Reviews/Views
| Refried Ectoplasm | Mars Audiac Quintet | Emporer Tomato Ketchup |
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REFRIED ECTOPLASM Stereolab are the kind of band that are constantly interesting and can be great but not everything they do really works. They have what could be described as an incredibly unique low-fi popy sound -using the moog to great effect-, but they can have such a varied sound it can be difficult to pin this anglo-french band down. I suppose if you wanted to put them into any kind of genre I would have to make a leap at lo-fi-indy-electro-disco, i hope that makes it clearer. The lead singer Laetitia Sadier sings in french for most of the songs but that never matters and her voice sounds great anyway. It makes for a really unique sound. Refried Ectoplasm is the first album to be released from a collection of some of the rarer tacks from early phase of stereolab. It's packed with limited edition 7"s and rare compilations. Though for a compilation this album does have some weak songs, this is not really intended as a best of album. Despite this the album holds together quite well and as an introduction to stereolab it's not a bad place to start. The album varies from low-fi pulsating beat in opening track Harmonium, but then the next song is gentle moog organ and guitar based, indy track. The two best songs on this album is without doubt French Disko and John Cage Bubblegum -this was first released as a very limited edition single, hand made packaging with individual bits of bubblegum attached. This is probably the most guitar based song on the album. French Disko is an excellent track that was suprisingly a dancefloor hit when released as a single. A particular favorite of mine though is Exploding Head Movie, an upbeat dancy kinda song. Stereolab are not at all afraid of experimenting with their music either resulting in varying effect. On this album the most experimental tracks are Tone Burst (country) and Animal or Vegetable (A Wonderful Wooden Reason). Tone Burst is a quirky attempt at country music stereolab style and, though it does sound a bit silly and doesn't really work it isn't that bad. Animal or Vegetable is incredibly long at 13.32 minutes, and never seems to really take off as a song. It starts off with very low quiet singing and then a drum beat comes in with some quiet guitar and organ sounds played underneath. To try somthing new however, can only be a good thing even if it doesn't come off as when it does it, which is frequently with a band such as this, it can be very good. This possibly is not the most accessible of stereolabs albums. They now have fourteen albums now though. Of these, albums which could be better for a first taste of stereolab I would say Mars Audio Quintet as one of their earlier albums or the slightly more recent Emporer Tomato Ketchup, which is arguably their best. Refried Ectoplasm gives you a broad example of what much of the stereolab sound is about however. This was my first sterelab album though and it remains my favourite, but all the stereolab albums are excellant and well worth a listen sometime.� |
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MARS AUDIAC QUINTET EMPORER TOMATO KETCHUP (i may eventually write something hear but not just yet) | |
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