Stereolab - Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night (1999)

Stereolab's follow-up to Dots and Loops two years later (an unprecedented gap in their discography) not only bore its longest title to date, but was also the longest player of all their full length albums, totaling 75 minutes of music. Produced by John McEntire and Jim O'Rourke, Cobra and Phases... continues Stereolab's fixation with jazz-oriented lounge-infused chamber pop sound, that already reared its head on Dots, but without the predominant electronic tinkering which defined that record. The album is very mellow in its textures and presents a far more introverted sensibility than before. Although there's a bit more electric guitar heard on this record, its textural and contrapuntal approach in lieu of riffs and heavy chords, as well as mostly clean sound nonetheless keeps the album as far away from the rock idiom as was the previous album.

Half of the songs sound like a sort of a fusion between pseudo-avant-jazz and lounge. "Fuses" opens the album with a seemingly chaotic amalgam of loaded drums (provided on this track by McEntire), synth gurgles and brass skronks and with angular vibraphone melody aided by wordless female voices. The odd choice for the single was "Free Design", with its syncopated groove and loungy fusion textures, with an instrumental coda where the brass section quotes "The Dancing Queen" by ABBA. "Blips Drips and Strips" combines lounge with Dave Brubeck styled odd-metered jazz and Reich-inspired vibraphones. It sounds clever, but its lightweight and kitschy feel makes it sound little like the band that once recorded "Laissez-Faire" or "The Noise of Carpet". This lifeless pseudo-jazz piece is far from Stereolab's best efforts in bending multiple genres into a post-modern smorgasbord. Aside their somewhat feeble attempts at emulating jazz flavor, they also have some tracks where Sean O'Hagan's Brian Wilson cum Burt Bacharach inspired kitschy chamber pop influence is clearly felt: "Spiracles" is a lightweight but insubstantial ballad, while "Caleidoscopic Gaze" is an attempt at a multi-part piece, something like a cornier rewrite of "Refractions In the Plastic Pulse", but nowhere near as inventive or engrossing as that long piece.

Aside the aforementioned pieces, there are a lot of tracks which actually come fairly close to emulating the classic Stereolab approach and sound all the better for it: "People Do It All The Time" and "Infinity Girl" are two memorable pop-oriented tunes in the tradition of "Ping Pong" and it's beyond me why neither of them was chosen for the single. "Op Hop Detonation" on the other hand is as funky as anything on Emperor Tomato Ketchup and has an instrumental section with fuzzed out guitar like on "Cadriopo". Unlike Dots and Loops, we do get a lengthy drone-rock epic on this one, "Blue Milk". Contrasting the band's earlier and more abrasive droney pieces, this track has a smooth, tranquil and meditative atmosphere that makes it sound more akin to classical minimalism, very much in the vein of Terry Riley. While this 11 minute track shoulders most of the blame for this album sounding self-indulgent, this piece is actually one of the more interesting drone rock explorations Stereolab has done, mainly for its uniquely hypnotic and pastoral atmosphere that sounds like little else Stereolab has done. Psychedelic music for introverts. "Strobo Acceleration" however regains the kraut-rock groove of the band's early work, but here mixed in with cornets and other jazz derived textures.

A couple of tracks indicate that Stereolab could do mellow and lounge-derived post-rock well. "Puncture In The Radax Permutation" is memorable for being one of the rare songs where background singer and guitarist, the late Mary Hansen got a lead vocal and it's a very good one. While its opening part is just as corny as you could expect from the kitschiest moments elsewhere on this album, this song transforms into something really epic and transcendent when the drums kick in at 2:20 and when the piece transforms into something really beautiful with its Glass-like vibraphone ostinatos, assertive grooves and the glorious coda with its haunting strings. "Emergency Kisses" on the other hand is sung entirely by Laetitia Sadier, whose romantic crooning and cooing makes this piece irresistibly charming, it again has a strings oriented finale, but with some backward sounds mixed in.

My favorite track, however has nothing to do with either lounge or approximation of the earlier Stereolab formulas: the album closer "Come and Play In The Milky Night" might be the best album closer they ever recorded. This sounds like little else they had recorded before, taking their hypnotic layering of guitars and keyboards and vocals to an entirely new level. They've never achieved a finer or more transcendent combination of accessible melodicism and layered instrumentation elsewhere than on this song. Its crisp production and the guitar and keyboard oriented textures make this one stand out sonically.

While derided as a bloated mess and indeed several tracks here are somewhat questionable, this sprawling Stereolab record is better than most critics suggest and has loads of good (and even great) music to make it worthwhile. However, it's by no means an entry level Stereolab album, that's for sure. Those initiated, however, may still find plenty to enjoy here.