Stereolab

[enjoy bell woods]

God damn, the new album is wonderful. These guys may be the most consistent band in the world.

Anyone else like them? It's all good from Emperor Tomato Ketchup up 'til now. Those who hate on the newer sound are totally tonedeaf.

[jiji]

New, as in Fab Four Suture? I thought for a second that they had snuck another album out without me noticing.

Yeah, I love 'em.  I started with Dots & Loops about a year after it came out, and I've been hooked ever since. I think it's still my favorite album, though I do like ETK, Cobra & Phases Group, and their latest two albums quite a bit.  It took me a while to work through all of their material. Though I definitely favor the post-ETK stuff, I have some favorites in the prior albums. Sound-Dust is probably my least favorite album of theirs.

I wish they'd hire another female vocalist to replace Mary Hansen.  She added a particular voice to the group that I don't think Laetitia has been able to make up for in overdubs.

[jiji]

Oops, they do have a new one coming out next month.  There we go.

[enjoy bell woods]

Yep. A new one.

I was wondering the other day why Tim Gane or someone else in the band couldn't harmonize with her. It'd be a welcome change and maybe convince the critics that Stereolab haven't been making the same album for the past decade (I don't agree with that; if they have been, I love that one album they keep making regardless).

This new one features Sean O'Hagan prominently, which is a great thing to me because he's one of my favorite musicians. I adore The High Llamas and his contributions to some of my other favorite bands (SFA in particular). The brass and string arrangements on Chemical Chords are wicked.

One of the new songs is on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/stereolab

Coincidentally, it's one of my favorite tracks. So much fun.

[demi]

Any youtubes of songs I should listen to?

[enjoy bell woods]

Check out MySpace link that I just edited in.

They're also a lot of fun live. Very danceable.

[jiji]

nom nom nom

[youtube=425,350]Tb5T-BT68ZU[/youtube]
[youtube=425,350]xfOPpZWIS00[/youtube]

Eh, they're touring the US again and skipping Utah (where I am) again. I guess I can't blame them, though. Maybe I'll try to schedule a NYC trip when they're playing there.

Sometimes I wonder how much help Laetitia's vocals have in the studio, because from the live videos I've seen on Youtube, she often doesn't have the best voice live (or the best stage presence). 

[enjoy bell woods]

Monade's a lot rawer, and her voice seems pretty good on those CDs too. I thought she had enough of a stage presence when I saw them last time. She was dancing to the music at least.

[jiji]

I still haven't got around to listening to Monade.  :'(

Ooh, a live performance of a new song. They sound great here, and Laetitia's having fun:

[youtube=425,350]tI_FycUQkXQ[/youtube]

Edit: this was apparently a fantastic show all around:

[enjoy bell woods]

Awesome. Thanks for the vids. That first one is also the first track off the new one.

[demi]

They're pretty good chillout music. I listened to all the myspace songs... really like the first one. Very upbeat. Didn't care for The Emergency Kisses, but the other two after that are nice and casual. Something you'd maybe hear in a restaurant.

[enjoy bell woods]

There's a lot going on in their songs. I used to not understand why people liked them so much, and then it finally struck me. Definitely a band that'll reward you the more you listen. Trust me on this, demi!

[demi]

It reminds me of Earthbound, if that makes sense.

[hyp]

ooh this is pretty nice stuff.  i can vibe with it.