Prior to receiving this album, or really, collection of singles, I knew very little of Stereolab. I knew that I often confused their name with Steriogram, they were from Britain, and they were a form of indie pop. So when I first began to listen, I didn’t really know what to expect. Especially when the first song’s titled “Kyberneticka Babicka Pt 1.”
I began to listen to the song…and I was almost positive the CD was scratched. It seemed as though it was stuck on the first two notes over and over again. After four measures, however, it progressed to a new chord. And then began to repeat the exact same “beat” for another four measures. Most likely done digitally, I was not amused by this. However, I began to listen more intently to the music.
It seemed as though it was a rendition of what it would be like if Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was somehow even more tripped out, with the wonders of digital audio. The “Pt 1” part of the song of course intrigued me, so before listening to “Pt 2” of “Made up Words song”, I was expecting that perhaps there would actually be a vocal part. Nope. It’s the exact same thing. Vocals, as I have learned, are not the centerpiece of Stereolab’s work.
As I progressed through the album, the songs obtained a structure. “Plastic Mile” features the female vocalist of the band, Laetitia Sadier, with an almost operatic style singing along to music that seems like trippy 60’s music with horns, digitized. It seems that each part of the album focuses on a specific genre of music, and then completely dissembles it, and reconstructs it fitting to the creative “prowess” of the band.
Stereolab can be described as indie pop, electroncia, indietronica, electropop, or a wide array of unnecessary classifications. Stereolab is one of those bands that people shouldn’t need to title; just listen to the music, and form your opinions based no that. This 3 x 7” release from Stereolab is a fun addition to any music collection, and I’m glad it’s become a part of mine. |