Stereolab - Chemical Chords

One of the most widespread myths among critics regarding Stereolab is that all of the band's albums sound the same. An exaggerated version goes that Stereolab, throughout their career, has only recorded one song over and over again. Such statements are present not only in the recent reviews where the critics curse the band for "lack of ideas" or "repeating themselves" (ergo, the typical sins veteran bands get scolded for). Even years ago, when Stereolab was supposedly at the peak of their powers, it was assumed that all Stereolab's songs sound the same.

This is a blatant exaggeration that needs little else for rebuttal than the process of listening to two Stereolab albums from disparate eras in a row: for example, one can contrast Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements from 1993 (from the early kraut-inspired noise-pop period) with 2001's Sound Dust (a curious blend of lounge, avantgarde and Chicago school of post-rock).

It serves to prove that Stereolab is still a fairly eclectic band, combining various intriguing styles into a unique whole, that on one hand shamelessly refers to an obscure act or two (who have came in vogue among the alternative music circles largely thanks to guitarist/composer/record collector Tim Gane's meritorious propaganda), while doing it in such a unique manner that we can speak of Stereolab's signature sound. A lot of critics have failed to realize that the Groop progresses slowly but surely, in its own tempo, while ignoring trends and balancing consistency with changes.

True, Fab Four Suture from 2006, a collection of seven inch singles, refered to the dearth of ideas, considering how similar it sounded to the 2004's Margerine Eclipse (first Stereolab album missing the late Mary Hansen). Fortunately, on Chemical Chords, Stereolab does not try too hard to sound like a classic(ist) Stereolab. New Lab sounds poppier, more concise and focused than before. There's also less emphasis on the usual analog synth sounds and Sean O'Hagan has returned with his arrangement expertise for strings and brass. Live instruments are clearly more emphasized on this album.

It is true that Chemical Chords does not sound as innovative or avantgarde as Stereolab's previous albums. Nonetheless, the band deserves admiration for staying true to themselves, especially when they perform in their own style well, which they certainly do on this album. Here, there are hints to both early, rock oriented Stereolab ("Valley Hi" and the instrumental "Pop Molecule") as well as the loungier period (the title track, "Self Portrait With 'Electric Brain'", "Fractal Dream of a Thing"). First and foremost we find prime Stereolab styled pop ("Neon Beanbag", "Three Women" etc), but also a few eccentric moments such as "Nous Vous Demandans Pardon" with its militarist machine like syncopated beat or "Daisy Click Clack" with its ragtime piano. A beauty on its own is the album closer "Vortical Phonotheque" with its Sound Dust meets Abbey Road vibe. A well done work from the veteran avant-pop group.

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.

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.

Stereolab - Dots and Loops (1997)

Dots and Loops, as produced for the most part by John McEntire of Tortoise fame, assisted by Mouse on Mars on a couple of tunes, is a more electronic sounding Stereolab album, and nowhere near as Kraut-rocking as the previous albums had been. Instead, there's a lot of jazz and funk flavor to a lot of these tunes. Horn and string arrangement crop up in lieu of guitars, which are relegated to the background, keyboards are even more on the foreground and a lot of electronic percussion either complements or replaces the drums, depending on a song. It's hard to believe Stereolab was still a rock band an album ago. "Refractions In The Plastic Pulse" is a highlight with its multiple section epic, as is "Contronatura" on a slightly smaller scale, but "Prisoner Of Mars" on the other hand is a drab attempt at loungy trip-hop and "Parsec" is essentially pseudo-jazz "spiced up" with bland and dated drum&bass styled percussion. Elsewhere, "Miss Modular", "Flower Called Nowhere" and "Ticker Tape of the Unconscious" are memorable songs with layered instrumentation and laid back melodies that sound even lusher, if also a bit too polished than Stereolab's earlier lounge gems, whereas "Diagonals" is essentially a rather flaccid pseudo-jazz version of "Metronomic Underground".

Nonetheless, this record brought both new fans to the band as well as turning off some of the older ones who were more in tune with the band's Kraut-rock side. Whatever a listener thinks of this album depends largely on ones predilection towards electronic music as well as jazz and lounge oriented music. Just as there's good and bad in absolutely every style of music, so is Dots and Loops made up of either hits or misses in the styles pursued here. The production on this record is excellent and pristine, as John McEntire is one of the most accomplished producers and record engineers in experimental music, even if Dots and Loops is one of the few Stereolab albums that explicitly sounds like a nineties product, this coming from a band otherwise known for combining sounds and styles into timeless amalgams.

Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup

Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996) is milestone in Stereolab's career, although they have kept releasing great music after that. The record has a unique feel, which effectively fuses post-My Bloody Valentine post-indie sound with the post-modernist pop mentality of the mid-nineties on one hand and the nascent loungecore movement (mixing modern electronic genres with space age pop) on the other. "Metronomic Underground" enters with its funky hip hop beat, as the hypnotic bassline comes in and layers of instruments and vocals are accumulating on top of the groove, it's obvious Stereolab has reached new heights in their minimalist drone-rock leanings. But the pop songs, such as string-laden "Cybele's Reverie", Kraftwerkian "Les Yper Sound", groovy "Spark Plug", punkish "Noise of Carpet", the peppy title track and sublime, beautiful heavenly "Slow Fast Hazel"; are what make ETK the great album. The sharp pop sensibility is aided by a healthy dose of experimentation, like the jazz-rock groove of "Percolator" in 5/4 time, minimalist "Tomorrow Is Already Here" and the buzzing psych-electro-kraut jam feel of "OLV 26". Stylistically there's lots of variety, but also a necessary sense of concision as the album has 13 tracks taking up 57 minutes in t0tal. Here Stereolab delivers some of the most timeless beautiful and captivating music ever, in which brevity is the soul of wit. A must-have.