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Stereolab

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox musical artist

Stereolab are an Anglo-French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's sound incorporates repetitive motorik beats with the use of vintage electronic keyboards and female vocals sung in English and French, drawing influences from krautrock, funk, jazz, 1960s French pop and Brazilian music. Their lyrics have political and philosophical themes influenced by the Surrealist and Situationist art movements.

Stereolab were formed by Gane (guitar and keyboards) and Sadier (vocals, keyboards and guitar) after the break-up of McCarthy. The two were romantically involved for fourteen years and are the group's only consistent members. Other longtime members included 1992 addition Mary Hansen (backing vocals, keyboards and guitar), who died in 2002, and 1993 addition Andy Ramsay (drums). The High Llamas' leader Sean O'Hagan (guitar and keyboards) was a member from 1993 to 1994 and continued appearing on later records for occasional guest appearances.

Throughout their career, Stereolab have achieved moderate commercial success. The band were released from their recording contract with Elektra Records, and their self-owned label Duophonic signed a distribution deal with Too Pure and later Warp Records. After a ten-year hiatus, the band reunited for live performances in 2019.

HistoryEdit

1990–1993: FormationEdit

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In 1985, Tim Gane formed McCarthy, a band from Essex, England, known for their left-wing politics.<ref name="sutton">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Gane met Lætitia Sadier, born in France,<ref name="Arundel (1991)">Template:Cite news</ref> at a 1988 McCarthy concert in Paris and the two quickly fell in love. Sadier was disillusioned with the rock scene in France and soon moved to London to be with Gane and to pursue a music career.<ref name="McLean (2019)" /><ref name="Arundel (1991)" /> In 1990, after three albums, McCarthy broke up and Gane immediately formed Stereolab with Sadier (who had also contributed vocals to McCarthy's final album), ex-Chills bassist Martin Kean and Gina Morris on backing vocals.<ref name="sutton" /><ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Stereolab's name was taken from a division of Vanguard Records demonstrating hi-fi effects.<ref name="perrone">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Harvey (2017)">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Grunebaum (2007)">Template:Cite news</ref>

Gane and Sadier, along with future band manager Martin Pike, set up a record label called Duophonic Super 45s which, along with later offshoot Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks, would become commonly known as "Duophonic".<ref name="H2O (Chunklet: Tim Gane)">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Gane said that their "original plan" was to distribute multiple 7 and 10-inch records "–to just do one a month and keep doing them in small editions".<ref name="McGonical">Template:Cite journal</ref> The 10 inch vinyl EP Super 45, released in May 1991, was the first release for both Stereolab and the label, and was sold through mail order and through the Rough Trade Shop in London. Super 45Template:'s band-designed album art and packaging was the first of many customised and limited-edition Duophonic records. In a 1996 interview in The Wire, Gane calls the "do-it-yourself" aesthetic behind Duophonic "empowering", and said that by releasing one's own music "you learn; it creates more music, more ideas".<ref name="Shapiro (1996)">Template:Cite news</ref>

Stereolab released the EP Super-Electric in September 1991, and a single, titled "Stunning Debut Album" (which was neither debut nor album), followed in November 1991. The early material was rock and guitar-oriented; of Super-Electric Jason Ankeny wrote in AllMusic that "Droning guitars, skeletal rhythms, and pop hooks—not vintage synths and pointillist melodies—were their calling cards ..."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Under the independent label Too Pure, the group's first full-length album, Peng!, was released in May 1992. A compilation titled Switched On was released in October 1992 and would be part of a series of compilations that anthologise the band's more obscure material.<ref name="Phares (AMG: Fab Four Suture)">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Around this time, the line-up consisted of Gane and Sadier plus vocalist and guitarist Mary Hansen, drummer Andy Ramsay, bassist Duncan Brown, and keyboardist Katharine Gifford. Hansen, born in Australia, had been in touch with Gane since his McCarthy days. After joining, she and Sadier developed a style of vocal counterpoint that distinguished Stereolab's sound.<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)" /><ref name="perrone" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Sean O'Hagan of the High Llamas joined as a quick replacement for their touring keyboardist, but was invited for their next record and "was allowed to make suggestions".<ref name="ps5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

1993–2001: Sign to ElektraEdit

Stereolab introduced easy-listening elements into their sound with the EP Space Age Bachelor Pad Music, released in March 1993. The work raised the band's profile and landed them a major-label American record deal with Elektra Records. Their first album under Elektra, Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements (August 1993), was an underground success in both the US and the UK.<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)"/> Mark Jenkins commented in Washington Post that with the album, Stereolab "continues the glorious drones of [their] indie work, giving celestial sweep to [their] garage-rock organ pumping and rhythm-guitar strumming".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the UK, the album was released on Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks, which is responsible for domestic releases of Stereolab's major albums.<ref name="H2O (Chunklet: Tim Gane)"/>

File:Stereolab (1994).jpg
Stereolab performing in London in 1994

In January 1994, Stereolab achieved their first chart entry when the 1993 EP Jenny Ondioline, entered at number 75 on the UK Singles Chart. (Over the next three years, four more releases by the band would appear on this chart, ending with the EP Miss Modular in 1997.) Their third album, Mars Audiac Quintet, was released in August 1994. The album contains the single "Ping Pong", which gained press coverage for its explicitly Marxist lyrics.<ref name="DeRogatis (1994)">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Mason (AMG: Ping Pong)">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The band focused more on pop and less on rock, resulting in what AllMusic described as "what may be the group's most accessible, tightly-written album".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was the last album to feature O'Hagan as a full-time member. He would continue to make guest appearances on later releases.<ref name="amsean">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The group issued an EP titled Music for the Amorphous Body Study Center in April 1995. The EP was their musical contribution to an interactive art exhibit put on in collaboration with New York City artist Charles Long.<ref name="Reynolds (1995)">Template:Cite news</ref> Their second compilation of rarities, titled Refried Ectoplasm (Switched On, Vol. 2), was released in July 1995.

The band's fourth album, Emperor Tomato Ketchup (March 1996), was a critical success and was played heavily on college radio.<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)"/> A record that "captivated alternative rock", it represented the group's "high-water mark" said music journalists Tom Moon and Joshua Klein, respectively.<ref name="Klein (2001)"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The album incorporated their early krautrock sound with funk, hip-hop influences and experimental instrumental arrangements.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> John McEntire of Tortoise also assisted with production and played on the album. Katharine Gifford was replaced by Morgane Lhote before recording, and bassist Duncan Brown by Richard Harrison after.<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)"/> Lhote was required to both learn the keyboards and 30 of the group's songs before joining.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Released in September 1997, Dots and Loops was their first album to enter the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at number 111. The album leaned towards jazz with bossa nova and 60's pop influences.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Barney Hoskyns wrote in Rolling Stone that with it the group moved "ever further away from the one-chord Velvets drone-mesh of its early days" toward easy-listening and Europop.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> A review in German newspaper Die Zeit stated that in Dots and Loops, Stereolab transformed the harder Velvet Underground-like riffs of previous releases into "softer sounds and noisy playfulness".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Contributors to the album included John McEntire and Jan St. Werner of German electropop duo Mouse on Mars.<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)" /><ref name="Cooper (1999)">Template:Cite news</ref> Stereolab toured for seven months and took a break when Gane and Sadier had a child.<ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)" /> The group's third compilation of rarities, Aluminum Tunes, was issued in October 1998.

Their sixth album, Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, was released in September 1999. It was co-produced by McEntire and American producer Jim O'Rourke, and was recorded with their new bassist, Simon Johns.<ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)" /> The album received middling reviews from critics and peaked at number 154 on the Billboard 200.<ref name="uncutcobra">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="exclaimcobra">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> An unsigned NME review said that "this record has far more in common with bad jazz and progressive rock than any experimental art-rock tradition."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In a 1999 article of Washington Post, Mark Jenkins asked Gane about the album's apparent lack of guitars; Gane responded, "There's a lot less upfront, distorted guitar ... But it's still quite guitar-based music. Every single track has a guitar on it."<ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)">Template:Cite news</ref>

Stereolab's seventh album, Sound-Dust (August 2001), rose to number 178 on the Billboard 200. The album also featured producers McEntire and O'Rourke. Sound-Dust was more warmly received than Cobra and Phases Group….<ref name="Klein (2001)"/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Critic Joshua Klein said that "the emphasis this time sounds less on unfocused experimentation and more on melody ... a breezy and welcome return to form for the British band."<ref name="Klein (2001)">Template:Cite news</ref> Erlewine of Allmusic stated that the album "[finds the group] deliberately recharging their creative juices" but he argued that Sound-Dust was "anchored in overly familiar territory."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

2002–2010: Death of Hansen, later releases and hiatusEdit

In 2002, as they were planning their next album, Stereolab started building a studio north of Bordeaux, France. ABC Music: The Radio 1 Sessions; a compilation of BBC Radio 1 sessions was released in October.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the same year, Gane and Sadier's romantic relationship ended.<ref name="McNair (2004)">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Quote box

On 9 December 2002, Hansen was killed when hit by a truck while riding her bicycle in London.<ref name="McLean (2019)" /> She was 36. Writer Pierre Perrone said that her "playful nature and mischievous sense of humour came through in the way she approached the backing vocals she contributed to Stereolab and the distinctive harmonies she created with Sadier."<ref name="perrone"/> For the next few months, Stereolab lay dormant as the members grieved. They eventually decided to continue. Future album and concert reviews would mention the effects of Hansen's absence.<ref name="Harvey (2017)" /><ref name="DeRogatis (2003)"/><ref name="Harrington (2004)"/><ref name="Wagner (2004)">Template:Cite news</ref>

The EP Instant 0 in the Universe (October 2003) was recorded in France, and was Stereolab's first release following Hansen's death. Music journalist Jim DeRogatis said that the EP marked a return to their earlier, harder sound—"free from the pseudo-funk moves and avant-garde tinkering that had been inspired by Chicago producer Jim O'Rourke".<ref name="DeRogatis (2003)">Template:Cite news</ref>

Stereolab's eighth album, Margerine Eclipse, was released on 27 January 2004 with generally positive reviews,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and peaked at number 174 on the US Billboard 200. The track "Feel and Triple" was written in tribute to Hansen; Sadier said, "I was reflecting on my years with her ... reflecting on how we sometimes found it hard to express the love we had for one another."<ref name="McNair (2004)"/> Sadier continued, "Our dedication to her on the album says, 'We will love you till the end', meaning of our lives. I'm not religious, but I feel Mary's energy is still around somewhere. It didn't just disappear."<ref name="McNair (2004)"/> The Observer's Molloy Woodcraft gave the album four out of five stars, and commented that Sadier's vocal performance as "life- and love-affirming", and the record as a whole as "Complex and catchy, bold and beatific."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kelefa Sanneh commented in Rolling Stone that Margerine Eclipse was "full of familiar noises and aimless melodies".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Margerine Eclipse was Stereolab's last record to be released on American label Elektra Records, which shut down that same year.<ref name="Eliscu (2004)">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Future material would be released on Too Pure, the same label which had released some of the band's earliest material.<ref name="beggars.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Stereolab glass house (2878601320).jpg
Stereolab performing in Pomona, California in 2008

The group released six limited-edition singles in 2005 and 2006, which were anthologised in the 2006 compilation Fab Four Suture, and contained material which Mark Jenkins thought continued the brisker sound of the band's post-Hansen work.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By June 2007, Stereolab's line-up comprised Tim Gane, Lætitia Sadier, Andy Ramsay, Simon Johns, Dominic Jeffrey, Joseph Watson, and Joseph Walters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2008, the band issued their next album under the label 4AD titled, Chemical Chords, which "[downplays] their arsenal of analog synths in favor of live instrumentation".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In April 2009, Stereolab manager Martin Pike announced a pause in their activities for the time being. He said that it was an opportune time for the members to move on to other projects.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Not Music, a collection of unreleased material recorded at the same time as Chemical Chords, was released in 2010.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

2019–present: Reunion and Instant Holograms on Metal FilmEdit

In February 2019, the group announced a tour of Europe and the United States to coincide with expanded, remastered reissues of several of the albums released under Warp Records.<ref name="McLean (2019)" /> Stereolab were part of the lineup for 2019's Primavera Sound festival, taking part on the weekend of 30 May in Barcelona, Spain, and the following weekend in Porto, Portugal. It was the group's first live performance since 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 8 April 2025, the band announced their first album of brand-new material in 15 years, Instant Holograms on Metal Film. It was accompanied by the release of Aerial Troubles as a single and music video on the same day.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Musical styleEdit

{{#invoke:Listen|main}} Stereolab's music has been generally termed as avant-pop,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="maloney2016">Template:Cite news</ref> indie pop,<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)"/><ref name="billboard-obituary">Template:Cite magazine</ref> art pop,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> indie electronic,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> indie rock,<ref name="AM"/> post-rock,<ref name="McLean (2019)" /><ref name="AM">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> experimental rock,<ref name="billboard-obituary"/> and experimental pop.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Rick Reger 1996">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The band combines a droning rock sound with lounge instrumentals, overlaid with sing-song female vocals and pop melodies, and have also made use of unorthodox time signatures.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sadier remarked in 2015 that "[the band's] records were written and recorded very quickly… we would write 35 tracks, sometimes more".<ref name="rbma">Lætitia Sadier Lecture (2015) Red Bull Music Academy</ref>

Jim Sullivan of The Boston Globe described their general style and instrumentation as being "often pegged as Velvet Underground-influenced retro-futurists. [The group] utilize old Moog synthesi[s]ers and Farfisa and Vox Continental organs, [and] two guitars, bass, and drums."<ref name="jimsullivan">Template:Cite newspaper</ref> Gane described their use of vintage synthesisers: "We use the older effects because they're more direct, more extreme, and they're more like plasticine: you can shape them into loads of things."<ref>Taylor (2001), p.110</ref> The 1994 album Mars Audiac Quintet prominently features Moog synthesisers.<ref name="Shapiro (1996)"/><ref name="DeRogatis (1994)"/>

Lætitia Sadier's English, French and occasionally wordless vocals have been a part of Stereolab's music since the beginning,<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)" /><ref name="Klein (2001)" /> In reference to her laid-back delivery, Peter Shapiro wrote facetiously in Wire that Sadier "display[ed] all the emotional histrionics of Nico",<ref name="Shapiro (1996)" /> while some critics have commented that her vocals were unintelligible.<ref name="Klein (2001)"/><ref name="Shea (2002)">Template:Cite book</ref> Sadier would often trade vocals with Mary Hansen back-and-forth in a sing-song manner that has been described as "eerie" and "hypnotic", as well as "sweet [and] slightly alien".<ref name="perrone"/><ref name="pharestransient"/> After Hansen's death in 2002, critic Jim Harrington commented that her absence is noticeable on live performances of Stereolab's older tracks, and that their newer songs could have benefited from Hansen's backing vocals.<ref name="Harrington (2004)">Template:Cite news</ref>

In interviews, Gane and Sadier have discussed their musical philosophy. Gane said that "to be unique was more important than to be good."<ref name="Stark (1999)">Template:Cite news</ref> On the subject of being too obscure, he said in a 1996 interview that "maybe the area where we're on dodgy ground, is this idea that you need great knowledge [of] esoteric music to understand what we're doing." Sadier responded to Gane, saying that she "think[s] we have achieved a music that will make sense to a lot of people whether they know about Steve Reich or not."<ref name="Shapiro (1996)"/> The duo were up-front about their desire to grow their sound: for Gane, "otherwise it just sounds like what other people are doing",<ref name="Hoskyns (1999)">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and for Sadier, "you trust that there is more and that it can be done more interesting."<ref name="Fritch (2004)">Template:Cite news</ref>

InfluencesEdit

Their records have been heavily influenced by the "motorik" technique of 1970s krautrock groups such as Neu! and Faust.<ref name="Shapiro (1996)"/><ref name="Klein (2001)"/> Tim Gane has supported the comparison: "Neu! did minimalism and drones, but in a very pop way."<ref name="Reynolds (1996)">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Dave Heaton of PopMatters said that their music also had "echoes of bubblegum, of exotica, of Beach Boys and bossa nova", with their earlier work "bearing strong Velvet Underground overtones".<ref name="Dave Heaton 2006">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Funk, jazz, and Brazilian music were additional inspirations for the band.<ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)"/><ref name="McNair (2004)"/> Stephan Davet of French newspaper Le Monde said that Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996) had musical influences such as Burt Bacharach, and Françoise Hardy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The sounds influenced by minimalist composers Philip Glass and Steve Reich can be found on the 1999 album Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night.<ref name="Klein (2001)" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Stereolab's style also incorporates easy-listening music of the 1950s and '60s. Joshua Klein in Washington Post said that, "Years before everyone else caught on, Stereolab [were] referencing the 1970s German bands Can and Neu!, the Mexican lounge music master Esquivel and the decidedly unhip Burt Bacharach."<ref name="Klein (2001)" /> Regarding their later work such as Instant 0 in the Universe (2003) and Margerine Eclipse (2004), critics have compared the releases to the band's earlier guitar-driven style.<ref name="DeRogatis (2003)"/><ref name="Wagner (2004)"/>

Live performancesEdit

Stereolab toured regularly to support their album releases. In a 1996 Washington Post gig review, Mark Jenkins wrote that Stereolab started out favouring an "easy-listening syncopation", but eventually reverted to a "messier, more urgent sound" characteristic of their earlier performances.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In another review Jenkins said that the band's live songs "frequently veer[ed] into more cacophonous, guitar-dominated territory", in contrast to their albums such as Cobra and Phases Group…<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jon Bream compared the band's live sound to feedback-driven rock bands like the Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jim Harrington of The Oakland Tribune argued that Sadier's vocals sounded subdued, further stating in regard to her switching between singing in English and French that "a Stereolab show is one of the few concerts where it's hard to find even the biggest fans mouthing along with the lyrics."<ref name="Harrington (2004)" /> Regarding being onstage, Gane has said that "I don't like to be the center of attention ... I just get into the music and am not really aware of the people there. That's my way of getting through it."<ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)"/> Remarking of the band's 2019 reunion tour, he added that "[Stereolab] never were really a festival band… We're not like, 'Hey, how you all doing?' and all that stuff."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Lyrics and titlesEdit

Template:Quote boxStereolab's music is politically and philosophically charged.<ref name="Reynolds (1996)"/> Dave Heaton of PopMatters said that the group "[uses] lyrics to convey ideas while using them for the pleasurable way the words sound."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lætitia Sadier, who writes the group's lyrics, was influenced by both the Situationist philosophy Society of the Spectacle by Marxist theorist Guy Debord,<ref name="Harvey (2017)"/> and her anger towards the Iraq War.<ref name="Stanley (2003)">Template:Cite news</ref> The Surrealist, as well as other Situationist cultural and political movements were also influences, as stated by Sadier and Gane in a 1999 Salon interview.<ref name="Stark (1999)"/>

Critics have seen Marxist allusions in the band's lyrics, and have gone so far as to call the band members themselves Marxist.<ref name="Shapiro (1996)"/><ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)"/><ref name="Fritch (2004)"/><ref name="Reynolds (1996)" /> Music journalist Simon Reynolds commented that Sadier's lyrics tend to lean towards Marxist social commentary rather than "affairs of the heart".<ref name="Reynolds (1996)" /> The 1994 single "Ping Pong" has been put forward as evidence in regard to these alleged views. In the song, Sadier sings "about capitalism's cruel cycles of slump and recovery" with lyrics that constitute "a plainspoken explanation of one of the central tenets of Marxian economic analysis" (said critics Reynolds and Stewart Mason, respectively).<ref name="Mason (AMG: Ping Pong)"/><ref name="Reynolds (1996)"/>

Band members have resisted attempts to link the group and its music to Marxism. In a 1999 interview, Gane stated that "none of us are Marxists ... I've never even read Marx." Gane said that although Sadier's lyrics touch on political topics, they do not cross the line into "sloganeering".<ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)"/> Sadier also said that she had read very little Marx.<ref name="Stark (1999)"/> In contrast, Cornelius Castoriadis, a radical political philosopher but strong critic of Marxism, has been cited as a marking influence in Sadier's thinking.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The name of her side project, Monade, and its debut album title, Socialisme ou Barbarie, are also references to the work of Castoriadis.<ref name="Fritch (2004)"/><ref name="Phares (AMG: Monade)">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Stereolab's album and song titles occasionally reference avant-garde groups and artists. Gane said that the title of their 1999 album Cobra and Phases Group… contains the names of two Surrealist organisations, "CoBrA" and "Phases Group",<ref name="Stark (1999)"/> The title of the song "Brakhage" from Dots and Loops (1997), is a nod to experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage.<ref name="Stark (1999)"/> Other examples are the 1992 compilation Switched On, named after Wendy Carlos' 1968 album Switched-On Bach,<ref>Taylor (2001), p.108</ref> and the 1993 song "Jenny Ondioline", a portmanteau of inventor Georges Jenny and his instrument the Ondioline.<ref>Taylor (2001), p.109</ref>

LegacyEdit

File:Stereolab live.jpg
Stereolab were credited for reviving the use of vintage analogue instruments.

Stereolab have been called one of the most "influential" and "fiercely independent and original groups of the Nineties" by writers Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Pierre Perrone respectively.<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)"/><ref name="perrone"/> Mark Jenkins called them one of "the decade's most innovative British bands."<ref name="Jenkins (1998)">Template:Cite news</ref> Simon Reynolds commented in Rolling Stone that the group's earlier records form "an endlessly seductive body of work that sounds always the same, always different."<ref name="Reynolds (1996)"/> In a review for the 1992 single "John Cage Bubblegum", Jason Ankeny said that "No other artist of its generation fused the high-minded daring of the avant-garde and the lowbrow infectiousness of pop with as much invention, skill, and appeal."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In The Wire, Peter Shapiro compared the band to Britpop bands Oasis and Blur, and defended their music against the charge that it is "nothing but the sum total of its arcane reference points."<ref name="Shapiro (1996)" />

Stereolab were one of the first groups to be described as post-rock—in a 1996 article, journalist Angela Lewis applied the "new term" to Stereolab and three other bands who have connections to the group.<ref name="lewis">Template:Cite news</ref> Stylistically, music journalist J. D. Considine credits the band for anticipating and driving the late 1990s revival of vintage analogue instruments among indie rock bands.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Stephen Christian, a creative director of Warp Records, said that the group "exists in the gap between the experimentation of the underground and the appeal of the wider world of pop music".<ref name="McLean (2019)" />

The group have also received negative press. Barney Hoskyns questioned the longevity of their music in a 1996 Mojo review, saying that their records "sound more like arid experiments than music born of emotional need."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In Guardian, Dave Simpson stated: "With their borrowings from early, obscure Kraftwerk and hip obtuse sources, [Stereolab] sound like a band of rock critics rather than musicians."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Lætitia Sadier's vocals were cited by author Stuart Shea as often being "indecipherable".<ref name="Shea (2002)" />

A variety of artists, musical and otherwise, have collaborated with Stereolab. In 1995 the group teamed up with sculptor Charles Long for an interactive art show in New York City, for which Long provided the exhibits and Stereolab the music.<ref name="Reynolds (1995)"/> They have released tracks by and toured with post-rock band Tortoise, while John McEntire of Tortoise has in turn worked on several Stereolab albums.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the 1990s, the group collaborated with the industrial band Nurse With Wound and released two albums together, Crumb Duck (1993) and Simple Headphone Mind (1998),<ref name="Dale (2016)">Template:Cite news</ref> and Stereolab also released "Calimero" (1998) with French avant-garde singer and poet Brigitte Fontaine.<ref name="Dale (2016)" /> The band worked with Herbie Mann on the song "One Note Samba/Surfboard" for the 1998 AIDS-Benefit album, Red Hot + Rio, produced by the Red Hot Organization.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Stereolab alumni have also founded bands of their own. Guitarist Tim Gane founded the side project Cavern of Anti-Matter and also formed Turn on alongside band member Sean O'Hagan, who formed his own band the High Llamas.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Katharine Gifford formed Snowpony with former My Bloody Valentine bassist Debbie Googe.<ref name="Jenkins (1998)"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sadier has released three albums with her four-piece side-project Monade, whose sound Mark Jenkins called a "little more Parisian" than Stereolab's.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Backing vocalist Mary Hansen formed a band named Schema with members of Hovercraft and released their eponymous EP in 2000.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Former keyboardist, Morgan Lhote, formed a band named Hologram Teen.<ref>Lyon, Judy. "Stereolab’s Morgane Lhote On Becoming Hologram Teen". torchedmagazine, 11 November 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2025</ref><ref>"Today's Top Tune Hologram Teen: ‘Connection transpacifique’". KCRW, 7 March 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2025</ref>

As of August 1999, US album sales stood at 300,000 copies sold.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Despite receiving critical acclaim and a sizeable fanbase, commercial success eluded the group.<ref name="Eliscu (2004)"/><ref name="Stevens (2003)">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Early in their career, their 1993 EP Jenny Ondioline entered the UK Singles Chart, but financial issues prevented the band from printing enough records to satisfy demand.<ref name="Stevens (2003)"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> According to Sadier, however, the band "[avoided] going overground" like PJ Harvey, Pulp and the Cranberries, all of whom quickly rose from obscurity to fame, adding: "This kind of notoriety is not a particularly good thing, [and] you don't enjoy it anymore."<ref name="McLean (2019)">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> When Elektra Records was closed down by Warner Bros. Records in 2004, Stereolab was dropped along with many other artists, reportedly because of poor sales.<ref name="Eliscu (2004)"/> Tim Gane said in retrospect that the group "signed to Elektra because we thought we would be on there for an album or two and then we'd get ejected. We were surprised when we got to our first album!"<ref name="McGonical" /> Since then, Stereolab's self-owned label Duophonic has inked a worldwide distribution deal with independent label Too Pure.<ref name="beggars.com"/> Through Duophonic, the band both licenses their music and releases it directly (depending on geographic market). Gane said, "... we license our recordings and just give them to people, then we don't have to ask for permission if we want to use it. We just want to be in control of our own music."<ref name="H2O (Chunklet: Tim Gane)"/>

MembersEdit

Current members

Former members

Timeline <timeline> ImageSize = width:790 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:120 bottom:80 top:10 right:15 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/08/1990 till:{{#time:d/m/Y}} TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1991 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1991

Colors = 

id:vocals    value:red         legend:Vocals
id:bvocals   value:pink        legend:Backing_vocals
id:brass     value:skyblue     legend:Brass
id:guitar    value:green       legend:Guitar
id:keys      value:purple      legend:Keyboards
id:bass      value:blue        legend:Bass
id:drums     value:orange      legend:Drums
id:studio    value:black       legend:Studio_album
id:bars      value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData = 

layer:back
 color:studio
  at:26/05/1992
  at:24/08/1993     
  at:02/08/1994
  at:18/03/1996
  at:22/09/1997
  at:21/09/1999
  at:28/08/2001
  at:27/01/2004
  at:18/08/2008
  at:16/11/2010
  at:23/05/2025

BarData = 

bar:Lætitia       text:"Lætitia Sadier"
bar:Gina          text:"Gina Morris"
bar:Mary          text:"Mary Hansen"
bar:JoeWal        text:"Joseph Walters"
bar:Tim           text:"Tim Gane"
bar:Mick          text:"Mick Conroy"
bar:Sean          text:"Sean O'Hagan"
bar:Katharine     text:"Katharine Gifford"
bar:Morgane       text:"Morgane Lhote"
bar:Dominic       text:"Dominic Jeffery"
bar:JoeWat        text:"Joseph Watson"
bar:Julien        text:"Julien Gasc"
bar:Martin        text:"Martin Kean"
bar:Duncan        text:"Duncan Brown"
bar:David         text:"David Pajo"
bar:Richard       text:"Richard Harrison"
bar:Simon         text:"Simon Johns"
bar:Xavier        text:"Xavier Muñoz Guimera"
bar:JoeD          text:"Joe Dilworth"
bar:Andy          text:"Andy Ramsay"

PlotData= 

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Lætitia     from:start      till:09/04/2009      color:vocals
bar:Lætitia     from:start      till:09/04/2009      color:guitar width:7
bar:Lætitia     from:start      till:09/04/2009      color:keys width:3
bar:Lætitia     from:20/02/2019      till:end      color:vocals
bar:Lætitia     from:20/02/2019      till:end      color:guitar width:7
bar:Lætitia     from:20/02/2019      till:end      color:keys width:3
bar:Tim     from:start      till:09/04/2009      color:guitar
bar:Tim     from:start      till:09/04/2009         color:keys width:3
bar:Tim     from:01/03/1998 till:21/09/1999 color:bass width:7
bar:Tim     from:20/02/2019      till:end      color:guitar
bar:Tim     from:20/02/2019      till:end      color:keys width:3

bar:Gina     from:01/06/1991 till:31/12/1991 color:bvocals
bar:Mary     from:01/07/1992      till:09/12/2002      color:vocals
bar:Mary     from:01/07/1992      till:09/12/2002      color:guitar width:3
bar:Mary     from:01/07/1992      till:09/12/2002      color:keys width:7

bar:Martin  from:start till:31/12/1992 color:bass
bar:Duncan  from:01/01/1993 till:01/06/1995 color:bass
bar:Duncan  from:01/01/1993 till:01/06/1995 color:bvocals width:3
bar:David   from:01/06/1995 till:31/12/1995 color:bass
bar:Richard from:01/01/1996 till:01/03/1998 color:bass
bar:Simon   from:21/09/1999 till:09/04/2009 color:bass
bar:Xavier  from:20/02/2019 till:end      color:bass
bar:Xavier  from:20/02/2019 till:end      color:bvocals width:3

bar:JoeD    from:start till:30/04/1992 color:drums
bar:Andy    from:01/06/1992 till:09/04/2009 color:drums
bar:Andy    from:20/02/2019      till:end      color:drums

bar:Mick    from:01/07/1992      till:31/12/1992      color:keys
bar:Sean    from:01/01/1993      till:01/07/1993      color:keys
bar:Sean    from:01/01/1993      till:01/07/1993      color:guitar width:3
bar:Katharine    from:01/07/1993      till:01/04/1995      color:keys
bar:Morgane from:01/06/1995 till:31/08/2000 color:keys
bar:Dominic from:01/06/2001 till:01/07/2007 color:keys
bar:JoeWat  from:01/03/2004 till:09/04/2009 color:keys
bar:JoeWat  from:01/03/2004 till:09/04/2009 color:bvocals width:3
bar:JoeWat  from:20/02/2019 till:end      color:keys
bar:JoeWat  from:20/02/2019 till:end      color:bvocals width:3
bar:Julien  from:01/09/2008 till: 09/04/2009 color:keys
bar:Julien  from:01/09/2008 till: 09/04/2009 color:bvocals width:3

bar:JoeWal from:01/03/2004 till:18/08/2008 color:brass
bar:JoeWal from:01/07/2007 till:18/08/2008 color:keys width:7
bar:JoeWal from:01/03/2004 till:18/08/2008 color:guitar width:3

</timeline>

DiscographyEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Studio albums

Compilation albums Stereolab released many non-LP tracks that they later anthologised as compilation albums.<ref name="Phares (AMG: Fab Four Suture)"/>

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

Book sourcesEdit

Chart dataEdit

|CitationClass=web }}

External linksEdit

Template:Sister project

Template:Stereolab Template:Lætitia Sadier Template:Featured article Template:Authority control

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