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Avg: 4.0 (194 ratings)
- Date Released: January 1, 1992
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Pop, Indie Rock
- Label: Too Pure
Futuristic retro music.
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We Say...
Stereolab were the first band to draw significantly from the hitherto untouchable Easy Listening and Exotica genres. But that wasn’t all. The band, fronted by Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier, also drew on Krautrock and French pop, flirted with post rock, left a mark on Britpop — and now find themselves inextricably bound up with post-punk. Both in terms of sound and aesthetics, it’s not hard to imagine Stereolab sharing a 1980 bill with Young Marble Giants and This Heat. Wearing YMG’s fascination for Easy-style melodies, (not to mention their wardrobe), and This Heat’s wilful experimentalism and political leanings, Stereolab created futuristic retro music. Their first three 45s, collected here, also owe a debt to Neu (the dronelike “Contact”) and The Velvet Underground (“Super-Electric” climaxes like Sister Ray arranged by Ray Conniff). But it’s the watery Moog sounds and fabulously distorted Farfisas bubbling under melancholy ‘ba-ba-ba’ vocals that provide the most distinctive flavours.
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They Say...
Switched On collects Stereolab's earliest singles, capturing the group's hypnotic, driving sound in its infancy. Though they're more guitar-driven and rock-oriented than the band's later work, tracks like "Super-Electric" and "Au Grand Jour" prove that Stereolab's basic style -- Krautrock lock-grooves, bubbling analog synths, fuzzed-out guitars, and angelic vocals -- arrived fully formed. "Doubt" and "Brittle" are among the group's most vibrant pop songs, while the eight-minute "Contact" is a warm-up for the epics the band would include on albums like Transient Random Noise-Bursts With Announcements. Reflective pieces like "The Way Will Be Opening" and "High Expectation" show off Laetitia Sadier's coolly sophisticated, Nico-meets-Francoise Hardy vocals, while "The Light That Will Cease to Fail" manages to be poppy, kinetic, and bittersweet all at once. Though the group would go on to make even more impressive albums, the newness of Stereolab's sound is palpable on Switched On, giving the songs an added vitality. Obviously, it's an impressive debut, but it's captivating in its own right.
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| 01. |  |
Super-Electric |
5:22 |
|
| 02. | |
Doubt |
3:26 |
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| 03. | |
Au Grand Jour' |
3:27 |
|
| 04. | |
Way Will Be Opening |
4:07 |
|
| 05. | |
Brittle |
3:47 |
|
| 06. | |
Contact |
8:17 |
|
| 07. | |
Au Grand Jour |
3:40 |
|
| 08. | |
High Expectation |
3:32 |
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| 09. | |
Light That Will Cease to Fail |
3:23 |
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| 10. | |
Changer |
4:54 |
|
10 Total Tracks, 43:55 Total Length
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Credits
- Stereolab - Main Performer // Joe Dilworth - Drums // Tim Gane - Organ // Tim Gane - Guitar // Tim Gane - Moog Synthesizer // Tim Gane - Farfisa Organ // Tim Gane - Moog Lead // Martin Kean - Bass // Gina Morris - Vocals // Gina Morris - Vocals (Background) // Laetitia Sadier - Group Member // Seaya Sadier - Vocals
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