Forty Minutes Of Stereolab

Stereolab's new album Instant Holograms On Metal Film is an unexpected joy, their first for fifteen years and containing song titles that could have been created by a Stereolab song title generator bot- Mystical Plosives, Transmuted Matter, Vermona F Transistor, Melodie Is A Wound... The music though and the energy the songs contain make the band sound like they've been fired up after touring to support a series of re- issues and have a lot to do and say. 

The album kicks from the outset, the familiar Stereolab elements all present and correct- motorik drums, analogue synths, Moogs being very Moog, guitars and Laetitia Sadier's flat but engaged vocals, an amalgam of krautrock, ye- ye, easy listening, bossa nova and jazz, library and sound effects albums, with a healthy dose of Marxist politics. They sound like they did in the 90s but also sound like now, updated and refined. The songs fly by, some short, some six or seven minutes long, a rush of retro- futuristic avant- pop. Aerial Troubles catches the mood of the album perfectly, both sonically and visually. 

Sadier said in an interview that the album is inherently political even if the lyrics aren't directly political- by creating and by being positive they're countering the relentless negativity in the world, the poison of Trump and Farage, the mass murder taking place in Gaza, a Labour government taking benefits from the disabled and attacking the vulnerable (the list is mine not her's but I'm sure she was thinking of those things and others).

Forty Minutes Of Stereolab

• Space Age Bachelor Pad Music (Foamy)
• Jenny Ondioline (7" Tour Version)
• The Noise Of Carpet
• Lo Boob Oscillator
• Orgisatic
• Ping Pong
• Les Yper Yper Sound
• The Free Design
• Iron Man
• Melodie Is A Wound

Space Age Bachelor Pad Music (Foamy) is from the 1993 mini- album of the same name, released on Too Pure and a calling card for the groop- Tim Gane, Laetitia Sadier, Mary Hanson, and Sean O'Hagan. 

Jenny Ondioline was the lead song on a 10" EP from 1993, Transient Random Noise- Bursts With Announcements, a rush of guitars and noise. The version here is from the three CD box set Oscillons From The Anti- Sun. In 1993 they appeared on The Word playing French Disko, a song from the same EP. Stereolab made the absolute most of a bit of a cultural mismatch, a song that ends with the rallying cry of 'la resistance!'

The Noise Of Carpet is from the band's 1996 album Emperor Tomato Ketchup, possibly their best album- complex, multi- layered, vibrant, obtuse. It's a 90s banger. 

Lo Boob Oscillator was originally one side of a 7" single from 1993 that came out on Sub Pop. It was then compiled onto Refried Ectoplasm. Gotta dig those album names. 

Orgisatic is from Peng!, a 1992 album, a rattle of guitars that indicate Tim Gane's indie background - noise and distortion and sing song vox. My Bloody Stereolab. 

Ping Pong was the lead single to their third proper album, Mars Audiac Quintet. The lyrics are critique of the west's addiction to boom- bust economics with vintage synths and brass leading the way, all very melodic and 60s pop. 

Les Yper Yper Sound is also from the box set Oscillons From The Anti- Sun, a stunning, hypnotic five minutes of thumping drums and distorted synths sounds. 

The Free Design came out in 1999, a bossa nova/ tropicalia song from an EP of the same name and then on the album Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night.

Iron Man was a 1997 7" on their own Duophonic label and sold at the merch stand on the Dots And Loops tour. 

Melodie Is A Wound is from the new album Instant Holograms On Metal Film. Which is highly recommended.