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===1993β2001: Sign to Elektra=== 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 ''[[The Washington Post|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>{{cite news | last=Jenkins, Mark | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-974533.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005061724/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-974533.html | archive-date=5 October 2007 | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | title=Acting on Pulse: Shimmery Stereolab | date=12 November 1993}}</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|alt=|thumb|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 (EP)|Ping Pong]]", which gained press coverage for its explicitly [[Marxism|Marxist]] lyrics.<ref name="DeRogatis (1994)">{{cite news | last=DeRogatis, Jim | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4241865.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103034452/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4241865.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | work=Chicago Sun-Times | publisher=Sun-Times News Group | title=Stereolab Stands Alone With Hypnotic Drone | date=7 August 1994}}</ref><ref name="Mason (AMG: Ping Pong)">{{cite web | last=Mason, Stewart | url={{AllMusic|class=song|id=t3599445|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Song Review (Ping Pong) | access-date=25 May 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Reynolds, Simon |author-link=Simon Reynolds |url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article_with_login.html?ArticleID=1030 |work=Melody Maker |title=Stereolab: Separation Terrorists |date=16 July 1994 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040054/http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article_with_login.html?ArticleID=1030 |archive-date=28 September 2007 }}</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>{{cite web | last=Phares, Heather | url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r204124|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Mars Audiac Quintet) | access-date=1 June 2007}}</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">{{cite web|last=McClintock|first=J. Scott|title=Sean O'Hagan|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sean-ohagan-mn0000839359/biography|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=25 December 2017|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114124/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sean-ohagan-mn0000839359/biography|url-status=live}}</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)">{{cite news | last=Reynolds, Simon | url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article_with_login.html?ArticleID=1018 | work=[[Artforum]] | title=Plasticine and Heard. (Interactive Exhibit) | date=1 May 1995 | access-date=26 May 2007 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114121/https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/stereolab-simple-minds/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Their second compilation of rarities, titled ''[[Refried Ectoplasm|Refried Ectoplasm (Switched On, Vol. 2)]]'', was released in July 1995. The band's fourth album, ''[[Emperor Tomato Ketchup (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>{{cite news | last=Moon, Tom | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-118466091.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103035102/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-118466091.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | work=[[Philadelphia Inquirer]]| publisher=Philly Online, LLC | title=Latest album from Stereolab continues high-tech tradition | date=20 April 2004}}</ref> The album incorporated their early krautrock sound with funk, hip-hop influences and experimental instrumental arrangements.<ref name=":0">{{cite web | last=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas | url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r233504|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Emperor Tomato Ketchup) | access-date=1 June 2007}}</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>{{cite web |last=Mason |first=Rachel |title=Stereolab's Morgane Lhote Talks Video Games, Daft Punk and New Project Hologram Teen |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rachel-mason/stereolabs-morgane-lhote-_b_10402066.html |website=Huffington Post |access-date=22 February 2019 |date=13 June 2016 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114118/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stereolabs-morgane-lhote-_b_10402066 |url-status=live }}</ref> Released in September 1997, ''[[Dots and Loops]]'' was their first album to enter the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200 charts]], peaking at number 111. The album leaned towards [[jazz]] with [[bossa nova]] and [[1960s in music|60's pop]] influences.<ref>{{cite web | last=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/dots-and-loops-mw0000026813 | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Dots and Loops) | access-date=12 August 2018 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114126/https://www.allmusic.com/album/dots-and-loops-mw0000026813 | url-status=live }}</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>{{cite magazine|last=Hoskyns, Barry|date=October 1997|title=Stereolab: Dots and Loops|magazine=Rolling Stone|url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article_with_login.html?ArticleID=1365|url-status=live|access-date=2 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114131/https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/stereolab-dots-and-loops-/|archive-date=12 January 2021}}</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>{{cite news | url=http://www.zeit.de/1997/44/19899 | work=Die Zeit | title=Review (Dots and Loops) | date=4 April 1997 | access-date=12 June 2007 | archive-date=16 October 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016073552/http://www.zeit.de/1997/44/19899 | url-status=live }}</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)">{{cite news|last=Cooper, Neil |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_19990523/ai_n13939563 |work=The Sunday Herald |title=Hold the front page ... Stereolab have learned a second chord |date=23 May 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016152910/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_19990523/ai_n13939563 |archive-date=16 October 2007 }}</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 (musician)|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">{{cite magazine|title=Stereolab: Emperor Tomato Ketchup / Dots and Loops / Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night|magazine=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]|issue=269|date=October 2019|last=Pattison|first=Louis|page=50}}</ref><ref name="exclaimcobra">{{cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/stereolab-cobra_and_phases_group_play_voltage_in_the_milky_night|title=Stereolab: Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night (Expanded and Remastered)|website=[[Exclaim!]]|date=12 September 2019|access-date=14 March 2020|last=Ranta|first=Alan}}</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>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/1392.htm |website=NME |title=Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night |access-date=11 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016080835/http://www.nme.com/reviews/1392.htm |archive-date=16 October 2007 }}</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)">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/11/05/stereolabs-latest-experiment/3750c74e-ee0b-4248-960e-0a11c52a81db/?noredirect=on|title=Stereolab's Latest Experiment|last=Jenkins, Mark|date=5 November 1999|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=28 December 2018|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114145/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/11/05/stereolabs-latest-experiment/3750c74e-ee0b-4248-960e-0a11c52a81db/?noredirect=on|url-status=live}}</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 Groupβ¦''.<ref name="Klein (2001)"/><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Walters, Barry |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/stereolab/albums/album/282736/review/5944773/sounddust |magazine=Rolling Stone |title=Sound-Dust |date=20 August 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016075146/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/stereolab/albums/album/282736/review/5944773/sounddust |archive-date=16 October 2007 }}</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)">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/08/29/what-the-bleep-stereolab-does-some-actual-tunes/f5ecba58-415b-4394-aac6-9ebf56f59e6e/|title=What the Bleep? Stereolab Does Some Actual Tunes|last=Klein, Joshua|date=29 August 2001|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=10 October 2019|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114142/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/08/29/what-the-bleep-stereolab-does-some-actual-tunes/f5ecba58-415b-4394-aac6-9ebf56f59e6e/|url-status=live}}</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>{{cite web | last=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas | url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r547823|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Sound-Dust) | access-date=1 June 2007}}</ref>
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