A profile of the recently re-Grooped Stereolab, ahead of their show in Montreal October 1
From Laisser-faire (1992):
History will only repeat itself once more
The Western world is going more and more right-wing
Yearning for some sort of protection, too scared to do anything
Pictured: Vanguard Stereolab Test Record (1960)
We begin our profile with some pre-Stereolab cuts, then into the raw, noisy, guitar and organ-driven early days with the only permanent members of the Groop, Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier. The early incarnation also featured Joe Dilworth of Th' Faith Healers on drums. |
Ranyhn Kallous Boys - Internal Damage/Black Dwarf Wreckordings '83-'85 - self-released/Vinyl-on-demand - 1983/2013 |
New Awareness Un-Kommuniti (Uncommunity) - Ex-Oblivione/Black Dwarf Wreckordings '83-'85 - self-released/Vinyl-on-demand - 1985/2013 |
I Worked Myself Up From Nothing McCarthy - Banking, Violence And The Inner Life Today - Midnight Music - 1990 |
Super Electric Stereolab - Super-Electric / Switched On - Too Pure - 1991/1992 |
Super Falling Star Stereolab - Peng! - Too Pure - 1992 |
The Groop Play Chord X Stereolab - The Groop Played "Space Age Batchelor Pad Music" - Too Pure - 1993 |
Jenny Ondioline Stereolab - Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements - Duophonic - 1993 |
The lineup really took form in 1993 with the additions of Mary Hansen, Sean O'Hagan, Andy Ramsay, and Duncan Brown. Together they would reach the groop's zenith. |
French Disko Stereolab - 7"/Refried Ectoplasm [Switched On Volume 2] - Duophonic/Drag City - 1993/1995 |
Wow And Flutter Stereolab - Mars Audiac Quintet - Duophonic - 1994 |
Melochord Seventy-Five Stereolab & Charles Long - Music For The Amorphous Body Study Center /Aluminum Tunes [Switched On Volume 3] - Duophonic - 1995/1998 |
The Noise Of Carpet Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup - Duophonic - 1996 |
Cache Cœur Naïf Mouse On Mars [feat. Laetitia Sadier & Mary Hansen] - 7" - Too Pure - 1997 |
Miss Modular Stereolab - 7" [album version from Dots and Loops] - Duophonic - 1997 |
Jumbleo Palipsest Turn On - Turn On - Duophonic - 1997 |
Numerous collaborations ensued and the members contributed to dozens of albums by other groups, branching out into electronica, krautrock, bossa nova, synth pop, avant garde jazz and exotica |
Simple Headphone Mind Stereolab & Nurse With Wound - 12" - Duophonic - 1997 |
Glide Time The High Llamas - Cold And Bouncy - Aplaca Park - 1998 |
Caliméro Stereolab & Brigitte Fontaine - 7" - Duophonic - 1998 |
St. Elmo's Fire (Radio) Uilab (UI & Stereolab) - Fires - Duophonic - 1998 |
Fuses Stereolab - Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night - Duophonic - 1999 |
Outer Bongolia Stereolab - The First Of The Microbe Hunters - Duophonic - 2000 |
Sadly, Mary Hansen died in 2002 while riding her bicycle in London after being hit by a truck. The groop soldiered on. The early 2000s recordings move in more of a jazz-influenced direction with references to lounge music and 60s pop and, as always, the avant garde and socialist-tinged lyrics. This set also features a few more "two songs in one", as Stereolab were want to do. |
Captain Easychord Stereolab - Sound-Dust - Duophonic - 2001 |
Brain Drain Alternative 3 - Original Soundtrack Recording - Lo Recordings - 2001 |
Mass Riff Stereolab - Instant 0 In The Universe - Duophonic - 2003 |
Métro, Boulot, Hippo Tim Gane & Sean O'Hagan - La Vie D'Artiste (OST) - Too Pure - 2007 |
Cellulose Sunshine Stereolab - Chemical Chords - 4AD - 2008 |
One Million Year Trip Laetitia Sadier - The Trip - Drag City - 2010 |
Irradiated Dream Mouth Cavern Of Anti-Matter - Blood-Drums - Grautag/Duophonic - 2013/2017 |
Silver Sands [Emperor Machine Mix] Stereolab - Not Music - 4AD - 2010 |
Baby’s first Stereolab....education starts early.
8:10 PM, September 28th, 2019