Stereolab
http://www.stereolab.co.uk

styles: post-rock, indie rock, drone pop
others: Komeda, The High Llamas, Broadcast, Electrelane

Fab Four Suture
Too Pure, 2006
rating: 4/5
reviewer: dave gurney

Stereolab is a music collector's dream band. They drop EPs, art installation soundtracks, limited edition singles, and many other scraps of ephemera almost as frequently as Randy Jackson refers to fellow humans as a "dawgs." Hyperbole aside, the groop is obviously committed to putting their product out in various fun forms for fetishists to build musical altars. Kudos to them.

While I'm not quite a committed collector, the 'lab also thinks of us little guys with smaller wallets and less available storage space by releasing nice compilations of their rarer releases. This is what their new album Fab Four Suture is. In September 2005, three singles were released, introducing a total of six new songs to the whirled of Stereolabbers. On this LP, we not only get those six nuggets, but added to the lode are six additional gems of exceptional beauty. Yet far from seeming like a cobbled-together affair, this release rivals Margerine Eclipse as their best "album" album since 1997's Dots and Loops.

"Kyberneticka Babicka," split into two parts, opens and closes the album as a gorgeously hypnotic pop meditation. It's something akin to finding the most perfectly realized scratch-induced record skip in the universe, and although there's practically nine minutes of it on the album, I have repeatedly listened to those minutes more than anything else in the collection. Aside from this more experimental nod, the rest of the album is a tour de force, with the band flexing their well developed sonic muscles. Laetitia Sadier's magically delicious vocal cords gently caress ear drums. Tim Gane's insistent guitar work spins dream-induced rapture. And of course, Andy Ramsay's versatile beat-making is in full form, especially in "'Get a Shot of the Refrigerator,'" where he goes from motorik drive to bad-ass hip-hop groove on a dime, making it seem like it's the most natural transition in all the world. These are talented writers/performers at the absolute top of their game. Just as relevant now as they ever were.

Without doubt, pre-disposed fans will love this. But you non-fans, hear this: Okay, Stereolab are an "acquired taste," in the parlance of our times. Sure, the often labyrinthine melodies may be a bit too intricate for many casual pop fans. Sure, the practice of locking into a trance-inducing groove may be a bit too patience-demanding for those of short attention spans. But if you give this album the chance - letting down your guard - the rewards are embarrassingly rich. This is more than pop. More than rock. More than any single genre can contain. It's a celebration of the beauty of music, and thus, a rare thing indeed.

1. Kyberneticka Babicka Part 1
2. Interlock
3. Eye Of The Volcano
4. Plastic Mile
5. "Get A Shot Of The Refrigerator"
6. Visionary Road Maps
7. Vodiak
8. Whisper Pitch
9. Excursions Into 'Oh, A-Oh'
10. I Was A Sunny Rainphase
11. Window Weirdo
12. Kyberneticka Babicka Part 2

Margerine Eclipse
Elektra, 2004
rating: 2.5/5
reviewer: c. leo


Seems to me there are two types of people: those who enjoy Stereolab, and those who don’t. Those who do enjoy Stereolab hear something fresh and new with each album the band releases. Those who do not enjoy Stereolab listen to the album and hear the same blips, bops, beeps, and dots.

Margerine Eclipse is the band’s eighth LP, and it certainly builds on the previous seven. It builds, however, to the point of boredom. Not that the album is horribly bad (it does rank as one of the better ones), but it doesn’t give the listener anything new to mull. If you enjoyed 1999’s Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, you’ll enjoy this album, as it covers most of the same ground. While some will say Margerine Eclipse is as relevant as Emperor Tomato Ketchup, it is not. With Emperor Tomato Ketchup, the band moved away from dirty pop songs into its own style of free-jazz-like melodies and trance-inducing beats. Margerine Eclipse has all those elements, too, but nothing more. Emperor Tomato Ketchup broke new ground, but Margerine Eclipse doesn't break anything.

One of the album’s strongest songs is "...Sudden Stars," which was released last October on the Instant O in the Universe EP. The track is completely Stereolab, with its galloping beat and ‘70s-like synth track. But later on in the album is the song "Hillbilly Motobike," a song sounding like it couldn’t make the cut for an earlier LP. It is hard to call these songs bad; they are actually quite good in their own right. But again, there is nothing new for the listener. A band does not have to reinvent itself on each album in order to remain interesting, but a meander in another direction does make for more exciting listens. Unfortunately, Stereolab seems content to stay on the 440-cycle and refuses to deviate to other tonal colors.

1. Vonal Declosion
2. Need To Be
3. ...Sudden Stars
4. Cosmic Country Noir
5. La Demeure
6. Margerine Rock
7. The Man with 100 Cells
8. Margerine Melodie
9. Hillbilly Motobike
10. Feel and Triple
11. Bop Scotch
12. Dear Marge