Stereolab's "Mars Audiac Quintet": Classic or Dud?

I think it's a fine record, though I rarely feel the urge to listen to it whole thesedays, but then I'm one of those contrary buggers who actually thinks Stereolab continued to get improve after MAQ. This LP was the first to be accompanied by shouts of "they've lost it", if I remember correctly. Friend of mine reckoned they'd somehow abandoned their magical 'klang-tone' guitar sound in early '94 and were never the same thereafter.

That would be Chicago. Recording with John Macintyre and the muso crowd has not been a good thing for Stereolab IMHO.

the first two stereolab discs i got were emperor tomato ketchup and cobra phases group ... when i got mars audiac quintet i thought "hey, this is what stereolab was supposed to sound like".

i think "transporte sans bouger" is genuinely heavy, heavier than anything stereolab has done.

compared to 'transient random noise bursts' (or whatever that was called) or 'space age bachelor pad', mars audiac is a far more concise effort ... listen to the instrumentation, production and the composition of the tunes. there's less screwing around than on 'transient random' and the instrumentation is far better than on 'space age bachelor pad'.

rob

and remember,,, Latitia Sadier said: "Perversion can only entail regression of a civilization that would avoid mastering anxiety therefore, distort the truth, curropt behavior"

Armand Van Helden says the girls in his bedroom do, but I don't think they don't post here.

These picks pretty much define them and any of the other albums isn't really going to add anything 'cept more of the same. (I will accept that 'Emperor Tomato Ketchup' could be added to the list. I haven't heard it, but people tell me there's a slight additional funkiness).

I still recoil slightly from the vocals on most tracks. They're bloody awful most of the time, aren't they?

I do, very very much, it's one of my favorites.

(Actually, quite a lot of my friends -- though by no means all -- prefer Dots and Loops and Emperor Tomato Ketchup to most other Stereolab albums. I feel the same way, though I can say that more definitively about their subsequent albums (everything after Dots and Loops has been uninvolving, at best) than about their prior ones, the majority of which I still haven't heard.)

As for MAQ, I'm not a big fan -- I find it fatiguing, on the whole. I like the final track, though, and track 2, which gave its name to one of my favorite bands.

I do like Dots and Loops, though I'd agree that it's possibly their weakest full-length (loads better than the stop-gap toss-off First of the Microbe Hunters, mind). I like the Dusseldorf material more than the Chicago stuff, though I've a soft spot for "Miss Modular" and "Ticker-tape of the Unconscious". I'm fairly sure I thought "Contronatura" was the best thing they'd ever done upon release, but I can't hear that specialness now. 12" single of Kid Loco and Autechre remixes good too.

I think I've already mentioned on this board before the rumour that Dots and Loops was initally a collaboration with Nurse With Wound, but Elektra were so upset by the results that they refused to release it. So the 'lab went off and re-worked everything with McEntire and Toma. NWW and Gane/Sadier no longer on speaking terms. I have no idea if this is true or not.

I wouldn't nail McEntire as an, ahem, entirely negative influence on Stereolab, but, consistently it seems, his stuff tends to come off second best to whoever else they're working with (best songs on Sound-Dust = the O'Rourke material).

I like 'Transient' best though.

This is likely a case of a one-time event being mistaken for constant truth. That said, I don't strip to music myself. ;-)

If only it were assembled as a coherent album, the 1995 era material on "Aluminum Tunes" would have been their finest hour, IMHO.

"Emperor Tomato Ketchup", though, is catching up to be my fave though.

I don't see why everyone loves "Transient" so much. Sure, the 18- minute "Jenny", "Golden Ball", and "Crest" are classic moments.. but it is a rather messy album after that. Apparently, the band cringes at the thought of that record, and I can sorta see why.

meanwhile:

This is likely a case of a one-time event being mistaken for constant truth.

May be, although I remember an interview with a bemused Tim Gane (that's his name right?) on Salon where the interviewer was going on about Stereolab being total sex music in the States. Of course in Europe we talk about Marxism and drink herbal tea when we listen to the 'Lab. ;)

I like the bright, clean production on the album. The vocals are excellent. "MAQ" showcases one of Stereolab's greatest strengths : melody. The songs are simple but effective. There are moments of beauty on this record, especially on "Three Longers Later" and "The Stars Our Destination".

I've never bought any Stereolab albums that were recorded after "MAQ". They make too many records and often repeat themselves. I think that Stereolab lose their distinctiveness when they try to do experimental material. Other post-rock bands are better suited to doing extended tracks.

Go on, shoot me, see if I care...