one of my favorites, voted it ["Animal or Vegetable"] high― the 'major tom guy' (sleeve)
― the 'major tom guy' (sleeve)
Me two! #2 on my ballot after thee immaculate "K-Stars", though it isn't really my 2nd favorite Stereolab track. Or even really a Stereolab track at all. But such a wonderful headphone ride.
― Keks + Nuss (contenderizer), Thursday, 7 April 2016 15:55 (eight years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/SdZ4oV2.jpg20. Mountain 8 votes, 185 points. 0 first place votes. From: Mountain 7" (1993)http://youtu.be/t-66TiJ1pY4
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 16:30 (eight years ago) link
"mountain" and "revox" for ever and ever and ever and ever and
― Keks + Nuss (contenderizer), Thursday, 7 April 2016 17:03 (eight years ago) link
"Mountain" is one of my favorite early-period (ie. Martin Kean) deep cuts. Despite the release date, it comes from the Low-Fi session (which also had Revox, Sadistic, and [i think] John Cage Bubblegum).
― city worker, Thursday, 7 April 2016 17:32 (eight years ago) link
btw I just got a mail from a mix by Tim on fact... haven't listened to it but thought you guys might care: http://www.factmag.com/2016/04/04/fact-mix-544-tim-gane-cavern-anti-matter-stereolab/
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 17:32 (eight years ago) link
More Peng! Yessir:
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 17:34 (eight years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/z3CnD6n.jpg19. The Seeming & the Meaning 9 votes, 189 points. 0 first place votes. From: Peng! (1992)https://youtu.be/5k4dRo48BaI
They seem to come in pairs. Here's another one. Very beautiful sounds but thought it was piano magic, not stereolab the first time I heard it.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 17:53 (eight years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/ePHCL18.jpg18. Super Falling Star 8 votes, 205 points. 0 first place votes. From: Peng! (1992)https://youtu.be/r1T4Lrg2Nx8
it will leave them with a pounding dream
― Keks + Nuss (contenderizer), Thursday, 7 April 2016 17:55 (eight years ago) link
voted for each of the last 4
cool song. Something to be said for early Stereolab, they never were a "genre" band, in that none of the songs ever really seem like excuses to use a particular synth, or particular Bacharach chord progression. Even when I don't like all the early stuff, the songs seem more synthesis than homage or exercise.
― Dominique, Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:01 (eight years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/ysIboSA.jpg17. Come and Play In the Milky Night 9 votes, 206 points. 0 first place votes. From:Voltage in the Milky Night (1999)https://youtu.be/C2RRpNd1-0s
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:31 (eight years ago) link
This is on spotify and Amazon music as 'Come Andy Play' instead of 'Come And Play' is that a typo or was the title changed?
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:34 (eight years ago) link
Opening has been sampled in at least 4 hip hop tracks... notably by Jaylib and Busta Rhymes. It's a really good bassline to sample.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:37 (eight years ago) link
Jaylib - the message: https://youtu.be/v9jVajloBpY
Busta - show me what you got: https://youtu.be/fHROoYCyBpE
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:38 (eight years ago) link
another weird Deerhoof-y melody, can see them doing a version of this. Cool track, wouldn't necessarily have been out of place on earlier records
― Dominique, Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:40 (eight years ago) link
xxpost typo, but an amusing one
― Jeff W, Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:40 (eight years ago) link
― Jeff W
Yeah it's weird. At first I thought I had fucked up but everywhere else it's as 'come and play'. Thought for a minute it was the real title and they were referencing their drummer Andy Ramsay at first.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:45 (eight years ago) link
Super falling star has got this time-machine madeleine quality. It beams me back into luxembourg 1992. Listening to it is like falling into a hole and coming out at the other side more than 20 years younger. It's less motorik beat and more wistful tune. Early Stereolab always has got this innocent childlike quality which touches something deep inside me. A very essential song.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:48 (eight years ago) link
The next section is where the points start increasing dramatically instead of one or two points between songs:
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:49 (eight years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/HUJh4a8.jpg16. We’re Not Adult Orientated 12 votes, 258 points. 0 first place votes. From:Space Age Batchelor Pad Music (1993)https://youtu.be/I30I3jTbtfI
One of those votes is for the New Wave Live version.
d'oh neu
― Keks + Nuss (contenderizer), Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:52 (eight years ago) link
ok, Neu Wave Live sorry---
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:53 (eight years ago) link
just wanted to use the harbly formed "joke"
― Keks + Nuss (contenderizer), Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:55 (eight years ago) link
On deezer it is come andy play as well. Much cooler than the other title. I didn't know it but it's quite nice. Her high-pitch singing reminds indeed a little of japanese singers like from deerhoof or blonde redhead.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:56 (eight years ago) link
wait more Peng! songs that I thought. never heard mountain before, terrific.
― Van Horn Street, Thursday, 7 April 2016 18:57 (eight years ago) link
We're not adult orientated was pretty much on top of my ballot but it went down to #13. It feels too familiar, one of their songs i have listened to most often. Still a phantastic groove.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:00 (eight years ago) link
My 10 year old cousin loves the next one one. Have no idea where she got it from but I got very excited and nerded out talking about Stereolab with her but she clearly didn't care about the band just this one song. Was it featured on a cartoon channel ad or something?
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:09 (eight years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/latPFnE.jpg15. Lo Boob Oscillator 13 votes, 286 points. 1 first place vote. From:Lo Boob Oscillator (1993)https://youtu.be/f8258BP42q8
was in the Hi Fidelity movie
― Jeff W, Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:11 (eight years ago) link
My barely conscious brain at 4:30am thought "Hmmm, I wonder what number Moka is up to".
I didn't know to expect more Peng! at this point either, though I vaguely knew "SFS" was popular. All the others were on my ballot until quite late.
Fun fact: "We Are Not Adult Orientated" is the first groop track I knowingly heard. That video with the winding mountain road was on late night TV. Sounded cool. I think the vocals brought to mind...Shonen Knife.
― Maximum big surprise! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:11 (eight years ago) link
Probably my all-time favorite 'Lab song
and omg shoulda kept my t-shirts (well I never meant to lose them)
― Forever LI (rip van wanko), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:11 (eight years ago) link
I don't think she's watched that one but who knows.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:12 (eight years ago) link
TheThe moon is free I believe,Which shines above,Shines above the rooftops.The moon is free,More than one would believe,She fluctuates between here and there,[There are] parts that we never see,Don't worry--she will returnAnd when she has been plungedInto cold obscurityIt seems that she is drowningBut she quickly gets back on her feetWith these unstable appearancesShe causes some people to doubt herMore faithful than one would believeThe moon is free
Receptive and absorptiveOf the light that she reflectsShe radiates above the rooftopsAnd fluctuates between here and thereChanging, fascinatingAnd even blinding at timesThat's how we see herPerfect disc, luminous discDoesn't she remind youOf the style of some people who lift up their headsIn the hope of elevating themselves a bitTransitory, unique, symbolicOf some imaginary visionsShe makes more of an impression onPeople who are afraid or delirious
She is above all that,She is above all that,She is free of all that,She is above all that,She is free of all that,She is above all that
The moon is free I believe,Which shines above,Shines above the rooftops.The moon is free,More than one would believe,She fluctuates between here and there,[There are] parts that we never see,Don't worry--she will returnDoesn't she remind youOf the style of some people who lift up their headsIn the hope of elevating themselves a bitShe makes more of an impression onPeople who are afraid or deliriousShe is free of all thatShe is free of all that
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:13 (eight years ago) link
My first lab track was 'Ticker Tape to the Unconscious' when I was like 14 or 15, downloaded it from Napster when I kept reading good things about the band. It sounded amazing, oddly enough I loved it but didn't download any more songs or bought any album by them until 3 or 4 years later... had I known back then that I was only listening to one of their lesser songs.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:15 (eight years ago) link
To elaborate on what I was trying to say earlier: Stereolab in the 90's were a catalogue of then-obscure musical reference points. I hadn't heard anything by Neu or Can when I discovered Stereolab, and I think most other fans were in the same boat (reissues of their material didn't pick up steam until well into the 90's). So here was a band who were obviously way cooler and smarter than you and were in tune with all sorts of amazing music that most people knew little about. And they were pouring all that acquired knowledge directly into their music.
By 2001, Your Hard Drive was the album of the year, seemingly everything worth owning had been reissued during the 90's, albums that people would spend years hunting down were easily available through filesharing, so who really needed a band like Stereolab to tell you what was cool and worth listening to? They were starting to sound passe, and so Sound Dust was relatively overlooked.
And starting with "Dots and Loops", their music was sounding overly clean and digital, and all the organ drones and hacking rhythm guitar lines were gone or turned way down in the mix. Their earlier albums were so much livelier for me.
― NoTimeBeforeTime
Which bring to point this. I imagine for anyone curious enough in the 90's (or early 00's as was my case) hearing them for the first time was mind-blowing. There were no band like them and I don't think there will ever be another one. After I went on a Stereolab binge I was looking for similar bands but I kept bumping into Cibo Matto and Pizzicato 5 which also did the 'retro' thing but way less interesting. After those initial encounters I realized I had to go waaay back to the 50's, 60's and 70's to find the real point of reference. Nowadays is easy, back then without internet it was a daunting task.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:21 (eight years ago) link
The best thing is, yes, the band definitely had some really cool references that only the nerdiest of critics and musicians understood but they weren't just copying it. Dominique said it well upthread, it's a sound of their own not just exercises or homage. There are many rock bands that dig up obscure references only to copy them without really adjusting it to their own style.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:24 (eight years ago) link
The fight between MAQ and ETK for most tracks in the poll continues:
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:28 (eight years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/or31GMj.jpg14. International Colouring Contest 14 votes, 296 points. 0 first place votes. From:Mars Audiac Quintet (1994)https://youtu.be/1JeLFvZH7U8
x-post
Yes! It was indeed mind-blowing to be turned on to all of these references at the time, reading interviews with them and Tim mentioning Sun Ra, or seeing a set list where they called Golden Ball "Chrome Tubby" and scrambling to hear what it referred to. I started listening to them after hearing the Too Pure Peel Sessions disc and then Switched On. Seeing a new release and new influences coming in with each through about '99 (when the internet made things way more available) drove my younger self to find Can Neu Faust Sun Ra etc.
― city worker, Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:29 (eight years ago) link
My best friend introduced me to them around 93, and at first I didn't get it. A few listens to MAQ changed my mind. Sorry for not voting, but to this day I cannot match a song to a title, with one or 2 exceptions. Random Octopus Electrophoresis Multilayer Bong or whatever.
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:39 (eight years ago) link
I imagine for anyone curious enough in the 90's (or early 00's as was my case) hearing them for the first time was mind-blowing.
I came to them after being a fan of McCarthy who from the beginning, with hindsight, had the droney hypnotic thing going on in their earliest songs. What is interesting is that you can plot a route where they slowly turn into Stereolab. Obviously when Laetitia, joined but also certain tracks or releases. ie. This Nelson Rockerfeller EP where they suddenly acquired keyboards and drum machines. Or tracks like this one, where there's a grinding drone, almost a krautrock rhythm section and of course the anti-establishment lyrics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb2ENkP7t4M
― everything, Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:40 (eight years ago) link
I think maq was the album when i lost them. I had seen them live in nancy around 1993/94 and they were into this easy listening stuff. Which i found slight and totally uninteresting. Icc is nice and all but it still sounds to these ears like a major step back from the beginnings.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:42 (eight years ago) link
If I'd done a ranked ballot, ICC would have been pretty high — not my #1, but high. Oddly comforting.
― Honor thy pisstake as a hidden intention. (WilliamC), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:45 (eight years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/mVLE15Y.jpg13. Crest 14 votes, 324 points. 1 first place vote. From:Transient Random-Noise Bursts… (1993)https://youtu.be/5Z-ufNCiK48
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:49 (eight years ago) link
so what will be #2 behind JO. Guessing FD
― Forever LI (rip van wanko), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:49 (eight years ago) link
Incidentally, the Nancy, FR date in 94 had a pretty rockin setlist, no ICC
1. French Disco2. Jenny Ondioline3. Our Trinitone Blast4. Ronco Symphony5. Transporté Sans Bouger6. John Cage Bubblegum7. Lo Boob Oscillator8. Super Electric9. Golden Ball
― city worker, Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:49 (eight years ago) link
Happy to see that yet another track I culled from my shortest of shortlists didn't actually need my help. MAQ was one of the first records I read about at length on this new interweb thingy before I heard it, such that I was suddenly atypically well-educated on an obscure reference like Lucia Pamela in advance.
(XXP)
― Maximum big surprise! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Thursday, 7 April 2016 19:52 (eight years ago) link