Albeit less experimental and with the voice of Mary Hansen notably absent, Stereolab continues on the same formula that’s secured them among the 50 most influential bands of pop music. If you had never heard of Stereolab, this sound evokes imagery of early 70s pop culture (detective tv series and all); it represents a distinct genre that marries French psych pop and 1970s disco/funk into a construct that can be arbitrarily dubbed as “trip funk”, a hypothetical subgenre of the electronic category. From Ray Manzarek’s (The Doors) sustained and noodle-y organ manipulations to Jean Jacques Perry’s pioneering Moog experimentations, Stereolab has been carrying the torch of the electronic genre for almost 12 years now (since 1992). Here, the guitar/bass lines remind of the psych/pop power of Dressy Bessy, the almost pop-art-ish dance-y aesthetic rings Japanese pop antics a la Pizzicato Five, the organ sounds flirt with the acid jazz sounds of some of the most hard-core psych bands of the 1960s, and the mesmerizing vocals refer me to anything from Joan Baez to operatic style old fashioned European pop (ca 1930s). Kraut rock or not, this is Stereolab and you cannot deny them. Play this to the memory of our beloved Mary Hansen! A very good CD!
Play: 11, 6, 3, 12, 2, 8
1. Typical Stereolab. Lush, upbeat, and groovy. Disco funky
2. Nice church-sounding organ. Builds up to a nice wave of melody and rhythm. Nice funk guitar chops. Reverb and Wah-Wah. Ah YEAH…!!!
3. Delicate upbeat/edgy synth groove leading to an assaulting guitar/bass drill.
4. Dark electronic intro (see Can). Depressing mood turns into power popish groove.
5. Progressive & a bit dissonant. Brass-sounding intro. Upbeat-ish Stereolab core.
6. Fuck yeah… it rawks! Uplifting! Propelling guitars/drums. Synth noise effects.
7. Jazzy in that acid/psych way. Synth grooves.
8. Seductive tempo and mood. Very sexy! Yam!
9. Very Pizzicato Five-ish.
10. Sparse and jazzy with funky rhythmic grooves.
11. Nice happy dancy casio beats and sustained organ grooves. Hard rawking guitar riffs.
12. A 3 part song. Lyrical and operatic. At 4:30 min, it breaks into an AWESOME dance-groove. Ideal for dance mixes.