Stereolab

Stereolab evolved through multiple phases and eras to become one of the most innovative, idiosyncratic bands of the '90s. British guitarist/keyboardist Tim Gane had been a member of the band McCarthy, but when they split up in 1990 he formed Stereolab with French singer Laetitia Sadier (who would soon add guitar and keys to her own arsenal) and bassist Martin Kean, formerly of The Chills. By the time they released their first album, Peng!, in 1992, Joe Dilworth was behind the drum kit. The band's initial sound was a drone-oriented brand of alt rock that seemed equally influenced by The Velvet Underground and the motorik krautrock drive of Neu!, with Sadier's leftist lyrics adding a pleasingly unexpected element to the mix. Many members moved through the band over the years, but the arrival of guitarist Mary Hansen and multi-instrumentalist Sean O'Hagan on 1993's Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements was significant, and by 1994's Mars Audiac Quintet their presence helped shift Stereolab towards a more keyboard-oriented sound influenced by '60s pop and easy listening/Space Age Bachelor Pad music. It was around this time that the band became part of the front line of what would be known as the post-rock movement. 1996's Emperor Tomato Ketchup fused these influences with increasingly innovative production aided by O'Hagan's string arrangements and co-production from Tortoise's John McEntire (who also contributes instrumentally). It was the first album to attract a wider audience in America, but 1997's Dots and Loops marked the first time actually made onto the lower rungs of the U.S. album charts. 1999's Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night was the band's magnum opus, an ambitious batch of songs that presented Stereolab at its most sophisticated and eclectic. Jim O'Rourke (Gastr del Sol/Sonic Youth) helped stir the pot with his arrangements, production, and playing. Over the next few albums, the band continued to refine and perfect their sound, soldiering on through Hansen's unexpected 2002 death in a bicycling accident. But Stereolab hung it up in 2009, with most of the members going on to their own projects. In 2018, Tim Gane began an extended Stereolab vinyl reissue series on his own Duophonic label, and the band announced that they would be playing live on the European and American festival circuit in 2019, although no new recordings were planned.