Stereolab - Sound Dust (2001)

On Sound Dust Stereolab retains the polished production of John McEntire and Jim O'Rourke as well as heavy arrangements and mellow textures of preceding albums. However, there's a lot less jazz influence than on either Dots & Loops or Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night albums. Instead, the bandleader and guitarist Tim Gane drew more heavily on the 20th Century classical and orchestral music, such as Gustav Holst, Olivier Messiaen and Philip Glass. Also, the vibe on this record is darker and gloomier, yet also more impressionistic and mysterious than before. Combining the more sinister chord and melody voicings with lush and orchestral arrangements results in music that, while being just as light on rock as Stereolab's previous records, sounds more unique than what Stereolab did before in similar vein.

The tone on this record is just as mellow and introverted as other John McEntire era albums, but neither is it all overtly lounge or jazz infused. Instead, right off the bat, the record opens with a short minimalist instrumental "Black Ants In Sound Dust" combining synthesizers, vibes and horns along with Laetitia's wordless voice in lower register into a sinister piece based on whole tone scale. It segues without warning into a nightmarish waltz as "Spacemoth" chimes in with eerie celeste, vibes, horns and woodwinds, creating an atmosphere that would fit in well into a low-grade horror movie. The song is made up of multiple parts and it soon segues into a hypnotic groove with angular bass lines and complex chord progression, as Laetitia sings in French about an ethnographic film made by Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin, ending with a groovy and energetic final part. This is one of the most complex songs Stereolab has recorded and one of the finest combinations of melodic writing and creative arrangements from the band.

While there is some lighter fare on this record as well, including High Llamas-ish loungy chamber-pop songs such as "Hallucinex" or obligatory nods to Tropicalia such as "Double Rocker" (which, to be honest, does not rock at all), they are not the highlights on this record. Songs like these sound decent, but also kind of forced and contrived and they seem to hold the album back in some ways. Out of the more poppy songs, the jaunty "Nothing To Do With Me" with lyrics borrowed from Chris Morris, is a highlight. Elsewhere, the song structures are a definite improvement over stodgy pseudo-jazz progressions of Dots and Cobra, featuring a lot of sectional and rhythmic changes, as many compositions switch into an entirely different sections. It was already hinted on previous albums, but it rears its head fully on this album. A highlight is a single called "Captain Easychord", starting out with a mid-tempo piano pounding groove, including a steel guitar dominated instrumental section, and then shifting gears into a robotic electro-pop groove with lush instrumentation. "Gus The Mynah Bird" fades in with an esoteric intro, then shifts gear into a waltz time lounge piece lamenting political corruption and then: midway into a sinister section made up of ambient electronics cum Philip Glass like organ triplets. For those into vinyl format, on the album's vinyl edition you can hear the intro full blown. It's a great piece of music that it's a shame it's left out from the CD. Sounds like Steve Reich remixing "SMILE".

"Suggestion Diabolique" is another long, near 8 minute epic on the record containing changes in tempos, sections and textures (keyboards, acoustic guitars, brass, clavinets), and ends with a creepy orchestral section reminiscent of Holst's "Neptune". It's remarkable how string arrangements are absent from the entire record and how symphonic the closing section manages to sound even without them. "Les Bons Bons Des Raisons" ends the record in a mellow ballad mode, but even there it manages to throw in tempo changes and it ends with a mellow jam with light percussion, dense keyboard layers and interlocking vocals. While not the best album closer, it still sounds different enough from the usual Stereolab fare.

This record can be difficult to get into. It's very different from anything Stereolab has ever done, even other McEntire era records. Compositions on this record sound either very lightweight, even if with busy arrangements, or very convoluted. This is not the Stereolab album for those who want something more immediate or edgier sounding. But compared to the other so called lounge-era (1997-2001) full length albums, this might be the most accomplished one of them all.