ??!!) blah The 'Shit [ as blah blah - blah - blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah] blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, and blah blah blah and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

anyways, that's about the gist of it.

Piss off you ignorant fart - you don't have to visit here do you? Who's asking you to hijack this joint??? NOBODY ASKED YOU TO STICK YER OAR IN - IF YOU DON'T LIKE STEREOLAB - FINE. JUST LEAVE ME AND BUSTER TO TALK ABOUT THEM AND STICK TO YOUR OTHER POSTINGS - NO ONE'S TWISTING YOUR ARM, DICK WEED! GO ON - HOP IT!!! AND DON'T LET ME SEE YOU ROUND HERE AGAIN!!! :headoff:

THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING, SUNSHINE - NOW IS NOT THE TIME AND THE PLACE FOR YOUR BLINKERED TOSSING-OFF, SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, KINDLY SOD OFF.

Originally posted by Martian Gray That's cool that Laetitia dedicated some songs to you - SWEET!I also have the Brigitte Fontaine collaboration on white 7" vinyl as well as CDAnd the "Turn On" CD / UiLab projects likewisebut NOT Monade - which I understand is a collaboration between Laetitia and Rosie Cuckston from PRAM - another of my favourite analogue electronic left-field type bands. Spooky to say, I have Pram's last album "Museum Of Imaginary Animals" playing thru my headphones RIGHT THIS MOMENT as I type! How's that for coincidence??So what is the MONADE project like? I think I'll have to hurry and send off for it soon - I think it's still available according to Martin, the lab manager - I get emails from them about upcoming gigs and events/releases....

Well, the Monade one is just a 7"... Haven't listenent to it for some time...

I'm really proud of the reason she dedicated "Anamorphose". I asked her, before the soundcheck, if they ever played that song I loved so much and knew Laetitia loved too.

She told me their new bass player couldn't get around that one. Then, at the soundcheck, they tried it and it worked.

So, when they played it in the encore, she dedicated the song to me...

And anyway, what the fuck do you know about music or New order for that matter - YOU'RE A FUCKING ELTON JOHN FAN, FER CHRISSAKES!!

SOMEBODY QUICK - BURN HIM AT THE STAKE!!!! :headoff:

"SACRIFICE" - INDEED!!!!

I'm sorry Martin do you need your tummy rubbed? STEREOLAB still sucks! Just stirring the pot. GIzznet!

Sorry Buster - the post immediately following yours is not dedicated to you - please don't misinterpret that - it was aimed at the FUCKING ASSHOLE who sabotaged the smooth flow of our discussion by trying to leap in and crack some funny-ha-ha, and failing miserably. Anyway - he's only contradicted himself - if he really thought I was rabbling an anout something he didn't care for then why the fuck put in SO MUCH EFFORT to type in so many Blahs if all he had to say was precisely NOTHING? Some people who post here are so damn strange they crack me up....

Originally posted by Sparky I'm sorry Martin do you need your tummy rubbed? STEREOLAB still sucks! Just stirring the pot. GIzznet!

DO you have any syrup by the way?

Originally posted by Martian Gray > 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)

thanks for the imput Martian will check them out

Originally posted by Buster Klumpy 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...

thanks bumpy, 2 votes for the Emperor gets my interest ;)

Stereolab? They're okay - but they're not one twentieth as good as Sonic Youth though......hee hee hee

:happytongue:

You CANNOT be syrup...serial...cereal....oh fuck it, never mind......

My head's fried....sorry....

Originally posted by Martian Gray I SO Agree with you Buster - you know it's so wonderful to have someone who shares such passion in talking about favourite bands that may have escaped other people's attention: we stand united on the Lab, The Boo Radleys, Northern Picture Library/Field Mice, Disco Inferno, and how many others?? Gee - that's cool!Infact my three most favourite bands of the nineties - EVER - are - in this order: SAINT ETIENNE, THE BOO RADLEYS, and STEREOLAB. They all mean so much to me it's untrue.!!

at least we agree on St. Etienne. But here's one - The Chameleons are far better than Stereolab -

Well - I suppose they've been at it for so much longer, so maybe they deserve their belated dues..... And I suppose that automatically makes The Chameleons better and more important than New Order then... I hasten to add. Catch them live lately BTW (The Chameleons, that is)......?

The Chameleons? Not a patch on The Replacements.

Now THAT'S What I call "class"......!

Originally posted by Martian Gray Well - I suppose they've been at it for so much longer, so maybe they deserve their belated dues.....And I suppose that automatically makes The Chameleons better and more important than New Order then... I hasten to add. Catch them live lately BTW (The Chameleons, that is)......?

I caught them at the Ritz last Christmas - the new album is a little disappointing, but then how could anything live up to Script of the Bridge etc. I wouldn't say they were better than NO (although, what does better mean?), nor are they more important in the scheme of things, but they do hold a special place in my heart.