Editing Dots and Loops

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name         = Dots and Loops
| type         = studio
| artist       = [[Stereolab]]
| cover        = Stereolabdotsandloops.png
| alt          = 
| released     = {{start date|1997|09|22|df=yes}}
| recorded     = March – April 1997
| studio       = *[[Idful Music Corporation|Idful]], Chicago, Illinois
*Academy of St. Martin in the Street, [[Düsseldorf]], Germany
| genre        = {{hlist|[[Art pop]]|[[experimental pop]]|[[post-rock]]|[[lounge music|lounge]]|[[easy listening]]}}
| length       = {{duration|m=65|s=52}}
| label        = {{hlist|[[Duophonic Records|Duophonic]]|[[Elektra Records|Elektra]]}}
| producer     = {{hlist|[[John McEntire]]|[[Andi Toma]]|Stereolab}}
| prev_title   = [[Fluorescences]]
| prev_year    = 1996
| next_title   = [[Miss Modular]]
| next_year    = 1997
|language      ={{flatlist|
*English
*French}}
| misc         = {{Singles
 | name        = Dots and Loops
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = [[Miss Modular]]
 | single1date = 1 September 1997
}}
}}

'''''Dots and Loops''''' is the fifth [[studio album]] by English-French [[rock music|rock]] band [[Stereolab]]. It was released on 22 September 1997 and was issued by [[Duophonic Records]] and [[Elektra Records]]. The band co-produced the album with [[John McEntire]] and [[Andi Toma]], and recording took place at their respective studios in [[Chicago]] and [[Düsseldorf]]. It was their first album to be recorded straight to [[Digital Audio Tape]] and produced with [[Pro Tools]]. The album explores [[jazz]] and [[electronic music|electronic]] sounds, and is influenced by [[bossa nova]] and [[1960s in music|1960s]] [[pop music]]. Its lyrics address matters such as [[consumerism]], the "[[spectacle (critical theory)|spectacle]]", [[materialism]], and human interaction.

''Dots and Loops'' reached number 19 on the [[UK Albums Chart]], as well as number 111 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] chart in the United States. The track "[[Miss Modular]]" was issued as a single and as an [[extended play|EP]], and peaked at number 60 on the [[UK Singles Chart]]. Several [[music journalism|music critic]]s have praised ''Dots and Loops'' for its blend of accessible music with [[Experimental music|experimental]] and [[avant-garde music|avant-garde]] sounds, and some have considered it to be one of the band's finest works. The album was reissued in 2019 with bonus material.

==Background and recording==
{{multiple image
| footer = ''Dots and Loops'' was co-produced by [[John McEntire]] (''left'') and [[Andi Toma]] (''right'')
| image2 = Andi toma 2010.jpg
| width2 = 145
| alt1 = 
| image1 = The_sea_and_cake_20121111-00806_(33439954560).jpg
| width1 = 129
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| align = left}}
Seven of the ten tracks on ''Dots and Loops'' were recorded by Stereolab in March 1997 at the [[Chicago]] studio Idful Music Corporation with [[John McEntire]], who also produced and [[audio mixing (recorded music)|mixed]] the tracks with the band.<ref name="booklet"/> The remaining three tracks – "The Flower Called Nowhere", "Prisoner of Mars", and "Contronatura" – were recorded the following month at Academy of St. Martin in the Street in [[Düsseldorf]], this time with co-production, co-mixing, and [[audio engineer|engineering]] duties overseen by Andi Toma.<ref name="booklet"/> Additional engineering was undertaken by Max Stamm and Toma's [[Mouse on Mars]] bandmate Jan St. Werner.<ref name="booklet"/> Stereolab recorded the song "I Feel the Air (Of Another Planet)" for the album, but it was not mixed in time for the mastering process and instead appeared on the band's 2000 [[extended play|EP]] ''[[The First of the Microbe Hunters]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/stereolab-share-rare-song-household-names-ahead-of-electrically-possessed-compilation-2872978|title=Stereolab share rare song 'Household Names' ahead of 'Electrically Possessed' compilation|website=[[NME]]|date=4 February 2021|access-date=13 February 2021|last=Jones|first=Damian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215124519/https://www.nme.com/news/music/stereolab-share-rare-song-household-names-ahead-of-electrically-possessed-compilation-2872978|archive-date=15 February 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ''Dots and Loops'' sessions marked the first time Stereolab recorded straight to [[Digital Audio Tape]], a process the band found enjoyable. McEntire also introduced the band to [[Pro Tools]]. "Digital audio recording seemed like a child's toy," said [[Tim Gane]]. "Making lots of little [[Loop (music)|loops]] of the bass, guitar and the drum parts, not having to play everything through from beginning to end, plopping things in where you wanted them and moving things around to see how it sounded. We loved it!"<ref name="expanded">{{cite AV media|title=Dots and Loops [Expanded Edition]|id=D-UHF-D17R|others=[[Stereolab]]|publisher=[[Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks]]|year=2019}}</ref>

Gane used an [[Electronic Music Studios|EMS]] [[Vocoder]] for much of the albums instruments, including matched up guitar and drum playing for a "boing-boing, bouncy rhythmic sound."<ref name="guitarplayer" /> He used a [[Studio Electronics]] ATC-1 analog synth module for a [[nylon strings|nylon string]] guitar, which gave it a "wibbly, wobbly, water sound."<ref name="guitarplayer" /> Gane also passed hi-hats through synthesizers and a [[noise gate]] which he routed to his guitar.<ref name="guitarplayer" /> The extra track "Bonus Beats" from the album's 2019 expanded edition also sees the band's drummer Andy Ramsay experimenting with a [[drum machine]].<ref name="expanded" />

The album's title references [[Norman McLaren]]'s 1940 animated short films ''Dots'' and ''Loops''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.factmag.com/2016/02/17/stereolab-guide-best-albums-songs/|title=The complete guide to Stereolab|website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]|date=17 February 2016|access-date=1 December 2020|last=Dale|first=Jon|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114256/https://www.factmag.com/2016/02/17/stereolab-guide-best-albums-songs/|archive-date=12 January 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Musical style==
According to [[AllMusic]] critic [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]], ''Dots and Loops'' is primarily influenced by [[bossa nova]] and [[1960s in music|1960s]] [[pop music]].<ref name="allmusic"/> [[Barney Hoskyns]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' found that the album continued Stereolab's progression towards a lighter sound that he termed "[[avant-garde music|avant]]-[[easy listening]]",<ref name="rs"/> while [[Michelle Goldberg]] of ''[[Metro Silicon Valley|Metro]]'' referred to it as the band's "[[lounge music|lounge]] apotheosis".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/09.16.99/stereolab-9937.html|title=Celestial Lo-Fi|newspaper=[[Metro Silicon Valley|Metro]]|date=16–22 September 1999|access-date=2 December 2020|last=Goldberg|first=Michelle|author-link=Michelle Goldberg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006230702/http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/09.16.99/stereolab-9937.html|archive-date=6 October 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Treble'' writer Jeff Terich noted the "more lush" quality of the music on ''Dots and Loops'' compared to Stereolab's previous work, characterising it as "gorgeously orchestrated" [[art pop]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.treblezine.com/a-beginners-guide-to-the-kaleidoscopic-music-of-stereolab/|title=A Beginner's Guide to the kaleidoscopic music of Stereolab|website=Treble|date=20 August 2019|access-date=9 June 2020|last=Terich|first=Jeff}}</ref>

Erlewine observed that Stereolab "concentrated on layered compositions" on ''Dots and Loops''.<ref name="allmusic"/> He described the band's interplay on the album as edging "closer to [[jazz]] than [[Rock music|rock]], exploring all of the possibilities of any melodic phrase."<ref name="allmusic"/> Alex Hudson of ''[[Exclaim!]]'' wrote that "if there's any [[krautrock]] to be found here, it's not the [[motorik]] pulse of [[Neu!]] but the freaky, [[Funk|funky]] jazz exploration of [[Can (band)|Can]]."<ref name="exclaimalexhudson">{{cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/an_essential_guide_to_stereolab|title=An Essential Guide to Stereolab|website=[[Exclaim!]]|date=23 September 2019|access-date=16 January 2021|last=Hudson|first=Alex|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122050337/https://exclaim.ca/music/article/an_essential_guide_to_stereolab|archive-date=22 January 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''{{'}}s Eric Harvey said that ''Dots and Loops'' exemplified the "recombinant pop" aesthetic that arose in the [[1990s in music|1990s]], which saw rock musicians embracing the "looped, [[sampling (music)|sampled]] and [[sound collage|collaged]]" production techniques of [[electronic music|electronic]] and [[hip hop music]].<ref name="pitchfork"/> ''[[The Village Voice]]'' writer Barry Walters describes the band's bassist Richard Harrison, as "tak[ing] a [[bebop]] approach to the band's bottom," and also with Ramsay "provid[ing] a live alternative to dance music's ubiquitous samples and programmed percussion."<ref name="barrywalters">{{cite journal |last=Walters |first=Barry |title=Stoopid curvy |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/232205841/7951747B366E4EC6PQ/51 |volume=42|issue=39|pages=65-66|via=ProQuest|date=30 September 1997|journal=[[The Village Voice]] |access-date=3 May 2025}}</ref> The album frequently makes use of {{music|time|5|4}} [[time signature]]s, including on the tracks "Diagonals", "Rainbo Conversation", and "Parsec".<ref name="pitchfork"/> Gane wrote much of the composition on ''Dots and Loops'', including horn arrangements on a guitar.<ref name="guitarplayer">{{cite journal |last1=Swenson |first1=Kyle |title=Stereolab's Tim Gane: Layering dots and loops |journal=[[Guitar Player]] |date=December 1997 |volume=31 |issue=12 |page=29|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/222393573/1BDDDEECCB7E4D0APQ|via=[[ProQuest]]}}</ref>

==Themes==
According to Sophie Kemp of ''[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]'', ''Dots and Loops'' is informed by Stereolab's "ideology" of "tackling both [[despotism]] and exploring the artistic boundaries of living by [[capitalism]]", with the album seeing the band's chief lyricist [[Lætitia Sadier]] commenting on "different fears about the world in every track".<ref name="vice">{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/stereolabs-dots-and-loops-is-the-jazziest-anti-capitalist-manifesto-20-years-on/|title=Stereolab's 'Dots and Loops' Is the Jazziest Anti-Capitalist Manifesto 20 Years On|website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|date=14 September 2017|access-date=28 January 2021|last=Kemp|first=Sophie|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111192048/https://www.vice.com/en/article/xwgzzq/stereolabs-dots-and-loops-is-the-jazziest-anti-capitalist-manifesto-20-years-on|archive-date=11 November 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Kemp found that these themes are complemented by the album's "sprightly spirit", interpreting the "serene" quality of the music as a "critique on the numbness of society and how the more comfortable we get with capitalism, the more jaded we become to pain and suffering."<ref name="vice"/>
{{Listen|filename=Miss modular.ogg
|title="Miss Modular"
|description=Sample of the track "Miss Modular", with its lyrics regarding the "[[Spectacle (critical theory)|Spectacle]]".|format=[[Ogg]]|}}
Eric Harvey suggested that the song "Brakhage" concerns both "[[consumerism|consumerist]] desire" and "the sheer amount of studio gadgets required to make the album itself."<ref name="pitchfork"/> Stewart Mason of AllMusic said that the lyrics of "[[Miss Modular]]" "sound influenced by the [[Situationist International|Situationist]] theory of the '[[spectacle (critical theory)|spectacle]]'".<ref name="allmusicmodular">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/miss-modular-mt0004086467|title=Miss Modular – Stereolab|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=16 January 2021|last=Mason|first=Stewart|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122011135/https://www.allmusic.com/song/miss-modular-mt0004086467|archive-date=22 January 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> "The Flower Called Nowhere" is about "harbor-bound boats never desiring to 'break free and sail'".<ref name="spin"/> "Diagonals" discusses "the [[materialism|materialistic]] escapism of the [[bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] European holiday."<ref name="pitchfork"/> "Rainbo Conversation" is about revolution beginning "in the bedroom", where "nothing is more political than the personal".<ref name="plug">{{cite web|url=http://www.bluecricket.com/plug/reviews/1998/stereolabdots.html|title=Stereolab – Dots and Loops|website=Plug|date=27 September 1998|access-date=31 May 2016|last=Parker|first=Doug|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208102740/http://www.bluecricket.com/plug/reviews/1998/stereolabdots.html|archive-date=8 February 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> "Refractions in the Plastic Pulse" regards "human interaction amid the spectacle".<ref name="pitchfork"/> "Contronatura" is "a dialogue between friends" which "calls for a quiet rebellion against nature [...] and our baser natures",<ref name="plug"/> and later shifts "to a political tract that captures the album's mystifying artificial/natural spirit in its final moments".<ref name="pitchfork"/>

==Composition==
''Dots and Loops'' opens with "Brakhage", which in its first seconds "sputter[s] to life like it's being tuned in from outer space on a vintage receiver", and is afterwards anchored by a two-chord keyboard line and "skittering drum and [[vibraphone]] loops".<ref name="pitchfork"/> "Miss Modular" is built on a two-chord pattern augmented by brass arranged by [[Sean O'Hagan]], and finds Tim Gane using the guitar "as a [[Percussion instrument|percussive]] element" to complement Andy Ramsay's drumming.<ref name="allmusicmodular"/> The following track, "The Flower Called Nowhere", is a "[[Waltz (music)|waltz]]" that "weds a [[John Barry (composer)|John Barry]] [[harpsichord]] riff with a cosmic [[middle of the road (music)|MOR]] melody."<ref name="rs"/><ref name="nme"/> Gane said that the song took inspiration from composer [[Krzysztof Komeda]] and incorporates a choral chant from Komeda's score for the 1967 film ''[[The Fearless Vampire Killers]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/stereolab-share-two-tracks-from-upcoming-dots-loops-reissue/|title=Stereolab share two tracks from upcoming 'Dots & Loops' reissue|website=[[BrooklynVegan]]|date=14 August 2019|access-date=16 January 2021|last=Pearis|first=Bill|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122104525/https://www.brooklynvegan.com/stereolab-share-two-tracks-from-upcoming-dots-loops-reissue/|archive-date=22 January 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> "Diagonals" pairs a [[marimba]] loop with a "mutant-funk jazz drum loop" sampled from [[Amon Düül II]]'s "I Can't Wait".<ref name="pitchfork"/> "Prisoner of Mars", the album's fifth track, has been described as "an [[Astrud Gilberto]]-style dreamy drift of a ditty which sporadically yanks up its swooshing skirt of sumptuous melody to reveal ultra-spartan [[techno]]-[[rhumba]] undercarriage."<ref name="nme"/>

"Refractions in the Plastic Pulse" is a four-part 17-minute track characterised as sharing a "common ground between [[Industrial dance music|IDM]], [[Calypso music|calypso]], and [[classical music|classical]]."<ref name="stereogum" /> It begins with "all murky vibes, flat [[Farfisa]] pads, bossa-nova guitar and [[Brian Wilson]] bass",<ref name="rs"/> then "mutat[es] into snarled-up [[space rock|space-rock]] and metallic [[jungle music|junglism]] – then back to its jaunty original refrain."<ref name="nme"/> "Parsec" is a "[[samba]]-flavored [[drum and bass|drum'n'bass]] track with a peaceful [[dub music|dub]] break."<ref name="spin"/> The ninth track, "Ticker-Tape of the Unconscious", opens with a sample of "Divino, Maravilhoso" by [[Gal Costa]] and "lays [[Trance music|trancey]] vibes and [[Brass instrument|brass]] over [[Stevie Wonder]] funk".<ref name="rs"/><ref name="pitchfork"/> Album closer "Contronatura" starts as "a chiming, intimate plaint through a thicket of massed, dank nature samples",<ref name="stereogum">{{cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/1963863/dots-and-loops-turns-20/reviews/the-anniversary/|title=Dots And Loops Turns 20|website=[[Stereogum]]|date=22 September 2017|access-date=20 January 2021|last=Cummings|first=Raymond}}</ref> and after "a two-minute interlude of organic squishiness",<ref name="plug"/> progresses into "a thumping, gelatinous march rhythm", marking the album's "most danceable" sequence.<ref name="pitchfork"/>

==Release==
{{Music ratings
| subtitle = Contemporary reviews
| rev1 = ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref name="chicagotribune">{{cite news|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-09-26/entertainment/9709260344_1_dots-and-loops-tortoise-keyboards|title=Stereolab: Dots and Loops (Elektra)|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=26 September 1997|accessdate=12 July 2016|archive-date=17 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817085726/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-09-26/entertainment/9709260344_1_dots-and-loops-tortoise-keyboards|last=Kot|first=Greg|authorlink=Greg Kot}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
| rev2score = A<ref name="ew">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.ew.com/article/1997/09/26/dots-and-loops|title=Dots and Loops|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=26 September 1997|access-date=31 May 2016|last=Sinclair|first=Tom|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106112656/https://www.ew.com/article/1997/09/26/dots-and-loops|archive-date=6 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[The Guardian]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|title=Stereolab: Dots and Loops (Duophonic)|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=26 September 1997|last=Sweeney|first=Kathy}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
| rev4score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref name="lat">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-27-ca-36542-story.html|title=Stereolab, 'Dots and Loops,' Elektra|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=27 September 1997|access-date=1 December 2020|last=Ali|first=Lorraine|author-link=Lorraine Ali|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222055336/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-27-ca-36542-story.html|archive-date=22 February 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[NME]]''
| rev5score = 8/10<ref name="nme">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000200reviews.html|title=Stereolab – Dots And Loops|magazine=[[NME]]|date=20 September 1997|access-date=31 May 2016|last=Dalton|first=Stephen|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817175721/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000200reviews.html|archive-date=17 August 2000|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[Orlando Sentinel]]''
| rev6score = {{rating|4|4}}<ref name="orlandosentinel">{{cite newspaper |last1=Gettelman |first1=Parry |title=Stereolab: [Metro Edition] |page=6|date=3 October 1997|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/279069978/7951747B366E4EC6PQ |via=ProQuest|newspaper=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |language=en}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev7score = 8.5/10 (1997)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/s/stereolab/dots-and-loops.shtml |title=Stereolab: Dots and Loops: Pitchfork Review |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |access-date=6 November 2023 |last=Wisdom |first=James P. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020802082237/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/s/stereolab/dots-and-loops.shtml |archive-date=2 August 2002 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev8score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="rs">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/stereolab/albums/album/123194/review/5943268/dots__loops|title=Stereolab: Dots & Loops|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=2 October 1997|access-date=31 May 2016|last=Hoskyns|first=Barney|author-link=Barney Hoskyns|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828023649/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/stereolab/albums/album/123194/review/5943268/dots__loops|archive-date=28 August 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''
| rev9score = 8/10<ref name="spin">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ogux2DAvNU0C&pg=PA144|title=Stereolab: Dots and Loops|magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|volume=13|issue=8|date=November 1997|access-date=31 May 2016|last=Sutton|first=Terri|page=144}}</ref>
| rev10 = ''[[The Village Voice]]''
| rev10score = B<ref name="vv">{{cite news|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv298-98.php|title=Consumer Guide|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|date=3 March 1998|access-date=31 May 2016|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914080458/https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv298-98.php|archive-date=14 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
''Dots and Loops'' was released on 22 September 1997 in the United Kingdom by [[Duophonic Records]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Stereo frolics|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=19 September 1997|last=O'Reilly|first=John}}</ref> peaking at number 19 on the [[UK Albums Chart]].<ref name="OCC"/> In the United States, it was released on 23 September 1997 by [[Elektra Records]],<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LhGxd6mX1UUC&pg=PA51|title=Upcoming Releases|magazine=[[CMJ New Music Report]]|volume=51|issue=10|date=8 September 1997|access-date=25 May 2020|page=51}}</ref> becoming Stereolab's first entry on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] chart, where it peaked at number 111;<ref name="Billboard200"/> by August 1999, it had sold over 75,000 copies in the country.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nggEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA100|title=Elektra Plugs Stereolab's 'Voltage'|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|volume=111|issue=35|date=28 August 1999|access-date=3 September 2018|last=Gidley|first=Lisa|page=100|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114242/https://books.google.com/books?id=nggEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA100|archive-date=12 January 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>

Prior to the album's release, "Miss Modular" was issued on 1 September 1997 as a single (on [[7-inch single|7" vinyl]]) and as an EP (on [[compact disc|CD]] and [[Phonograph record#Standard formats|12" vinyl]]),<ref>{{cite AV media|title=Miss Modular|url=https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/QDEAAOSw2sBgIC9W/s-l1600.jpg|access-date=8 May 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210505102545/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/QDEAAOSw2sBgIC9W/s-l1600.jpg|archive-date=5 May 2021|url-status=unfit|publisher=[[Duophonic Records]]|year=1997|type=press advertisement}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter=Stereolab|title=The Great Alternative & Indie Discography|last=Strong|first=Martin C.|author-link=Martin C. Strong|publisher=[[Canongate Books]]|year=1999|isbn=9-780862-419134|page=607}}</ref> reaching number 60 on the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/29702/stereolab/|title=Stereolab|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|access-date=25 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017141420/https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/29702/stereolab/|archive-date=17 October 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> The song's [[music video]] was directed and produced by Nick Abrahams and Mikey Tomkins.<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=Oscillons from the Anti-Sun|title-link=Oscillons from the Anti-Sun|others=[[Stereolab]]|publisher=[[Too Pure]]|year=2005|id=Pure 160CD|type=liner notes}}</ref> The track "Parsec" was later used in commercials for the then-newly launched [[Volkswagen New Beetle]].<ref name="plug" /> A [[remaster]]ed and expanded edition of ''Dots and Loops'', featuring a second disc containing [[Demo (music)|demos]] and [[instrumental]] mixes of the album's songs, was released on 13 September 2019 by Duophonic and [[Warp (record label)|Warp]] as part of Stereolab's back catalogue reissue campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://warp.net/updates/stereolab-reissues-ii|title=Part II Expanded & Remastered Album Reissues|publisher=[[Warp (record label)|Warp]]|access-date=25 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129130815/https://warp.net/updates/stereolab-reissues-ii|archive-date=29 January 2021|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/stereolab/stereolab-reissues-review/|title=Stereolab Go Back to the Lab on Emperor Tomato Ketchup, Dots and Loops and Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night Expanded Editions|website=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]|date=27 September 2019|access-date=23 January 2021|last=Reyes-Kulkarni|first=Saby|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129093440/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/stereolab/stereolab-reissues-review/|archive-date=29 January 2021|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/dots-and-loops-expanded-edition-mr0005092921|title=Dots and Loops [Expanded Edition] – Stereolab|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=23 January 2021|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131025057/https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/dots-and-loops-expanded-edition-mr0005092921|archive-date=31 January 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Critical reception===
Reviewing ''Dots and Loops'' in 1997, ''[[The Guardian]]''{{'}}s Kathy Sweeney considered the album a successful move towards a more accessible and "pop-conscious" sound, with Stereolab's "[[avant-garde]] tendencies and [[Atonality|atonal]] [[Drone (music)|drone]] of old supplanted by breezy harmonies and, wait for it, tunes."<ref name="guardian"/> Tom Sinclair of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' said that it "finds them at the top of their game, successfully brokering the seeming shotgun marriage of easy listening and acute intellect."<ref name="ew"/> ''[[NME]]'' writer Stephen Dalton stated that the band "have never sounded so comfortable in a pop setting than on ''Dots and Loops''", which he deemed "both more accessible and more adventurous" than their previous album ''[[Emperor Tomato Ketchup (album)|Emperor Tomato Ketchup]]''.<ref name="nme"/> Parry Gettelman of  ''[[Orlando Sentinel]]'' wrote that with the album, "The group sometimes sounds as ethereal as [[Angelo Badalamenti]], while other times it seems to strive to become the perfect fusion of [[Michel Legrand]] and [[Les Baxter]]."<ref name="orlandosentinel" /> He also praised Sadier's vocals for having an "old-fashioned gentleness and a relaxed quality reminiscent of Brazilian samba singers."<ref name="orlandosentinel" /> Terri Sutton of ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' praised the music as Stereolab's "most audacious" to date,<ref name="spin"/> and ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' critic [[Lorraine Ali]] commented that the band "continues to revitalize [[Muzak]] for the '90s."<ref name="lat"/> In ''[[The Village Voice]]'', [[Robert Christgau]] was more critical, finding that "the tunes fall off and the wacky smarts lose the charm of surprise."<ref name="vv"/> At the end of 1997, ''Dots and Loops'' was named among the best albums of the year by several publications, including ''[[Melody Maker]]'',<ref>{{cite magazine|title=MM Albums of the Year 1997|magazine=[[Melody Maker]]|date=20–27 December 1997|pages=66–67}}</ref> ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'',<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Mojo Selects the Best CDs of 1997|magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|issue=50|date=January 1998|pages=64–65}}</ref> ''NME'',<ref>{{cite magazine|title=1997 Critics' Poll|magazine=[[NME]]|date=20–27 December 1997|pages=78–79}}</ref> and ''[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/issues/charts/1997-rewind|title=1997 Rewind|magazine=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]|issue=167|date=January 1998|access-date=24 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803141533/https://www.thewire.co.uk/issues/charts/1997-rewind|archive-date=3 August 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> It also placed at number 28 in ''The Village Voice''{{'}}s [[Pazz & Jop]] critics' poll.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres97.php|title=The 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|date=24 February 1998|access-date=24 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030202520/https://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres97.php|archive-date=30 October 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Legacy==
{{Album ratings
| subtitle = Retrospective reviews
| align = left
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/dots-and-loops-mw0000026813|title=Dots and Loops – Stereolab|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=31 May 2016|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114126/https://www.allmusic.com/album/dots-and-loops-mw0000026813|archive-date=12 January 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]''
| rev2score = 8.8/10<ref>{{cite web |last1=Reyes-Kulkarni |first1=Saby |title=Stereolab Go Back to the Lab on Emperor Tomato Ketchup, Dots and Loops and Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night Expanded Editions |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/stereolab/stereolab-reissues-review |website=[[Paste Magazine|Paste]] |access-date=2 May 2025 |date=27 September 2019}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev3score = 9.2/10 (2017)<ref name="pitchfork">{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/stereolab-dots-and-loops/|title=Stereolab: Dots and Loops|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|date=23 July 2017|access-date=25 July 2017|last=Harvey|first=Eric|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114118/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/stereolab-dots-and-loops/|archive-date=12 January 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]''
| rev4score = 8/10<ref name="uncut">{{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>
}}
Sam Walton of ''[[Loud and Quiet]]'' wrote, "As [[Britpop]] dwindled, [''Dots and Loops''] offered teenagers who had cut their teeth on [[Blur (band)|Blur]] v [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]], now a couple of years older and more curious, an accessible British-based shortcut into a world of collage, crate-digging and electronica beyond the walls of [[Beatles]]/[[The Rolling Stones|Stones]] rock-music hegemony."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Walton |first1=Sam |title=How Stereolab's 'Dots And Loops' arrived at a turning point both for the band and British music in general |url=https://www.loudandquiet.com/short/stereolabs-dots-loops-arrived-turning-point-band-british-music-general/ |website=Loud And Quiet |access-date=4 May 2025}}</ref> In his retrospective review of the album for ''Pitchfork'', Eric Harvey praised ''Dots and Loops'' as Stereolab's "peak", finding them "embracing the bleeding edge of digital studio technology" and creating "a work both of its moment and [...] that seems to hover outside everything else." He also considered it to be one of the first albums produced with a [[digital audio workstation]].<ref name="pitchfork"/> Louis Pattison of ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]'' described it as being "a touch less immediate" than ''Emperor Tomato Ketchup'', remarking on its "laid-back and loungier" mood, while noting that it captured Stereolab in their "[[imperial phase]]".<ref name="uncut"/> Bill Pearis of ''[[BrooklynVegan]]'' also credited [[Sean O'Hagan]]'s string and brass arrangements in ''Dots and Loops as'' "a big part of the album's appeal."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pearis |first=Bill |title=Stereolab's masterwork 'Dots and Loops' turns 25 |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/stereolabs-masterwork-dots-and-loops-turns-25/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=BrooklynVegan |language=en-US}}</ref> ''Exclaim!''{{'}}s I. Khider cited ''Dots and Loops'' as a "definitive" [[post-rock]] recording.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/minimalism|title=Minimalism|website=[[Exclaim!]]|date=1 March 2002|access-date=2 June 2020|last=Khider|first=I.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024133746/https://exclaim.ca/music/article/minimalism|archive-date=24 October 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Writing for the same magazine, Alex Hudson commended the band for "deliver[ing] some of their most accessible pop without sacrificing any of their [[Experimental music|experimental]] impulses."<ref name="exclaimalexhudson"/> In ''Vice'', Sophie Kemp called ''Dots and Loops'' "a major milestone in the world of [[experimental pop]], and within Stereolab's expansive discography", deeming it the band's "most sonically accessible and politically important record."<ref name="vice"/>
{{clear left}}

==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| all_writing = [[Tim Gane]] and [[Lætitia Sadier]], except where noted
| title1 = Brakhage
| length1 = 5:30
| title2 = [[Miss Modular]]
| length2 = 4:29
| title3 = The Flower Called Nowhere
| length3 = 4:55
| title4 = Diagonals
| length4 = 5:15
| title5 = Prisoner of Mars
| length5 = 4:03
| title6 = Rainbo Conversation
| length6 = 4:46
| title7 = Refractions in the Plastic Pulse
| writer7 = {{hlist|Gane|Sadier|Andy Ramsay}}
| length7 = 17:32
| title8 = Parsec
| length8 = 5:34
| title9 = Ticker-Tape of the Unconscious
| length9 = 4:45
| title10 = Contronatura
| length10 = 9:03
| total_length = 65:52
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Japanese edition bonus track
| title11 = Off-On
| length11 = 5:25
| total_length = 71:17
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = 2019 expanded edition bonus disc<ref>{{cite web|url=https://duophonic.ochre.store/release/134547-stereolab-dots-and-loops-expanded-edition|title=Stereolab – Dots And Loops (Expanded Edition)|publisher=[[Duophonic Records|Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks]]|access-date=21 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218233744/https://duophonic.ochre.store/release/134547-stereolab-dots-and-loops-expanded-edition|archive-date=18 February 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>
| title1 = Diagonals (Bode Drums)
| length1 = 2:22
| title2 = Contranatura Pt. 2
| note2 = instrumental
| length2 = 3:18
| title3 = Brakhage
| note3 = instrumental
| length3 = 4:09
| title4 = The Flower Called Nowhere
| note4 = instrumental
| length4 = 4:37
| title5 = Bonus Beats
| writer5 = Ramsay
| length5 = 3:28
| title6 = Diagonals
| note6 = instrumental
| length6 = 5:43
| title7 = Contranatura
| note7 = demo
| length7 = 2:08
| title8 = Allures
| note8 = demo
| length8 = 1:06
| title9 = Refractions in the Plastic Pulse
| note9 = demo
| writer9 = {{hlist|Gane|Sadier|Ramsay}}
| length9 = 2:25
| title10 = I Feel the Air
| note10 = demo
| length10 = 2:28
| title11 = Off On
| note11 = demo
| length11 = 1:16
| title12 = Incredible He Woman
| note12 = demo
| length12 = 1:44
| title13 = Miss Modular
| note13 = demo
| length13 = 1:42
| title14 = Untitled in Dusseldorf
| note14 = demo
| length14 = 1:30
| total_length = 37:56
}}

==Personnel==
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.<ref name="booklet">{{cite AV media notes|title=Dots and Loops|others=[[Stereolab]]|publisher=[[Duophonic Records]]|year=1997|id=D-UHF-CD17|type=liner notes}}</ref>

'''Stereolab'''
* [[Tim Gane]], [[Lætitia Sadier]], [[Mary Hansen]], Richard Harrison, Morgane Lhote, and Andy Ramsay – vocals, [[Farfisa organ]], [[analog synthesizer|analogue synthesizer]]s "and other electronic devices (for sound generating and [[audio filter|filtering]])", [[Rhodes piano]], piano, [[clavinet]], electric guitar, nylon string acoustic guitar, bass, drums, percussion, [[drum machine]]s ("beatbox" and "electronic percussion")

'''Additional musicians'''
{{div col}}
* [[John McEntire]] – analogue synthesizer, electronics, percussion, [[vibraphone]], [[marimba]] (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6–9)
* [[Sean O'Hagan]] – piano, Rhodes piano, Farfisa organ (1, 2, 4, 6–9), brass [[arrangement]]s, string arrangements
* [[Doug McCombs|Douglas McCombs]] – acoustic bass (1)
* Jan St. Werner – electronics, "insect horns" (3, 5, 10)
* Andi Toma – electronics, electronic percussion (3, 5, 10)
* Xavier "Fischfinger" Fischer – piano (3)
* [[Jeb Bishop]], Dave Max Crawford, Paul Mertens, and Ross Reed – brass section
* Andy Robinson – brass arrangements
* Poppy Branders, Maureen Loughnane, Rebecca McFaul, and Shelley Weiss – string section
* Marcus Holdaway – string arrangements
{{div col end}}

'''Production'''
{{div col}}
* Stereolab (credited as "The Groop") – [[record producer|production]], [[audio mixing (recorded music)|mixing]]
* John McEntire – production, [[sound recording and reproduction|recording]], mixing (1, 2, 4, 6–9 at Idful Music Corporation, [[Chicago]])
* Nick Webb – [[mastering (audio)|mastering]] ([[Abbey Road Studios]], London)
* Andi Toma – production, recording, mixing (3, 5, 10 at Academy of St. Martin in the Street, [[Düsseldorf]])
* Jan St. Werner – electronics [[audio engineer|engineering]] (3, 5, 10)
* Max Stamm – additional engineering (3, 5, 10)
{{div col end}}

==Charts==
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
!scope="col"| Chart (1997)
!scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{Album chart|Norway|38|artist=Stereolab|album=Dots and Loops|access-date=18 July 2018|rowheader=true}}
|-
{{Album chart|Scotland|41|date=19970928|access-date=18 July 2018|rowheader=true}}
|-
{{Album chart|UK2|19|date=19970928|access-date=8 November 2017|rowheader=true|refname="OCC"}}
|-
!scope="row"| [[UK Independent Singles and Albums Charts|UK Independent Albums]] ([[Official Charts Company|OCC]])<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1997/Music-Week-1997-10-11.pdf|title=Independent Albums|magazine=[[Music Week]]|date=11 October 1997|access-date=23 June 2021|page=20}}</ref>
| 5
|-
{{Album chart|Billboard200|111|artist=Stereolab|access-date=8 November 2017|rowheader=true|refname="Billboard200"}}
|-
{{Album chart|BillboardHeatseekers|2|artist=Stereolab|access-date=8 November 2017|rowheader=true}}
|}
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
!scope="col"| Chart (2019)
!scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{Album chart|Scotland|34|date=20190920|access-date=26 June 2021|rowheader=true|refname="OCCScotland2"}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190532/http://www.stereolab.co.uk/discography/?no=77 ''Dots and Loops''] at official Stereolab website
* {{Discogs master|30682|Dots and Loops}}
* {{MusicBrainz release group|mbid=dcc1e5d0-c35f-3e4a-b0d2-b53b23eb906f|name=Dots and Loops}}

{{Stereolab}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1997 albums]]
[[Category:Stereolab albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by John McEntire]]
[[Category:Elektra Records albums]]