Friday, September 12, 2014

Stereolab - Switched On (1992)


Previously on OPIUM HUM:
McCarthy - I Am a Wallet (1987) + Banking, Violence, and the Inner Life Today (1990)
Laetitia Sadier - The Trip (2010)

When I first heard Stereolab, they were about the hippest thing imaginable -- they were indie, they sounded French, they had vaguely pro-communist lyrics sung in a pretty, forceful, but oddly disconnected female voice, and their music was fuzzed-out, propulsive, yet droning, and laced with nods to retro-cool Space Age bachelor pad music. To this day, they're one of my favorites. Switched On compiles Stereolab's first three EPs, and though it's way less sonically busy than their later stuff -- it actually sounds like a 'rock band' -- it shows that they came out of the gate with their genius more or less fully formed. To anyone unfamiliar with this exceptional band: this is the perfect entry point.

Track listing:
1. Super-Electric
2. Doubt
3. Au Grand Jour
4. The Way Will Be Opened
5. Brittle
6. Contact
7. Au Grand Jour
8. High Expectations
9. The Light that Will Cease to Fail
10. Changer

Some see the flesh before they see the bones
Some see the bones before they see the flesh

6 comments:

  1. yer readin' minds, man. been thinkin' about diggin' out some stereolab lately. COOL.

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  2. hey! i was curious if you had any of the hihg llamas stuff? been looking for snowbug but cant find it, hope yr well, also! www.notdummy.bandcamp.com is my band, v stereolab, pram, quickspace influenced, pay what you want if you dig, or post here its freeee!

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    Replies
    1. I will definitely check it out, sounds great! In the meantime, here's Snowbug:
      https://mega.nz/file/WgcVjKCL#z8mPCkB5Hggm6kIsHwD3OhGeKigkI7E2E3NwLtbX3wI

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    2. hope u enjoyed the ep! ty again for snowbug

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  3. ty! always looking for suggestions of drone pop vibes, also have you heard Harry Case "in a mood" i think youd vibe

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  4. Hi the link is dead, thank you for the reup !

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