Stereolab have announced they are reissuing their Switched On compilation albums. All three collections—1992’s Switched On, 1995’s Refried Ectoplasm Switched On Volume 2, and 1998’s. Aluminum Tunes Switched On Volume 3.—have been remastered and will be released on vinyl and CD, with the LP editions to be pressed on clear vinyl.
Beginning with their 1993 EP Space Age Batchelor Pad Music, the band began to incorporate easy-listening elements into their sound. This release raised Stereolab's profile and landed them a major-label American record deal with Elektra Records. Their next album, 1993's Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements, was their first American release under Elektra, and became an underground hit in both the U.S. On 8 January 1994, Stereolab achieved their first chart entry when their 1993 EP Jenny Ondioline entered at #75 on the UK Singles Chart.With their 1994 full-length, Mars Audiac Quintet, Stereolab focused more on pop and less on rock, the album makes heavy use of vintage electronic instruments, and also contains the single 'Ping Pong', which gained press coverage for its allegedly explicitly Marxist lyrics. After releasing a 1995 collection of singles and B-sides called Refried Ectoplasm: Switched On, Vol.
Becker traffic assist 7927 software. Stereolab's 1996 album, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, was a critical success and was played heavily on college radio. A record that 'captivated alternative rock', it represented Stereolab's 'high-water mark'. Krautrock techniques were still present, but the band stirred the pot with hip-hop sounds and complex instrumental arrangements.
John McEntire (Tortoise) assisted with production and also played on Emperor Tomato Ketchup, while Katharine Gifford was replaced by Morgane Lhote before its recording, and bassist Duncan Brown by Richard Harrison afterward.Dots and Loops was released in 1997, and was Stereolab's first album to enter the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at #111. Stereolab transformed the harder Velvet Underground-like riffs of previous releases into 'softer sounds and noisy playfulness'. Contributors to the album once again included John McEntire, along with Sean O'Hagan of The High Llamas and Jan St.
Werner of German electropop duo Mouse on Mars. A Nurse With Wound collaboration, Simple Headphone Mind, appeared in 1997, and the third release in the 'Switched On' series, Aluminum Tunes, followed in 1998.The band then took a break from traveling while Gane and Sadier had a child. In 1999, Stereolab's next album appeared, titled Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night. Co-produced by McEntire and American producer Jim O'Rourke, the album earned mixed reviews for its lighter sound, and peaked at #154 on the Billboard 200. The full-length Sound-Dust followed in 2001, and rose to #178 on the Billboard 200.
Again featuring producers McEntire and O'Rourke, it was more warmly received than the previous album with the emphasis less on unfocused experimentation and more on melody.In 2002, Stereolab began to plan their next album, and started building a studio north of Bordeaux, France. In October 2002, the band released ABC Music: The Radio 1 Sessions; a compilation of BBC Radio 1 sessions. The year also saw Gane and Sadier end their romantic relationship. On 9 December 2002, longstanding band member Mary Hansen was killed when struck by a truck while riding her bicycle. Born in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia, Hansen earned the most attention for her vocal work with Stereolab, although she also played the guitar and keyboards.
For the next few months, Stereolab lay dormant as the members grieved. They eventually decided to continue; as Sadier explained in a 2004 interview: 'Losing Mary is still incredibly painful. But it's also an opportunity to transform and move on. It's a new version.
We've always had new versions, people coming in and out. That's life.' (flac 408mb)01 Brakhage 5:3002 Miss Modular 4:2803 The Flower Called Nowhere 4:5304 Diagonals 5:1305 Prisoner Of Mars 4:0306 Rainbo Conversation 4:4507 Refractions In The Plastic Pulse 17:3008 Parsec 5:3409 Ticker-Tape Of The Unconscious 4:4510 Contronatura 9:04(ogg 152mb)xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxxStereolab's Switched On series is ingenious, one of the best services a band has performed for its fans. Since their inception, Stereolab have made it a practice to release non-LP singles, tour 7's, split singles, special-edition EPs - recordings that were available in small quantities for a limited time. In every case, the limited-edition recordings become very valuable very quickly, often reaching ridiculously exorbitant prices that most fans could never afford. That's where the Switched On series comes in. It's where the group gathers the best of these rarities, leaving a couple of tracks on the original single for the sake of collectibility.
Stereolab may do certain projects as a lark, but they rarely throw away tracks, as each EP and most singles have their own identity, offering a new spin on the group's trademark style. Given that Aluminum Tunes: Switched On, Vol. 3 spans two discs, it might seem that the compilation will only be of interest to diehards, but it rivals Refried Ectoplasm: Switched On, Vol. 2 in terms of creativity and consistency. Aluminum Tunes is distinguished by the first wide release of the entire sublime easy listening EP Music for the Amorphous Body Center, which would be enough to make the compilation essential for all fans, but it also has such minor masterpieces as their swinging duet with Herbie Mann on Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'One Note Samba,' Wagon Christ's remix of 'Metronomic Underground,' the horn-spiked 'Percolations,' and 'You Used to Call Me Sadness.' There may be a couple of tracks that never rise above the level of good but predictable Stereolab, but the best moments rank among their very best work.
Quite simply an essential addition to their catalog. Anonymoussaid.Thanks for posting so much Stereolab stuff! I had all their Elektra albums (easier to find in my small town) but some of the material from the smaller labels is totally new to me. Definitely glad to hear Switched On and Aluminum Tunes since they're full of rare singles and things. I was curious, do you have Refried Ectoplasm (Switched On Volume Two) and, if so, would you be able to post that one as well? That seems to be the missing link with the rest of their 90s singles oriented stuff.
Mere words cannot adequately describe how I treasure this record: wherein every song is a densely and intricately constructed whole unto itself and still the whole far transcends the sum of its coruscating parts. Best to describe my relationship with this record as a collection of associations and fragments: falling in love and a coffee buzz: Diagonals: angular grooves; driving at night: Contronatura: dark, effervescent pulses; holidaying in mountains at Easter: Brakhage and Parsec: shambolic cadences; above all, the company of loved friends.