STEREOLAB -"Good Is Me," "Lo-Boob Oscillator": Anglo-French Avant-Gardes Channel Krautrock Via Pop!

STEREOLAB Are An Anglo-French Avant-Pop Band Formed In London In 1990. Led By The Songwriting Partnership Of TIM GANE & LAETITIA SADIER, The Group's Sound Features Influences From Krautrock And 1960s French Pop Music, Often Incorporating A Repetitive Motorik Beat With The Use Of Vintage Electronic Keyboards And Female Vocals Sung In English And French. Their Lyrics have Political And Philosophical Themes Influenced By The Surrealist And Situationist Art Movements. While Performing, They Play In A More Feedback-Driven And Guitar-Oriented Style. From The Mid-1990s, The Band Began To Draw From Funk, Jazz, And Brazilian Music.
STEREOLAB Were Formed By GANE (Guitar & Keyboards), And SADIER (Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar), After The Dissolution Of The Band MCCARTHY. The Two Were Romantically Involved For Fourteen Years And Are The Group's Only Consistent Members. Other Longtime Members Included 1992 Addition MARY HANSEN (Backing Vocals, Keyboards & Guitar), Who Died In 2002, And 1993 Addition ANDY RAMSAY On Drums. THE HIGH LLAMAS' Leader SEAN O'HAGEN (Guitar & Keyboards) Was A Member From 1993-1994 And Continued Appearing On Later Records For The Occasional Guest Shot.
Throughout Their Career, STEREOLAB Has Achieved Moderate Commercial Success. The Band Were Released From Their Recording Contract With Elektra Records, And Their Self-Owned Label Duophonic Signed A Distribution Deal With Too Pure, And Later Warp Records. After A Ten-Year Hiatus, The Band Reunited For Live Performances In 2019.
STEROLAB's Music Combines A Droning Rock Sound With Lounge Instrumentals, Overlaid With Sing-Song Female Vocals And Pop Melodies, And Has Also Made Use Of Unorthodox Time Signatures. It Has been Generally Described As Avant-Pop, Indie Pop, Art-Pop, Indie Electronic,Indie Rock, Post-Rock, Experimental Rock,And Experimental Pop. SADIER Remarked In 2015 That "The Band's Records Were Written & Recorded Very Quickly...We Would Write 35 Tracks, Sometimes More."
The Band Have Played On Vintage Electronic Keyboards And Synthesizers From Brands Such As FARFISA And VOX And MOOG. GANE has Praised The Instruments For Their Versatility; "We Use The Older Effects Because They're More Direct, More Extreme, And They're More Like Platicine; You Can Shape Them Into Loads Of Things."
LAETICIA SADIER's English And French Vocals Have Been A Part Of STEREOLAB's Music Since The Beginning, And She Would Occasionally Vocalize Wordlessly Along With The Music. In Reference To Her Laid-Back Delivery, PETER SHAPIRO Wrote Facetiously In Wire Magazine That SADIER "Displayed All The Emotional Histrionics Of NICO," While Some Critics Have Commented That Her Vocals Are Generally Unintelligible. SADIER Would Often Trade Vocals With MARY HANSEN Back-And-Forth In A Sing-Song Manner That Has Been Described As "Eerie," And "Hypnotic," As Well As "Sweet And Slightly Alien." After HANSEN's Death In 2002, Critic JIM HARRINGTON Commented That Her Absence Is Noticeable On Live Performances Of STEREOLAB's Older Tracks, And That Their Newer Songs Could Have Benifitted Greatly From HANSEN's Backing Vocals.
STEREOLAB's Records Have Been Heavily Influenced By The "Motorik" Technique Of 1970s Krautrock Groups Such As NEU! And FAUST. TIM GANE Has Supported The Comparison: "NEU! Did Minimalism And Drones, But In A Very Pop Way." DAVID HEATON Of PopMatters Said That Their Music Also Had "Echoes Of Bubblegum, Of Exotica, Of THE BEACH BOYS And Bossa Nova." With Their Earlier Work "Bearing Strong VELVET UNDERGROUND Overtones. Funk, Jazz, And Brazilian Music Were Additional Inspirations For The Band. STEPHEN DAVET Of French Newspaper, Le Monde, Said That The "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" Album From 1996 Had Musical Influences Like BURT BACHARACH, And FRANCOISE HARDY. The Sounds Influenced By Minimalist Composer PHILLIP GLASS And STEVE REICH Can Be Found On The 1999 Album,"Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night." STEREOLAB's Style Also Incorporates Easy-Listening Music Of The 1950s And '60s. JOSHUA KLEIN In The Washington Post Said That, "Years Before Everyone Else Caught On, STEREOLAB Were Referencing The 1970s German Bands CAN And NEU!, The Mexican Lounge-Music Master ESQUIVEL, And The Decidedly Unhip BURT BACHARACH.
I Pulled The Philosophical Treatise "Good Is Me" From 2003s "Instant 0 In The Universe" Album, And "Lo-Boob Oscillator" Comes From The 2000 Soundtrack To CAMERON CROWE's Seminal Teen Rom-Com, "High Fidelity," Starring JOHN CUSACK & JACK BLACK.
STEREOLAB has Ten Studio Albums, Fifteen E.P.'s, Seven Compilation Albums, Sixteen Singles, And Twenty-Three Collector's Items & Rarities Self-Released On Their Private Label, Duophonic.
Purchase Physical Media, Please!
PPMP!!
The Soft French And Burbling Electronics Make For An Hypnotic Listening Experience!
STEREOLAB Is Rather Unique.
Be Cool.
Be Kind.
Branch Out From Your Established Genres!
Be Genre-Fluid!
Keep It Surreal.