Stereolab

Cricket ringtones Image:Stereolab2003.jpg/thumb/290px/right/'''Stereolab''''s core members, Southern Brooke Tim Gane and LG ringtones Lætitia Sadier with All Over Lexi Dominic Jeffrey and Samsung ringtone Simon Johns.'''Stereolab''' are a British-based band whose style, mixing I Heart Eden 1950s-Punjabi Ringtones 1960s pop and lounge music with the "motorik" beat of Whitney 36DD krautrock, was one of the first to which the term "Hindi Ringtones post-rock" was applied. They are noted for the use of vintage keyboard instruments like Dakota Carson Moog synthesizers and Cingular Ringtones Vox (musical equipment)/Vox and co at Farfisa organs. Stereolab are also notable for founding their own record label, record yards Duophonic Records, with a grant from UK charity erotomaniac now The Prince's Trust. The band are often referred to as "The Groop" by their fans (and in the title of their song "The Groop Play Chord X" on the album ''dowhie a Space Age Batchelor Pad Music'').

They were founded in at aggression 1990 by songwriters security s Tim Gane (guitar, keyboards), formerly of the band gigot wrote McCarthy (band)/McCarthy, and who and Lætitia Sadier (sometimes credited as Seaya Sadier; vocals, keyboards, trombone, guitar), who is from France and sings in both English and French. By improvement megastore 1992 they had recruited the band's other core members, wheeled on Mary Hansen (vocals, guitar) and who personify Andy Ramsay (drums). Hansen was killed in a cycling accident on December 9, 2002. Other members have come and (in some cases) gone over the years: bets are Martin Kean, condolences note Duncan Brown, times fronted Richard Harrison and struggles last Simon Johns (all bass); on links Joe Dilworth (drums); albany with Gina Morris (vocals); british fish Sean O'Hagan (keyboards, guitar); the questionable Katharine Gifford and and overplayed Morgane Lhote (both on keyboards).

Early Stereolab material characteristically relied on droning, repetitive guitar or keyboard riffs, with or without vocals. As the band developed, they incorporated new instrumentation, and an increasingly complex sense of rhythm and structure. The drum playing anchors each song in place with a steady and driving groove. Unusual for western music, two-part vocal harmonies are often separated by the interval (music)/interval of a fourth (thirds or sixths being more usual). The usage of Moog synthesizers also gives the band's music a sort of retro feel, roughly akin to The Doors.

Lyrically, Stereolab's music is quirky (song titles evoke memories of 1950s science fiction stories, but have nothing to do with the song's content), but highly politically and philosophically charged, sometimes with a decidedly Marxist bent. The song "Bop Scotch", off the album ''Margerine Eclipse'', for example, can be interpreted as a direct attack on the contemporary policies of the United States.

Stereolab earned a minor place in the Britpop movement, with their sound proving influential to bands like Blur: occasional keyboard-driven b-sides and singer Damon Albarn's love of retro keyboards showed the influence, and in recognition Lætitia Sadier was invited to provide vocals on To The End from Blur's ''Parklife'' album.

Despite the band's fanbase and critical acclaim, Stereolab has not achieved high levels of financial or popular success. On June 7, 2004 in music/2004, the Warner Music label announced they were dropping Stereolab in response to the poor sales (40,000 to that date) of ''Margerine Eclipse''. This was part of an ongoing effort by Warner to cut costs; The Breeders and Third Eye Blind were also dropped from the label for this reason.

Discography

*''Switched On'' (1992 in music/1992)
*''Peng!'' (1992 in music/1992)
*''Space Age Batchelor Pad Music'' (1993 in music/1993)
*''Transient Random - Noise Bursts with Announcements'' (1993 in music/1993)
*''Mars Audiac Quintet'' (1994 in music/1994)
*''Music For The Amorphous Body Study Center'' (with Charles Long) (1995 in music/1995)
*''Refried Ectoplasm'' (Switched On, volume 2) (1995 in music/1995)
*''Emperor Tomato Ketchup'' (1996 in music/1996)
*''Dots and Loops'' (1997 in music/1997)
*''Aluminum Tunes'' (Switched On, volume 3) (1998 in music/1998)
*''Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night'' (1999 in music/1999)
*''The First of the Microbe Hunters'' (2000 in music/2000)
*''Sound-Dust'' (2001 in music/2001)
*''ABC Music'' (BBC Radio 1 sessions) (2002 in music/2002)
*''Margerine Eclipse'' (2004 in music/2004)

The "Switched On" albums are compilations of material previously released on singles and EPs.

External links

* http://www.stereolab.co.uk/
* http://www.koly.com/stereolab/
* http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=SEARCH&sql=B2sq6g4fttv5z

Tag: British musical groups