The future of Stereolab

This seems to be a popular view of Stereolab and not one I subscribe to at all. Their scamper away from the indie disco dancefloor down ever-narrowing corridors of fussy detail and texture mirrors my own shift in tastes, and as a result I've loved most of their records (especially Sound-Dust and the last quarter of everyone's favourite one to knock, ...Milky Night).

That said, an end to Stereolab now, after Mary's tragic death, would seem appropriate, but there are unpleasantly humdrum things like brand identity and paying the mortgage to think about.

On the contrary, they aren't fun enough

Agreed, this is why I sold Dots & Loops which gradually revealed itself to be not much fun at all.

This could be cool. I remember an Autechre remix (of a song I can't recall) that was completely out of the ordinary for them, and very good. Maybe they should hook up with Matmos or something.

Yeah that could have gone further...although like I said I don't think the D&L melodies are quite up to snuff.

Madness! There are some flaccid moments sure, but "Super Falling Star", "Mellotron", "Orgiastic", etc... I ask you?

Am I still the only person who actually thinks Emperor Tomato Ketchup has been the least durable record so far?

Laetitia may be impatient with fans -- after a hiatus they produce Sound Dust which is such a good record -- so consistent (i love roughly every second song) -- having heard loops and milky i say it is their best album after tomato, perhaps the culmination of that direction in their sound

that tv program Cold Feet had a millenium special episode that reprised cul de sac perfectly, since the drift/ island/ end metaphor worked perfectly for the 'end of time' hoop-la surrounding 0/0/2000 and the possibilities of ths show drifting, out to sea or beached, which it sure ended up doing, even if they didn't think they were drifting then

i liked those promo photos of stereolab, with the power poles vertically alligned with the pictures perspective -- like harry lime as the giant (film) wheel comes to a stop over occupied vienna, a snapshot, on the road to the castle or back ? waiting for the flood ? (i don't stereolab are misanthropic, the fans tiny dots or dust, as if viewed from harry's perspective)

i like this album art, the indication of a peak, however insular, an acknowledgement by the band that they may well be too disconnected from their audience yet wishing to take the chicago computer collaborations to a decent conclusion .. i bet they knew sound dust was make or break time, if not for the group then at least for that sound, which surely they got right on this album tens times more so than on the two albums seemingly leading in that direction, validating for me those experiments along the way -- good on them for acknowledging the alienating potential, yet admitting that this was the peak of that stereolab at least

yes, i think they will go looking for other peaks, somewhere else (Lionel Stander did get to work in hollywood again, after all)

maybe the boo-boos will have to go and a new angle for the lyrics taken with both Marie's terrible departure and the band learning the hard lessons of producing something so good by their own standards even if these didn't meet the demands of their audience -- the artistic journey has been completed -- that concept in light of Marie's death is almost horribly prophetic in a spooky new way, beyond their worst dreams i imagine (is Polanski a real king midas of horror and despair ? dark forces ?) (i do not wish to trivialise _anything_ in saying this)

of course the album + art stands on it's own feet as beautiful music with a variety of sentiment -- most of the band can return to the main land and pursue some other groove -- after a presumably respectful period of meditation and change of trade-name

"hiatus"

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

Perhaps a necessary thing, really.

diminishing returns for a while now

Question: is the future of Stereolab any different than the past of Stereolab?

:( At least Chemical Chords 2 will still come out (and I'm glad I saw them this last tour)

yeah, me too! their show last fall was wonderful. still, if anyone deserves a break, it's probably them. they've never gone more than a year or two without an album over the past 20 years, have they?

they've never gone more than a year or two without an album over the past 20 years, have they?

There were a couple multi-year gaps in between Sound-Dust, Margerine Eclipse, and Chemical Chords though I think the box set comes in there somewhere.

yeah, maybe i'm just thinking that there are always various collections coming out in between records -- never seemed like they disappeared for any significant amount of time.

They were great when I saw them live last year. Like, really great, as much fun as the first time I saw them. If this is one of those permananent breaks then they are going out with a bang, at least as far as live music is concerned. I don't think I have any of their albums from the last ten years, but live performance is at least as important to me.

My thoughts on seeing them in September -- if that's the last time I'll ever see them, then the last song I ever saw them do was a great version of "Jenny Ondioline."

I've only listened once but I already like it better than most of the Stereolab albums I know, feels more dynamic than usual

feeling a bit more generous to this album after a couple more listens -- it sounded especially nice on a sunny walk outside -- but praise like that is crazy to me!!

this sounds pretty great on headphones btw, all those studio guys who love their production style are in for a treat

They sound like they’re playing live. It’s jazzy, progressive. There’s good synth bits. It’s airy. It’s a triumph.

It just gets better and better with each listen. It's one of the warmest records they've ever made -- both sonically and emotionally. Maybe the warmest.

This album does creep up on you; it sinks its fangs in sloooooooowly.

• by pure chance i busted out my ancient 'die kybernetische malerei der funk' tour t shirt about a month before i'd heard anything about new material
• 'melodie is a wound' was my early favourite, particularly that second half (my mind's eye can see them playing this)
• yesterday 'i remember i forgot how to dream' (pts 1 and 2) took hold of me quite suddenly only yesterday
• about half the album sounds like stuff to me, but i'm absolutely not hating it, and i'm finding new details with every listen
• it doesn't sound at all like a reboot of any previous album, neither does it sound like a whole different band—in many ways it sounds like they never really stopped (which is true, individually)
• disappointed they didn't take up any of our song title suggestions

Occurred to me today whilst listening with liner notes in hand that the lyrics to "Esemplastic Creeping Eruption" would fit comfortably on any Yes record from approx. 1972-1977

https://genius.com/Stereolab-esemplastic-creeping-eruption-lyrics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kOliS2RTCQ

Impressive to see the 'Lab rocking out at 51:00 onwards.

didn't know Laetitia played guitar in an Elizabeth Cotten style, lefthanded with a righthanded guitar, cool!

The review in Record Collector magazine was very ho-hum, the only one like that I've seen so far.

new single!!

https://stereolab.bandcamp.com/album/fed-up-with-your-job-constant-and-uniform-movement-unknown

nice!

but man $7 US dollars for two digital songs is uh, a lot. i'll wait for inevitable Switched On 6 in fifteen years lol

how much was the 7" (he asks thru gritted teeth)

nvm it's up on duophonic for £14 + £6 shipping, lmao no thanks

xps it's also available in the itunes store for under $3

Nice!

And I love that they maintain THAT photo on their Bandcamp page.

damn i like this more than anything i heard from the album but latter day stereolab is still too comfortably out of touch to excite me (price also reflective of that).

Seeing them live for the first time a week from today, so stoked!

Me too! I lived them for decades but never got around to seeing them

*loved

that is a huge tour

What have folks thought of the tour?

I saw them recently thought and thought they were the best they've been since reuniting. They were much more adventurous than I've seen them, jamming out noise sections with Joe on keys using some sort heavy fuzz device. Andy is always in the pocket like lint drumming all manner of wonky grooves, sometimes switching over to operate a drum machine while Laetitia queues up electro beats and Tim keeps strumming away furiously.

Replicating the sounds of whatever particular vintage synths and keyboards the songs were actually recorded with has always seemed to be a challenge for them when performing live and I think they've managed to find solutions. Part of that is probably just being smart with the set list, which was great. Highlight for me was "Cybele's Reverie." It's the very first Stereolab song I heard and I've always wanted to hear them play it live.

They all looked like they were having a blast, too, Laetitia in particular.

excited to see them on Friday. I've seen them a couple times at outdoor venues (19 years apart) but never in a club.

One week ago tonight, I saw them at BK steel, the first time since 97, and before that time i saw them every single time they came to NYC since 94. I would say that during their 90s run, they were reliable for a pulsating analog synth wall of sound that one would feel suffusing your entire being, but which is perhaps understandably absent nowadays. I did miss it, but it was still good to see 'em. Although I have listened to ETK a lot in recent years, I didn't recognize any song from therein other than "Cybele's" ; it was not only a kick to see Gane perpetrate his signature headshake, but to see Sadler addressing the audience, playing the trombone and lightly bopping around the stage.

Think I've seen every US tour since '93 (though foolishly skipped the second night of them opening for Unrest that time), and thought the Brooklyn Steel show I saw (first night) was fantastic (and seemed like everyone else in the place felt the same, great energy)

They’re not switching it up much...Same setlist every night, even for back-to-back shows in the same city. Only thing I'm a bit bummed about this time around. But I'm really looking forward to seeing them, as always!

it was not only a kick to see Gane perpetrate his signature headshake

Always urgent and key.

Unless I'm very wrong I have seen every tour except the ETK one, which still annoys me to this day. (I missed Prolapse for fuck's sake.) Roll on two weeks from now.

Thought the 2019 tour was A-grade, lots of songs I wanted to hear and a focus on keyboard drone, motorik, etc (all of the aspects that make them interesting)…2022 (?) tour was way closer to mediocre, not as many songs I wanted to hear and a heavier focus on their pop elements (also, the sound at the venue was atrocious)…going into this one open minded but I’m not 100% head over heels over the new album (even though it’s good) so my expectations are tempered.

2019 was indeed great. I got to hear 'Crest,' 'Brakhage,' 'Double Rocker,' and 3 (three!!) songs from Mars Audiac Quintet.

ha, I preferred 2022 because they did so many obscure b-sides and deep cuts, and I'd heard all the hits plenty of times before

two major 10+ improv rave-ups in philly ------ A+++++

seeing 'em next week, can't wait — they've never been anything less than great a the other shows I've caught. actually excited to hear the new stuff, too!

man, they sounded *amazing* last night.

Shoot, even the small clip you shared on Bluesky sounded great! Really wish I'd been able to catch them this tour.

yeah, just great ensemble playing throughout — they really seemed like they were having fun up there (which has not always been the case in my experience).

Yeah you can notice when they're not fully there, as it were. So I'm glad that things appear to be better there! A week to go for my show!

terrific in portland last night, only seen these reunion gigs but this was my favorite of the three, had the most verve and best sound. they seemed stoked on the new stuff, i'm whatever on the album but it came across very well live. i wouldn't be too sure about 'no pulsating synth wall' either! poster mentioned up thread as lacking these days. the noise is maybe not to the extent of the 90s but i'm glad they're diving into that part of their sound more this time around

i noticed the keyboardist had a booklet of sheet music, i had fun imagining stereolab as a working band of the classic sort- gigsman introduces himself, gets his charts, three sets until close then the bandleader has to leave for topeka or some shit immediately after. crystal ballroom really retains its dance hall aura also

I was also at the Portland show and can confirm it was awesome. They seem very happy to be up there, Laetitia in particular is a real goofball and her joy was infectious. She really plays a lot of guitar and trombone now!

The set was largely new album focused, and I love the new album so I was pleased.

I'm casual friends with the new(ish) bass player, we chatted after the show and he said the overall tour mood is very up, they are very pleased to be touring on a new record. Hopefully we just have Stereolab back in our lives from now on!

A friend took me to this for night one in Brooklyn and it was also obvious how happy Laetitia was to be performing. Excellent show all around.

This year’s tour was indeed as good as everyone’s saying, right up there with 2019 and leagues above 2022. They’ve been playing the exact same setlist (give or take a song or so) this entire tour, which I’m surprised they’re able to make seem like they’re overly happy to do night after night — certainly makes it easier to prepare for but for me playing the same songs every night wouldn’t take long to become a drag.

I think having a fixed or mostly fixed set list has been their approach for a long time. I imagine there are lots of songs that are not easy to just pull out on a whim because the arrangements get pretty tricky.

They used to switch up the order of set lists from gig to gig, and rotate a few songs in and out of the setlist here and there. At least, that's what I remember from the multiple SF stops in years past.

SF was killer last night! Everyone was in such a happy mood. Smiles all around from the band and the crowd. :)

Excellent! Can't wait for tonight for sure. (Anyone else going this evening?)

Who else will be at the Los Angeles show on Sunday?

Annnnd new single!

https://stereolab.bandcamp.com/album/cloud-land-flashes-in-the-afternoon

is this the tour single I didn’t buy from the merch table at the DC show because I’m not buying vinyl anymore?

(got a snazzy green dots and loops shirt)

yes, unsold copies of this tour single will be on the webshop & some retailers February 13th