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Your message amplified.
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Ready to share your message with the world? Start your podcast Journey with Podbean.
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Podbean.
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Podbean.
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PodBean. Podbean. The AI powered All in one podcast platform.
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Thousands of businesses and enterprises trust Podbean to launch their podcasts.
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Launch your podcast on podbean today.
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My school uses Podbean. My church too.
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I love it. I really do.
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Foreign.
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A
Welcome to the Accelerated Culture Podcast. A sonic journey through the vibrant and revolutionary sounds of the 1980s and 1990s. And now 2024. Webby honoree for best Indie Podcast. I'm Lori, along with my co host, Scott Free. And in this podcast we explore how new waves stormed the airwaves in the early 80s and and gave way for the rise of alternative music in the 90s. Find us on the web@acceleratedculturepodcast.com.
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Hello and welcome back to the Accelerated Culture Podcast. I am Scott Free.
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A
And I'm Lori. Hello.
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B
Hello. Welcome back.
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A
Yeah, it's been a while.
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B
Just a little bit longer than usual.
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A
Yeah, that wasn't too bad. We had a weak delay, which again, we apologize for.
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B
Terribly sorry. Totally my fault. But worth the wait. We'll go with worth the wait. You'll see. At least it gave me some breathing room and a chance to not completely lose my mind.
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A
Right, because you and I, we just do this kind of in our free time. This is just a hobby and life gets in the way sometimes. So. Oh yeah, yeah. I do want to give a shout out and a thank you to our friend Zabe from who Will Save Generation X. Scott. When we discovered that we weren't going to be able to release the episode last week, Zabe was kind enough to allow me to post an episode of who Will Save Generation X To our feed last week, that episode that I was in, so that our listeners would have something to listen to.
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B
You need that Accelerated Culture fix? Accelerated Culture Warriors. And so thank you, Lori, for getting that Zabe, who Will Save Generation X episode in there.
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A
Yeah. And by the way, if you enjoyed it, I really encourage you to check out who Will Save Generation X. It's a really fun trivia game show podcast.
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B
Right on. I would like to give a shout out to my buddy Mally. Does he listen to this podcast? I cannot say with certainty that he does. However, Mali was the one who introduced me to this band that this episode is about in 1995 and started a lifelong love of Stereolab for me. We'll talk a little bit how that introduction went, but Mally, thanks, brother. And if you don't listen. You should totally start listening.
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A
How's he gonna know?
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B
I'll text him.
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A
So, Scott, what have you seen? What have you done in the three weeks since we last talked?
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B
Oh, man. So no big. I went to Burning Man. Real quick, you know this, Lori, but you all out there in podcast listener land probably don't. I am an inveterate burner. I have been to Burning man with this one now 17 times. Although I am also a jaded, crusty old burner. And so, myself and two lifelong friends who I've mentioned before, Rabba and Kristen, we went to Burning man together, as we did way back in the early days, but this time for a total of 48 hours. We were in, we were out before the man even burned. So, yeah, a quick hit.
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A
So was this before or after the Orgy Dome blew over?
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B
I believe this was after the destruction of the Orgy Dome. Now the media loves to glom onto the sensational aspects of this event. Is there an Orgy dome? Yes, there is an Orgy dome. Does everyone at Burning man go to the Orgy Dome? No, Almost no one does. It's titillating, so it makes the global news, but it's not really a thing that impacts most of our lives. But condolences to the Orgy Dome folk on the destruction of your dome. While there though, at Burning Man, I did hang out with the aforementioned good friends as well as a couple others. I saw all kinds of absolutely incredible art because honestly, that's what Burning man is actually about and not the more sensational aspects. As well as saw some amazing DJs and electronic musicians. One in particular, Sunrise set on Friday morning at Long Feng, which is a Chinese made massive sound bus with two huge dragon heads flanking it and function one sound system that creates just the loudest but cleanest, most beautiful bass. There I actually saw Kaz James's Sunrise set. Kaz James and Australian house dj. And that was a pretty incredible way to start my final day on the Playa on Sunday back in Chicago. Went to the Ark Music Festival for one day and oh, shout out really to Scotty, a good friend who actually hooked us up with passes to the Arkfest. For those who don't know, Ark is a house music and electronic music fest in Chicago in Union park, right by the United Center. There I saw Honey Dijon back to back with Derek Carter. I saw Max Styler on the big stage and dear God, the production values this year on that stage were unbelievable. Absolutely huge. The video, the projections, the lighting, absolutely incredible. And the sound Again, sound systems are getting so good. Absolutely incredible. Also saw Duck Sauce and that was one of the highlights there. And then last Friday at a very different venue with a very different crowd, the Rivers Casino Event center in Des Plaines, Illinois. I saw, I should say I went to see Howard Jones. I've always loved Howard Jones. So many good songs. New wave icon, 80s pop icon, big deep love for Howard Jones. And I say that I went to see it because I did have to leave the show about five songs in. I want to say that I did not get kicked out and that leaving was not my idea. But sometimes how to put delicately, interpersonal relations go awry and a change of venue is needed.
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Uhuh.
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The night went south.
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A
Oh dear.
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East, because we left Des Plains and went southeast and back to the city. And I think it was probably not as good my night as the Howard Jones show was. First five songs that I did see. He's pretty good performer, very engaging. Also though, man, I was one of the youngest people in that crowd and I am not young anymore.
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A
Wow, really?
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B
No, yeah, it was really something. Oh, one other thing, we got to Howard Jones early, which never happens to me. But also they said the show was at 7:30 and we got there at 7:15 and there's a huge line and it's like, there's no way all these people are getting into the venue in time for the show. Also Richard Blade was going to be there telling stories and Haircut 100 was opening. And I don't care about Haircut 100 if I'm honest. So I asked one of the venue people, when does Howard Jones actually go on? And it was 9:30. It's like, well, we have time to get a drink, but who wants to get a drink in a casino? So we went to another venue, the Display in Theater, where I saw Big Suit, a Talking Heads cover band who were so fun. Oh man.
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A
Oh wow.
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B
We just went to the bar in the lobby for a drink and after everyone went into the show, the doorman came by and he's like, are you guys going into the show? No, we're just here for a drink. Would you like to go into the show? I'm like, I don't know. And he gives us two tickets. So we go into the show, man. Talking Heads cover band, man. They're very good.
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A
Oh, that's cool. So it sounds like that almost went better than our Jones, huh?
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B
Oh, much better, yeah. Anyway, what are we talking about this episode?
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A
Well, you picked the album, Scott, you tell me.
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B
Yes, I did. We are Talking about the 1992 debut album by Stereo Lab, Peng. And it's Peng with an exclamation point. So it's like Peng. That's what we're talking about.
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A
Okay, I'll allow it. Even though it was not released until 95 here in the States.
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B
Yeah, but it was released in 92 in the UK and, you know, so we'll allow it.
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A
And so, Scott, at the end of our last episode together, I thought that maybe you had played this for me once. And I realized when I listened to it, I have never heard this before in my life.
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B
Would you know if you had heard an album once played offhandedly in an office while we were doing work in 2005?
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A
Fairpoint. Fair. Yeah, probably not.
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B
I mean, it would be amazing if you have that sort of eidetic memory, but I do. Not.
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A
To be fair, though, I don't remember a lot about 2005, so.
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B
Yeah. So the history of Stereolab.
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A
Enlighten us.
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B
Well, to talk about the history of Stereolab, first you have to talk about the history of McCarthy. And to talk about the history of McCarthy, you have to go back. What we're gonna do right here is go back, way back, back into time. Okay, so in 1984, in London, at the Barking Abbey School, Tim Gaine, Malcolm Eden and John Williamson form the band McCarthy after the now notorious American senator from the 1950s, Joseph McCarthy, the the House UN American Activities Committee and all that jazz. Later that year, one Gary Baker Jones joins the band. And this band actually in high school and fresh out of high school, starts releasing singles and get signed. A track of theirs, Celestial City, is featured on the now very famous New Music Examiner NME C86 compilation, which longtime listeners of this show will recall us referencing in the past. C86. The C is for Cassette. It's a legendary British indie pop scene compilation album that featured bands like Primal Scream, the Soup Dragons, the Bodines and the Wedding Present. I believe we covered that in our Primal Scream Scream a Delica episode, which, as I recall, was a damn good episode. And listeners, you should go back and listen to it. Primal Scream Scream A Delica on Accelerated culture podcast. Anyhow, McCarthy releases two albums. I am a Wallet and the Enraged Will Inherit the Earth and God Damn, is that a good album title. John Peele digs them. The music press loves them. And after their second album and before their third and final album, Leticia Sedier joins the album. She was working as a nanny at the time when she met Tim Gaine at a McCarthy show. In Paris. She was sort of over the Paris scene, disillusioned with Paris rock scene. And she and Tim Gaine fell in love. So she moved to London to be with Tim and to make music. And pretty quickly Leticia joins the band, takes on vocal duties. Duties. The band releases their third album, Banking Violence and the Inner Life Today. McCarthy, they knew how to name an album, I guess.
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A
Yeah. So I have a quotation from leticia in popmatters.com an article by Hayden Merrick published on May 26, 2022. So she said what came out of the UK musically and to a big degree out of America as well, was always the more interesting left field side of the music. In France in the 1980s, trying to form a group was rather difficult.
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B
Yeah. Another interesting quote from Letizia Sadie, this one from the Red Bull Music Academy interview, Leticia Sedie on Stereolab politics and her solo work. It's a short quote, but Tim Gaine was my music school.
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A
All right.
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B
Right. So the third album was, as I said, Banking Violence and the Inner Life today. After that third album, they end the McCarthy project. And I love the way that this is phrased just on Wikipedia. Malcolm Eden stated that there was no need to continue with the band and believing that their creativity peaked with this album. The band's final show was at the London School of Economics in 1990. And then immediately upon the breakup of the band, Tim Gain and Leticia Sadie form Stereo Lab. The name Stereo Lab, it should be noted, was cribbed from a division of mostly classical and jazz folk record label Vanguard's records. In the 1990s, that label had a sub label Stereo Lab that put out of all things Sound Effects Records. And this is what Stereo Lab named themselves after.
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A
Yeah, that article that I mentioned earlier by Hayden Merrick in Pop Matters. In Pop Matters, yes, he wrote, as for the stereo, in their name it referred to both the central twosome that would remain Constant until their 2009 hiatus. So Leticia and Tim and to the Vanguard Records sub label that you just mentioned, Podbean, your message amplified.
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Ready to share your message with the world. Start your podcast journey with Podbean.
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Podbean, the AI powered all in one podcast platform.
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Thousands of businesses and enterprises trust Podbean to launch their podcasts.
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Use Podbean to record record your podcast.
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B
So Tim Gain and Leticia Sedie established their own record label, the amazingly named duophonic Super 45s, more commonly known just as Duophonic. And like the full name implies, it was set up to release 7 inch records along with 10 inches. To just do one a month and keep doing them in small additions was their initial intention. In May of 1991, they released a 10 inch called Super 45. It was the first release for both the label and for Stereolab themselves. It was sold through mail order and and through the London record shop, Rough Trade. Fun fact. I went to Rough Trade for the first time on a 2017, I believe, trip to London. And I actually bought a stereo lab 10 inch while at rough Trade. It was the September, I want to say 199210 inch EP called Lo Fi. And is that because I knew about the early Stereo Lab and Rough Trade connection? No, total coincidence. I just like Stereo Lab. And I was at Rough Trade and I came across it and I was like, ooh, Stereo Lab. And I bought it.
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A
Nice.
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B
But if I was cooler, I would have known it and that would have been why I bought it. Or if I was a better liar, I would not have admitted all that stuff. I just admitted. But I am neither of those things. Yeah, the 10 inch Super 45 the band designed the art for. It would be the first of many releases Stereo Lab would put out, the art of which featured Cliff, a cartoon character, kind of crudely drawn, with big 70s hair and big sideburns, and most prominently, his finger pointed at you in front of him. And that finger is a gun. They had actually cribbed that image from a 1979 Swiss cartoon, the name of which escapes me.
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A
Okay. The comic strip was named, My German is terrible. Der Turtliche Finger. Der Turtliche Finger. Which means the Deadly Finger.
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B
The Deadly Finger.
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A
The Deadly Finger. And then it appeared in a 1970 issue of a Swedish Swiss underground newspaper called Hocha.
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B
Yeah, yeah. I may have the date wrong because I said 1979 comic strip, but it was clearly earlier than that.
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A
That came from Wikipedia. So, you know, take it with a grain of salt.
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B
I'm willing to believe it. They're pretty accurate. So this also from the Wikipedia. Tim Gain called the DIY aesthetic behind Duophonic, the record label, empowering and said that by releasing one's own music, you learn it creates more music and more ideas. In September of 1991, they released the Super Electric EP and a single, stunning debut album, which is notable for being a single, not an album and not their debut. Stereolab is dryly hilarious, right?
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A
All right. You know, I was actually wondering about that because I noted that some of the articles I found on the album Peng indicated that it was the band's second album.
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B
They had previous 10 inch releases that were EPs, but this is their first LP. And then on May 26, 1992, Stereo Lab releases their first full length studio album and the subject of this episode of the Accelerated Culture podcast. Ping ping. Yes. Now it should be noted that this was its UK release on 2 Pure Records and as you did note earlier, you'll allow it, that it was released in the US on 2 Pure and American Recordings, Rick Rubin's label. And goddamn, that guy has his finger on the pulse of cool and has for freaking ever. You may recall us talking about him in the context of the Beastie Boys, among others. Rick Rubin knows what he's doing, man. Anyway, released Peng on 2 Pure and American Recordings in the States in 1995. June 13, 1995 to be precise. Now you will recall I said that I have had this album since its release in the US in 1995. Technically it's from a bit after that. And for this I must give credit to my buddy Mali, who was my roommate at the time and had fallen on some financial hard times and was going to sell a bunch of CDs to Reckless Records in Chicago. Because back in the 90s when you were a Gen X slacker and you needed money, you went and sold some of your CDs because you could still get some decent money for them. He was going to sell a number of them and the two that I picked out and like, hey, before you go selling that to Reckless for pennies on the dollar, let me buy some from you. Were Sonic Youth Dirty and Stereo Lab Hang? And man did I fall in love with this album. Thanks Melly for turning me on to Stereo Lab and sorry about taking advantage of your financial misfortune at the time, but I didn't have much money either.
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A
All right.
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B
Anyway, Peng Peng, it should be noted, is a German automatopoeia for bang or pow, more or less. And like Super 45 and Lo Fi, which would come out a few months after Peng Peng, we already did this. It features the aforementioned cartoon character Cliff, this time in a super bright, the sun, shiniest orange and yellow color scheme you ever did see. The album art is cheery. A little crudely rendered maybe, but charming like this would make a great art print. I would love to have a screen printed poster of this in my place. It's just so damn cheery and couldn't we all use some of that these days?
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A
Unlike the music on the album, which I would not classify as cheery.
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B
I'm going to disagree. There are some of the There are a couple tracks that are pure sunshine until you like read the lyrics. But we'll get into it.
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A
Okay.
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B
Additional production credits the album was produced by Roger sq. There's production, engineering and mixing by Robs. Just Robs and then additional production and engineering by Stereo Lab.
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A
Rob's is actually three people whose last name is Rob D. Rob Bruce Rob and Joe Rob.
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B
Oh yeah, I'm gonna guess they're related. Could be a, you know, professional name.
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A
Oh actually, no, you're right, it is. It is a professional name because Joe Rob's AKA is George Cameron Donaldson.
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B
So Joe rhymes are better.
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A
Yeah, I agree.
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B
Anyway, from the same Pop Matters article that you referenced earlier by Hayden Merrick Stereolab debuted with the fluorescent Pang Bang 30 years ago, from May 26, 2022, talking about producing records and their process. CDA detailed their Henry Ford like approach in an interview. Our records were written and recorded very quickly. We didn't ponder over these for years like, say, Broadcast or My Bloody Valentine would. There was no preciousness around making records. We were just churning them out like literally on a conveyor belt. And I don't know that that shows necessarily in terms of the quality of the product, but it does have a quicker and looser feel than say, My Bloody Valentine, where that pondering and preciousness really shows and took years and years and years to make. They were cranking this out. It's a much simpler production style, to be sure, but man, does it really work in its own right.
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A
Well, you know, let me throw in a couple thoughts, just since this was the first time that I listened to this album and I've listened to it a few times in the past three weeks. It's very unusual in a number of ways. Most of these songs don't have a traditional verse chorus verse structure. A lot of the lyrics are very intellectual, I guess, for lack of a better word. They're very deep. They reference different things in literature and situation as art.
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B
Leticia Sadie is tackling some relatively lofty topics. She's using some highbrow language. She's referencing art movements. Yeah, this is not I love you baby Pop.
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A
It's kind of heavy if I'm being.
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B
Honest, but oftentimes wouldn't know it. That's for a couple reasons. One, the style of the music. Sometimes you were saying you disagreed, but there are a couple songs that are Just bright, sunshiny, jangly pop. And then also there is the production and the two vocalist thing. Leticia Sadie is the lead vocalist, but then there is also Gina Morris on backing vocals. But this is not Aretha Franklin and the Inspirations type backup vocalist where they're just popping with a repeating a word here or there. Like Gina Morris is singing whole lines as a counterpoint to Leticia Sedie's main point. There's a call and response thing happening. Sometimes they're overlapping in ways that can sometimes make the lyrics kind of, I'm not going to say unintelligible, but textural more than conveyors of semantic meaning. Especially because they're oftentimes Leticia's voice is lower and kind of breathy. Feels almost like another instrument that kind of sometimes blends in with the organs or the synths or the distorted and reverb guitars. And so it all just becomes this sonic collage where, yes, she is tackling lofty topics, but they are not necessarily, hey, look at me, listen to me, I am the star of the show. They're another instrument in this thick textural music.
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A
And. And I like that too. I like that textural. And I think we said something similar when we did My Bloody Valentine's Loveless.
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B
Oh, yeah, for sure. And there is a kinship between these two bands. No doubt. Stereo Lab is not a shoegaze band, but Stereo Lab did make some shoegaze singles and there are a couple tracks on here where it may as well be shoegaze. It's simpler and it has more nods to kraut rock and a little more minimal, certainly at times than certainly My Bloody Valentine because frankly, everybody is minimal compared to My Bloody Valentine. True, it is really tough to, yeah. To out maximal those guys, but yeah, there's certainly some Shoe Gazy and Dream Poppy elements in there.
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A
All right.
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B
Kind of their own thing. We'll talk about it. You know, usually it's one of the first things we do, but we never did get around to it here. We've talked quite a bit about Tim Gain, who was on guitar, also the Moog synthesizer and the Farfisa organ. And we talked a fair amount about Leticia Sedie, who was on vocals, is the primary lyricist and also played some Moog on the album. There was also then Martin Keane on bass, who was formerly of the Chills, another band, Gina Morris, who I did talk about on backing vocals, and one Joel Dilworth on drums. And he does some good drum work on this album. All right, with that, then I guess we can get into the track by track. And let's start that off with track one, Super Falling Star. All right, so right out the gate, from the beginning of track one, you get a pretty good idea of what you're in for on this, the first Stereo Lab album. You've got that organ, you got reverse reverb guitar. And if you are a regular listener of this podcast, you know that I am a huge fan of Slash. Sucker for reverse reverb in general, but reverse reverb guitar in particular. You got this strummed rhythm electric guitar. And then Leticia's kind of breathy, slightly accented vocals. She's got that Franch accent. And then another woman on backup vocals, Gina Morris, doing both. A counterpoint to Leticia's vocals, as well as some really beautiful ethereal harmonies. And that right there is Stereolab in a nutshell. Although notably no drums on this track. I notice that, yeah, they ease you into the idea of a Stereo Lab album, but they do it with the pretty, but the slightly dark and that dreamy. You know, that's one of the things that reverse reverb is really good for, is giving you that sort of dreamy quality and organ featured front and center.
- [31:25]
A
Yeah. So the first time I heard this, it sounds similar to another band, but I can't for the life of me place it. I have a hunch, Scott, after we're done with this episode, I'll probably think of what the name of the band was and I'll text it to you. I don't know if it was Belcanto or Lush. I really like the interplay between the two female vocalists here. Yeah.
- [31:50]
B
That becomes a hallmark of Stereo Lab sound for the next 30 years, although not always this particular backup singer.
- [32:02]
A
Again, lyrics, I guess, are secondary in terms of, you know, the. The texture of the music, but over and over again, I've seen it. I've heard it, I've seen it, I've heard it. And I think that's the closest we're gonna get to anything that's a traditional song structure on this album.
- [32:21]
B
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah. The opening lyrics, the strange setting of our story Represented nothing but a super falling star the landscape was no mystery the idea of a mind so vain at the point of infinity. Now, I can't tell you precisely what she's talking about, but I can tell you she's talking about it smartly, like it's some beautiful imagery. Well put, and that's plenty.
- [32:54]
A
Yeah. And you didn't say anything about Letitia's Educational background.
- [32:59]
B
I do not know much about it.
- [33:00]
A
Okay. Well, I would venture to guess she probably is very well educated.
- [33:06]
B
At least very well read. Yeah, for sure.
- [33:09]
A
Yeah. So I like that one. It's an interesting start to the album. You know, again, the absence of the drums kind of threw me off a little bit, but I like it.
- [33:21]
B
Well, if the lack of drums and the ethereal nature of Super Falling Star throws you and is not what you would expect from an indie pop rock song, well, you're in luck, because track two takes a whole different take.
- [33:45]
A
Yes. Track two is called Orgiastic.
- [34:09]
C
Jesus.
- [34:34]
B
So, yeah, Trek 1, Super Falling Star is the ethereal version of Stereo Lab. Or Gastic is their other main mode. The jangly, driving yet droning indie rock sound. Like it rocks, but also does it. Like. It's not hard by any means, but it is the hardest driving soft indie rock you could hope for.
- [35:02]
A
And this one definitely has shades of Lush or My Bloody Valentine. I mean, it's. I don't know, because they're contemporaries of each other. I don't know whether one influenced the other, but it's definitely of that time period. Joe Dilworth on the drums getting a little bit carried away with the bass drum on this one, though. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's like pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. There's a couple places on this album where some of the percussion effects are a little bit distracting. This one, I didn't notice it on my headphones, but I did notice it when I listened to it on my good speakers where I'm like, what the hell? Because.
- [35:45]
B
I'm gonna say that is less of a Joe Dilworth issue and maybe a little bit more of a Rob's production and engineering issue. But, hey, you know, I noticed it had that problem.
- [35:56]
A
It's unusual to have a bass drum with that frequency. Usually you use bass drum for accents. And this is like pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. You know, I mean, this is like constant.
- [36:08]
B
Like, yeah, it's energetic and it has drive, but the song's not hard. It's got this still this jangly and soft ethereal thing, but, like, the hard version of it. Then, like, you think the formula has been established that the song has gotten where it's going. And then at the 157 mark, this next level, even bigger, slightly distorted, but definitely louder guitar kicks in and levels up. And then at the 341 mark, they kick it up again, this time with this also kind of French horn sound. But it's not a French horn. It's almost certainly a Moog synthesizer. And then at the 405 mark, it goes even harder. Guitar so distorted that there's, like barely any attack to it. It's just this wall of distortion and reverb and. Yeah, hot as far as I'm concerned.
- [37:04]
A
Then lyrically, there's a theme that I noticed in the lyrics to a lot of these songs. And by the way, shout out to genius.com for putting up the lyrics. Made my life a lot easier. But there seems to be a recurring theme of. I don't want to say shocking, but kind of going against the grain in terms of morality, sexuality, that kind of thing.
- [37:29]
B
So, like, transgressive, but far from conservative.
- [37:35]
A
Yeah, yeah, that's a good word. Transgressive. Like the second verse. Opposites in juxtaposition. While the orgy lasts. Ultimate fulfillment, bold timelessness of eternal moment. The beginning, the end of transmutation. And then the last line of the chorus. Although the moment seems definitive. The urge to escape from time into pre time.
- [38:08]
B
Come on, Leticia.
- [38:10]
A
This is taking me, like, to all kinds of different places. You know, how I'm into all my weird, spooky, you know, occult stuff and energy raising and I do.
- [38:21]
B
I do know that about you.
- [38:23]
C
Yeah.
- [38:23]
A
So, I mean, this is leading me to wonder if that's an allusion to that or this is a Rorschach and I'm just kind of projecting my own thoughts onto it. Probably more the latter.
- [38:35]
B
Yeah. I don't know. I would say this is another example for me at least, of. I don't necessarily know what she's talking about, but I really like the way she's saying it.
- [38:46]
A
Yes, and this is now the second time in this episode that we've referenced an orgy.
- [38:53]
B
I don't think it's the last either.
- [38:56]
A
All right, mom, if you're listening, I can explain.
- [39:03]
B
Well, I guess that brings us to track three. Peng33P.
- [39:24]
C
City was no greater than a BE. It felt so simple, but it is the same time. Incredible things are happening in the world. Magical things are happening in this world.
- [39:51]
B
Right, so Peng 33 ping. So it's a title track of sorts. But do we have any Idea what the 33 is about? I got nothing.
- [40:04]
A
No, I have no idea.
- [40:06]
B
Yeah, I don't know. So when reading about or talking about Stereo Lab, one will often hear the Velvet Underground referenced. And certainly musically, there are some elements in common there. The sort of jangly and maybe imprecise guitars, the sometimes lo fi production values. It rocks, but not in like the I'm making rock horns here, distorted rock sort of way. It's an understated indie lo fi rock. Here's the thing. I have never loved the Velvet Underground. And I know that that's going to make a lot of music fans and music critics demand my music crit critic card. Because you're legally obligated to love the Velvet Underground if you're a music critic. And I just kind of haven't. And I think in no small part it's because I always thought, what the hell? How did Lou Reed come to be a singer? He doesn't sing, he talks. But then when you're talking Velvet Underground, there's also then the Velvet Underground with Nico. Nico, where they brought in German, I believe. Singer Nico, yes, also could not sing, but she could not sing in a breathy, sultry, off key sort of way. And I never liked that either. But the comparisons between the two bands are undeniable. The similarities are undeniable. And yet I have, from first listen, loved Stereolab. And I think the difference is, sure, Leticia's voice is breathy and not classically trained, beautiful, strong, but it's on key and it's expressive, it's deadpan, yet still manages to express. And I've not always understood the words, but the ones that I do, it has an intelligence to it. I don't know. I can't really explain. I guess it's because it's my Velvet Underground, because I wasn't around for the 60s, so it's not mine. This was from the 90s. This was my time and I just like them better. And I don't care why the music critics don't like that. I said what I said, dammit.
- [42:17]
A
All right, that's fair. And I think that what you said about this is kind of our Velvet Underground or your Velvet Underground. I don't know so much mine, but I can totally see that. I think the Velvet Underground was most notable for the influence they had on what was to come. And I think that that is probably true of Stereo Lab as well. Because if you ask the average man on the street, do you know Stereo Lab? I would venture to guess. Most people probably don't get it together.
- [42:45]
B
Average man.
- [42:47]
A
Yeah, right.
- [42:48]
B
Even if you don't know. Peng.
- [42:50]
A
Peng.
- [42:52]
B
This is going to get old, but I'm enjoying it. Even if you don't know this album, some stuff that would come later in the 90s, you gotta know. Oh, man. Anyway, lyrically, curiosity was far greater than our fear. It felt so simple and so prodigious. At the same time. And then this is interesting. Incredible things are happening in the world. Magical things are happening in the world across the river.
- [43:20]
A
There are all kinds of magical instruments, while really we keep on living like monkeys.
- [43:27]
B
Right, okay. So, yeah, I had a thing where it's like, oh, okay, what does. What. What are we talking about? And I'll tell you what we're talking about. We are talking about 100 Years of Solitude.
- [43:40]
A
Oh, really?
- [43:41]
B
Turns out that those lines. Magical things are happening in the world across the river. There are all kinds of magical instruments while really we keep on living like monkeys. That is almost word for word from Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude from right near the beginning.
- [44:00]
A
Wow.
- [44:02]
B
No.
- [44:03]
A
How did you find that?
- [44:05]
B
I've been listening to this album for 30 years, and I learned that this afternoon from reading a Reddit thread. I have read 100 Years of Solitude, but I read it before I heard this album for the first time. I can't be expected to memorize every single word of 100 years of solitude because that book's long.
- [44:25]
A
I've heard of the book. I can't say that I'm familiar with what it's about, but, you know, always looking for something new to read.
- [44:33]
B
So it is actually the quintessential Colombian magical realism novel. Centers around the long family history of a family in the village of Macondo, and lots of crazy magical things happen. It is an interesting and weird, weird book.
- [44:55]
A
Okay, one last thing about Peng 33. Peng. The bass drum on this one is way too loud in the mix because it makes my eardrums pop when I'm listening to it on headphones. Like, just now, it's like I wanted to yawn to try to clear my ears, you know? And by the way, These are the 2018 remastered songs that we're listening to here.
- [45:22]
B
So, yeah, I'm not sure that I was. I've been listening to it on CD I got from Melee in 1995.
- [45:29]
A
All right, well, maybe that's why I'm picking up on that. Maybe it's something different with the 2018 remaster.
- [45:35]
B
That would be unusual for them to do a remaster and it up in the process. The 95 version or the 95 re release of the 92 version is a little bit muddy. And so I could see the motivation for doing a remaster, but I've not listened to that one. If, however, you like your Stereo Lab, folkier, twangier, beardier and acoustic ear. This song Peng 33 was covered, was covered by Iron and Wine. So if you like a folky version of it, Check that out. It's actually kind of nice with some slimed guitar.
- [46:18]
A
Okay.
- [46:19]
B
Yeah.
- [46:21]
A
All right. Anything else on Peng33?
- [46:24]
B
No, I think that'll do it.
- [46:27]
A
Well, then the next track. Scott and I do have quite a bit to say about this one. The next one is called K Stars.
- [46:47]
C
They were young, in their mid-20s, some in their teens. They were intelligent, and some in me, were geniuses. They were precious. I live. What.
- [47:19]
A
I just realized who this reminds me of. Now we got Trespassers William.
- [47:26]
B
What?
- [47:27]
A
They're a shoegaze band. It's named after Winnie the Pooh, actually, Piglet's grandfather. There was a sign that said Trespassers Will. The rest of it was missing, and Piglet explained that that was his grandfather's nickname because his full name was Trespassers William. I love Trespassers William. I think they're classified as Shoegaze. I see some similarities. All right, so, yeah. So what you got on this one?
- [47:51]
B
I mean, for starters, that percussive synthesis, like an itch in your ear.
- [47:58]
A
Oh, I hate it.
- [48:00]
B
Love it.
- [48:00]
A
Oh, my God.
- [48:01]
B
Oh, man. That. From the first time I heard it, it absolutely got me. Yeah. Unconventional. It's not a drum machine. It's not a drum. It's just this itching electronic twitch and I freaking love it. Oh, man.
- [48:19]
A
No, no, no, no. It drives me into a frenzy. It sounds like static or like pops on a vinyl record, but it's too regular.
- [48:27]
B
It's like pops on a cd, like. Yeah, but I. Oh, no, I think it's brilliant.
- [48:34]
A
I had a friend who was a physicist at Fermilab, and he said to me once, I don't know if this was based on anything or not, but he said to me that if you were to take a forest and replant the trees so that they were all in regular rows, everybody would go crazy and kill themselves. And that's how I feel about this, because it's like it's the static or it's the interference. The record pops, which is supposed to be something that's irregular, but it's been replanted into these distinct rows. And it just makes me kind of makes me insane. Insane. It's too regular. It's not organic.
- [49:19]
B
I love it.
- [49:20]
A
I love it.
- [49:21]
B
I want to hang out in that crazy matrix forest.
- [49:25]
A
Okay.
- [49:26]
B
And. Yeah, that interplay between Leticia and Gina Morris, the backup vocals. Gina Morris's backup vocals are almost this, like, moaning. It's like this. It's non verbal but yeah, I just love that back and forth and the way the two enmesh and come in and out of each other. I think it's amazing.
- [49:50]
A
Yeah, no, I agree with you on that. You know, there's this little humming sound at the very beginning that reminds me of one of those Tibetan singing bowls.
- [49:59]
B
Yeah, the pulsating organ sound. Pulsating organ. We're turning 12. Yeah. No, I love the instrumentation of this. I love the whole sort of machine, but that it's got this sort of loping forward motion to it. I think the vocals are just gorgeous. I don't know, I. I freaking love this song. And it is unlike the other tracks on the album.
- [50:27]
A
It really is.
- [50:28]
B
And it works so well. And I think particularly with those weird, glitchy sounds that you don't like. This is a portent of what is to come later in the 90s from stereo lab when they really embr newer electronics and newer production. The 1997, I want to say album Dots and Loops really gets down with this sort of thing. I don't think you would find it as annoying as you find this track, but yeah, that's sort of. The glitch is part and parcel of that. Okay, lyrically, there is so much to dig into. Here you are, our resident lyrics lover and expert and interpreter. What do you got?
- [51:16]
A
Well, you know, I had to do a little bit of digging on this, so. The lyrics themselves say they were young, in their mid-20s, some in their teens. They were intelligent and some believed were geniuses.
- [51:29]
B
And that upon first listening was enough for me. I'm 25, I'm theoretically intelligent. And this was as far as I was concerned, especially with lyrics that will come later. This was the under recognized dark horse anthem for the intellectual Gen X slacker, of which I was pretty much one. I was in art school at the time. It continues. They were passionate, wildly in love, capable of hate, extreme anger. They were drawn towards the exceptional. They avoided work, but worked hard in their laziness. I mean, you're a 25 year old in art school in the 90s during the time of the Gen X Slacker. Oh man, this one hit just hit that sweet spot for me.
- [52:26]
A
Okay, so I did find a quotation. Somebody using the name Mott Bummery, whose profile says he's a former college radio DJ and giant music nerd living and working in the hills of West Virginia. So he wrote that the song describes the members of the Situationist International, an avant garde anti art group from Paris in the 60s. The post Marxist ideas published by the SI describe the conditions of everyday life under advanced capitalist society, seeking to disrupt the boredom and hollow consumption of spectacles that constitute its function and instead enjoy life as a series of directly lived experiences situations.
- [53:19]
B
It's a yes and okay. I also a little digging found a blog post from Notes from the Rabbit Hole by Gary just Gary on April 16, 2021. He gets into this song and the Situationists in particular the Situationist International were all over the humans as commodities thing that modern capitalism has wrought. The lyrics that sealed my Gary's view that this song is about the Situationists are worked hard on their laziness and wandering through Paris. Guy Debord, the leader of the Situation is was fascinated with the not so apparent areas and aspects of cities as well as the whole damn society as spectacle with human commodities.
- [54:15]
A
Interesting.
- [54:16]
B
You know, we're all sort of reduced to commodities under capitalism. Late stage capitalism now. But yes, this idea that just being and being in the cities in particular, and not being part of this consumerist culture and not being part of the spectacle that is culture, but creating your own on the grassroots level in the moment in the city was its own sort of art and protest against the.
- [54:47]
A
Larger culture, you know, and this takes me back to my time in design school when you were one of my professors and you had talked about some of the different movements that were taking place. I think you did mention the French Situationists. I remember we talked about Dada, you know, Bauhaus. But there's really no major art movement taking place right now in 2025, is there? You would think as a reaction to everything that's happening in the world, that you'd think that there would be some new crazy. Yeah, I'm using the word crazy in quotes, but, you know, some. Some new kind of wild artistic movement, but I don't know of any.
- [55:30]
B
Do TikTok dances count?
- [55:32]
A
No, they do not count.
- [55:35]
B
It is the old Manus thing I've said in quite some time because TikTok dances are so like six years ago.
- [55:42]
A
But that goes back to the whole idea of people is a commodity. You know, the people are posting the stuff because they want to get the likes, they want to get the clicks. In some cases, you know, you get sponsorships and ad revenue and other stuff and. Yeah, so there you go.
- [56:02]
B
I am not as immersed in the current contemporary art scene as I suppose I could be. But isn't it usually true that artistic movements are defined and labeled after the fact?
- [56:17]
A
That's true.
- [56:18]
B
There have been movements, the aforementioned Dadaists, or surrealists who announced that that's what they were and that's what they were doing. But a lot of movements are only seen after the body of work has been produced and that critical mass has been reached. So we probably got something going right now. Hell if I know what it is. If I can quote Mali, to whom I gave the shout out for introducing me to Stereo Lab. I don't like art. One of the funniest things any of my friends have ever said.
- [56:53]
A
It'd be funnier because it's your friend. But yeah, no, I think that's fair. That maybe in retrospect, 20, 30 years from now, they'll identify it, they'll give it a name, whatever it is. I think Banksy is going to be front and center. Oh.
- [57:09]
B
I mean, he's old news already, but yeah, he keeps producing.
- [57:13]
A
I mean, would that be like guerrilla.
- [57:15]
B
Art, street art at this point? But it's street art, which has become fine art. And, you know, the print in the shredder and, you know, it became street art that became conceptual street art. And I don't know. Again, I'm not well versed enough in it to be able to have an intelligent conversation, but that's not stopping me from blathering. I've got a podcast.
- [57:41]
A
Oh, yeah, we're. We're definitely using that. Okay, I think next one's you. Yeah.
- [57:48]
B
Yeah, I guess. That brings us to track five, Perversion.
- [58:05]
A
Sa.
- [58:38]
B
I mean, it is just the cheeriest damn song. It's got that jangly indie pop thing. The guitars are higher. There's, you know, there's a lot of treble going on. And then these breathy, deep contralto lead vocals from Leticia, the lilting, sometimes soaring backup vocals from Gina, counterpointing her. And then this organ comes in, big organ, giving it almost like a churchy feel. And then the lyrics are a brilliant short essay about perversion.
- [59:12]
A
Yeah. In our Christian society, there's something wrong with having pleasure. Pleasure, more precisely, is called sin. Therefore, our well thinking citizens have decided it was best to hide, deny pleasures such as sex and drugs. This is a song lyric, guys.
- [59:32]
B
It's an essay.
- [59:34]
A
Reading the words on the page, I'm having trouble connecting them to the vocals that I'm hearing. You know what I mean?
- [59:41]
B
Oh, I do. And I have listened to this album so many times, I had no idea that this was essentially an essay on morality and repression and perversion. I didn't know what almost any of the words were because again, they're low in the mix. She is singing Lower than the higher guitars that are sort of overpowering her with their jangle indie pop thing. She becomes just an instrument, part of the sonic texture of this collage. But, boy, the lyrics are absolutely worth digging into.
- [60:22]
A
Yeah, it's a scathing essay on morality wrapped in a jangly, crispy pop shell.
- [60:32]
B
Right. Therefore, our well thinking citizens, having decided it was best to hide, deny pleasures such as sex and drugs out of the repression of pleasure, something logically take into the light something much graver than sex, drugs. Perversion could only entail regression of a civilization that would avoid mastering anxiety, that would disrupt the truth, corrupt behavior.
- [61:00]
A
And this definitely does not have a traditional song structure. There's no verse, there's no chorus. It's just, as you said, an essay.
- [61:09]
B
It's an essay in jangly indie pop form. And it's just so good.
- [61:14]
A
It is. I do like this one. Is it an essay or is it a manifesto? Well, I guess we can debate that later. Anything else on this track?
- [61:27]
B
It ends on a long, extended, reverberating guitar and organ chord. Amen.
- [61:36]
A
Which is going back to that whole religious theme that we just keep coming back to.
- [61:42]
B
Oh, the big organ. That it ends on, the big organ is not a coincidence. Like they are going for church on this one and going for tearing the church down.
- [61:56]
A
Yeah, but it's catchy. I really like this one.
- [62:01]
B
Jangly, cheery. Yeah. Fun. Yeah, it's fun. Despite being about how fun gets pushed into the shadows and twisted into something that isn't maybe all that fun. Perversion of fun, if you will.
- [62:19]
A
Yeah, I'm. There's. I'm sensing a trend here. Orgiastic perversion. And then there's another one later on, but. Okay, so I guess that brings us to. This is why you gave me the evens, isn't it? The next track is called you Little Shits.
- [62:58]
C
All things understand that you are another world in miniature and that in you there are the sun, the moon and also the star.
- [63:22]
A
This song, I really see the Velvet Underground similarities.
- [63:28]
B
Oh, for sure.
- [63:29]
A
Yeah. This has got a very retro, almost late 60s vibe. There's this beautiful shimmering chime, very low in the mix.
- [63:38]
B
It features an actual lead guitar line. It's not just jangly chords and reverb and a little distortion. Tim Gain is no Yngwie Malmsteen, but he doesn't have to be that. It's a noisy, jangly, imprecise and brilliant line that contrasts so beautifully against this almost clockwork rhythm section. Like the rhythm section is just a very precise and then Tim Gain's guitar work is this like. Like it's. Yeah, it's the beautiful counterpoint with its chaos to this otherwise very precise and plodding drum part.
- [64:23]
A
Well, you, Scott, actually, you hit on something earlier when we were talking that I didn't even catch. That whole thing about worlds within worlds.
- [64:34]
B
Oh, yeah. Like, opening line. Leticia has me, there are worlds within the world. Within the world there are worlds. Yeah. From the first time I heard that track, captured my imagination. It was like, oh, this chick knows what she's talking about, man.
- [64:52]
A
And so then we discovered that because I knew it sounded familiar. Isaac Asimov, 1972 non fiction book called Worlds within, the Story of Nuclear Energy.
- [65:05]
B
Interesting.
- [65:07]
A
Yeah. I remember in physics classes where they use the analogy that an atom is like a little mini solar system and the nucleus is like the sun and the electrons are, you know, the planets. And so if you look at it that way, it kind of makes sense. It's that whole Hermes Trismegistus thing. As above, so below, right?
- [65:31]
B
Yes. I'm going to go with the Micronauts and the Microverse. You know, I'm just a Marvel Comics nerd at heart, so I was primed to be into a song about worlds within worlds. But she's dropping Asimov references in her lyrics casually, like it's nothing and it's not a robot reference. Come on, this chick's smart. And Stereolabs may be the smartest band out there. There, I said it.
- [66:00]
A
So why do you suppose they called the song you little shits?
- [66:04]
B
It is a great question.
- [66:08]
A
Best line of the song, though. My absolute favorite line. Understand that you are another world in miniature, and that in you there are the sun, the moon, and also the stars. Love it.
- [66:22]
B
So good.
- [66:23]
A
Yeah.
- [66:23]
B
And then, you know, the song ends. It's just that huge room, reverb drum line, then this noisy synth and then guitar feedback comes in. I could not love that more. It's shoegaze perfection. And then, you know, after all that ethereal shoegaze groove of you little shits, then bam. Or should I say bang bang. It's track seven. The seeming and the meaning.
- [66:58]
C
Sa.
- [67:37]
B
Right, so here's my take. Stereo Lab, or at least one of Stereo Lab's modes, is essentially Sonic Youth, that is to say, the Kim Gordon led version of Sonic Youth, but with the ratio of noise to melody inverted. Like Sonic Youth has the driving rhythm section with guitars featuring so much noise and distortion and feedback with an unconventional woman singing unconventionally. And there's unconventional song structures and Sometimes there's melody. Stereo Lab has all of that, but it's all in service of the melody. Right. A melody dominates and the noise intertwines with and supports it. You know, I. I think. I think there's something there. And that's as far as I've fleshed it out.
- [68:31]
A
Okay. Well, you know, and as far as the song structure is concerned, this is actually, I think, one of the more conventional ones on the album. It's the verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse. Of course, the verse is just the same thing repeated. Yeah. You know what? I think you're right. I do see some definite similarities with Kim Gordon here. I really wish they would lay off the bass drum, though.
- [68:57]
B
It's just so weird that I'm not hearing that at all.
- [68:59]
A
Oh, my God. It's like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
- [69:03]
B
And it's like, ah. Huh.
- [69:06]
A
It's overpowering to me. I don't know.
- [69:08]
B
So not hearing that in my mix. But I'd be interested to hear the one that you are listening to.
- [69:14]
A
Okay.
- [69:15]
B
In any case, this song rocks about as hard as any song on this album does. Like, this is a pounding, driving rock song. But then with those vocals, with the two ladies voices interplaying, Leticia's lead vocals and Gina's backing vocals playing with and against each other. And there are a lot of times, again, when I get that there are words, particularly, we communicate more and more. It's all very poor. It's all just a bore. Love that line. But the rest of it, again, just becomes this sort of textural, sonic vocal collage. There's lyrics to dig into, but again, I've been listening to this album for decades, and hell if I know what they are other than that. All very poor. All just a bore a bit, but.
- [70:09]
A
It'S all very poor. It's just a bore.
- [70:11]
B
Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. I think it's great.
- [70:15]
A
It's a good one. Yeah. And as you said, I think this is probably the most rock and roll track on the album.
- [70:21]
B
Yeah. It should be noted, I have the cd. I'm looking at the CD liner notes right now. You got the very sunshiny yellow and orange fluorescent cover. Two pages of seemingly blank orange. Although if you look very closely, there's a very subtle closeup of cartoon character Cliff's face. And then the back cover has lyrics to only six of the songs, which makes me wonder if I'm missing part of the liner notes. Whatever. Six songs. And it has all of the lyrics and almost no other notes except for at the end of this track, the seeming and the meaning, dedicated to all the junk media which then, you know, we communicate more and more. It's all very poor. Once again, I think she's maybe not a fan.
- [71:18]
A
And 92. Right. So this is pre social media, so she must be referring to mass media. Yeah. Radio, tv. Yeah.
- [71:29]
B
We've seen other albums from this very year that we're in on the accelerated culture podcast. 1992. We've seen other albums and other groups critiquing sometimes pretty harshly the 24 hour news cycle, particularly with regards to the Gulf War and other major political and global events. And you could see how particularly a band who has Marxist underpinnings, or at least anti capitalist underpinnings, would be particularly disenchanted with the Mass Media of 1992 taking human suffering and strife and turning it into a money machine, which it kind of always has been, but, you know, really grinding out the cheese whiz.
- [72:24]
A
Okay, that's a new one. Grinding out the cheese whiz.
- [72:27]
B
Consolidated coined it and we did talk about them in the end of 1991 and the rest episode. Check out Consolidated. They have plenty of things to say about the 1991, 1992 media.
- [72:43]
A
This is true.
- [72:45]
B
All right. I feel like that's plenty on the seeming and the meaning. You got anything else?
- [72:49]
A
No, sir.
- [72:50]
B
Moving along.
- [72:52]
A
All right, so then the next track is called Mello Tron.
- [73:10]
C
It.
- [73:41]
A
All right, so Mellotron and I believe we've talked about this instrument in a previous episode. Scott.
- [73:49]
B
Yes.
- [73:50]
A
Do you want to talk about what it is or do you want me to explain what it is?
- [73:53]
B
Well, right, so the Mellotron was the precursor to the sampler. It's a keyboard based instrument. And when you press the the keyboard, it plays a segment of actual tape, magnetic tape, that has a recording of an instrument. Right. And each of the keys has that tape at a higher one note, higher frequency. It's the same sound, but it's a higher version of the sound. And so you can, without having to hire a, say, flute player, you could have a flute part pretty convincingly played by using the Mellotron. Notable Mellotron featuring instruments include, I believe, Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven. Those fluty pipe parts are in fact a Mellotron playing. Okay, samples.
- [74:51]
A
I read somewhere that the Mellotron is one of the most loved and most hated musical instruments of all time.
- [74:58]
B
Most love because it let you do things that you could not do on instruments that you could not play. But do it very convincingly. And most hated, because they broke constantly. You spent more time fixing the Mellotron than you spent playing the melotron. And also, it doesn't sound natural. It doesn't sound convincingly like that instrument, but it is the sound of that instrument being played as a keyboard. So it's just damn cool. And I believe we've talked about the Mellotron on this show. I believe it was in the context of Primal Scream. Scream a Delica, probably they feature it on that album. But, yeah, Mello Tron, the Stereo Lab track. What do we got first?
- [75:44]
A
I'm curious, is there a Mellotron on this song?
- [75:48]
B
I'm thinking maybe that giant organ sound might be. But off they did have. What was that? A Farfisa organ. But this is a much bigger organ sound than we were hearing earlier on the album, so I can't say with any certainty. It does not appear on the credits for the album, the instrumentation credits for the album, at least on the Wikipedia version of the credits, but I don't think those are comprehensive.
- [76:19]
A
Right. Okay. So, Scott, you've known me for a long time. You know, I'm a Francophile, so, you know, anytime you're throwing French lyrics in there, I'm a sucker for it. Le sensualite n' est et illimite. The sensuality drowned in tenderness is unlimited.
- [76:42]
B
Damn.
- [76:43]
A
Yeah, it's basically that repeated over and over. And then the other line that's repeated is. Which is at the unlimited point. Now, what that has to do with the title Mellotron, I have no idea. I'm wondering if maybe this was like a new order type situation where they just randomly assign titles to songs.
- [77:05]
B
Oh, no, I just put it together.
- [77:07]
A
Oh, tell me.
- [77:08]
B
When I was saving up. One of my interesting bits of trivia about this song, it contains a sample from a 1969 song, Ruby by the Silver Apples. Like, it samples it a lot and loops it. That sample does a lot of the heavy lifting on the track. And it's the whole groove, basically, the drum part and the bass. And then later in the song when it goes up, I want to say a fifth. So it's the same groove, but higher. And I am wondering if they had a Mellotron and they sampled that track and played it on the melodron, or they just sampled it. Likening it to a melotron.
- [77:52]
A
Yeah. Like emulating it by doing the pitch shift and stuff like that.
- [77:57]
B
Yeah.
- [77:58]
A
Interesting.
- [77:58]
B
And that's it. Somebody who knows more about this album than we do write in and Correct us, because we know a lot about music, but we don't. We don't know everything about them.
- [78:10]
A
That certainly seems plausible. Yeah, yeah. Now, there's a couple places where I feel like the time signature is shifting in this song.
- [78:20]
B
It does feel like it sort of skips a half beat, right?
- [78:25]
A
Yeah, yeah.
- [78:26]
B
There's a bit. I haven't dug into that to count it out, but again, you haven't. Music theory nerds. Time signature buffs. Dr. Dave, if you're listening, I know you already know this, let us know.
- [78:43]
A
Dr. Dave.
- [78:46]
B
He does have prodigious, encyclopedic knowledge of music theory, so, yeah, he'll know all right.
- [78:52]
A
What's he a doctor of?
- [78:54]
B
He's a neurobehavioral psychiatry researcher.
- [78:58]
A
Fascinating.
- [78:59]
B
Is that.
- [79:01]
A
Yeah.
- [79:03]
B
Well, if you love the French lyrics of Melotron, and we know you do.
- [79:09]
A
Oui, oui.
- [79:11]
B
Then you are going to love track nine in Ivre Vous. It's a straightforward, maybe even slightly plodding groove that sort of walks that line between kraut rock and shoegaze. And that's a big, broad line, admittedly, but it's got some elements of both. But then, like, off a bit in the distance, but like in an enclosed space, like a phone booth on the other side of the room, a Baudelaire poem spoken in a conversational manner. An animated, maybe a little agitated conversational French sort of manner.
- [80:34]
A
So the poem that she's reading is. Well, it's closer to prose. It's weird because Baudelaire wrote prose poetry, if that makes any sense.
- [80:44]
B
I'll allow it.
- [80:45]
A
It's actually called in iv, which. Which roughly translated means get drunk.
- [80:50]
B
I am literally drinking a beer as we speak. Cheers.
- [80:57]
A
So, yeah, he was a 19th century French poet. His writing was really considered scandalous at the time, especially because he wrote a lot about sex and death.
- [81:09]
B
I would like to interject. Ooh la la.
- [81:15]
A
So this poem was actually published posthumously in Le Splene de Paris in 1869, which was a collection of 50 prose poems prior to that. Le Fleur du Mal was his first and most famous volume of poems. And Baudelaire, his publisher and the printer were successfully prosecuted by. For creating an offense against public morals.
- [81:44]
B
Awesome. That is badass.
- [81:47]
A
Yeah, yeah. Now, eventually that was overturned something like. Like in the 1940s or something. And then they were finally allowed to publish. He's widely considered by many experts to be the first modernist. So take that what you will. And then I also found, according to Chloe Venn on The website Medium Baudelaire asserts that one must be continually drunk without pause. And he means this in both a literal and metaphorical sense. You can take your pick. Become drunk on wine or drunk on poetry. On virtue.
- [82:28]
B
Huh. I'm gonna go with wine.
- [82:32]
A
And that's actually the line. With wine, with poetry, or with virtue? Well, virtue's right out. I enjoy this one.
- [82:41]
B
Oh, yeah?
- [82:42]
A
Yeah. And definitely, again, I see some parallels with some of the shoegaze bands that I love. My Bloody Valentine. Although I don't think they actually read any French modernist poetry.
- [82:55]
B
No, not a lot do.
- [82:57]
A
No, no. But this is a good one.
- [83:00]
B
Yeah. And then towards the end, this crazy synth part comes in, like, floating over the top of it all, like some weird musical lightning storm overhead.
- [83:11]
A
Oh, I like that. It's a good description.
- [83:15]
B
Ah, this track's rad, man. I mean, it's French poetry. Red over shoegaze, I think. Yeah. What's not to like?
- [83:25]
A
Okay, well, the next one, I don't know about this name. It's called Stomach Worm. Ew.
- [84:17]
B
Okay. I may not have the best ear for picking out the specific words in the vocals due to Leticia's accent, due to the interplay between the two vocalists, due to the mix and all of that. That said, other than the occasional word here, there, jealousy, and the only one, I was not even 100 clear that this song wasn't in front of fringe.
- [84:47]
A
Oh, interesting.
- [84:48]
B
I can admit that I'm not that bright. That's fine. That said, if you weren't sold on Stereo Lab being the smartest band in the room, check out the lyrics of this song. Like, we've had French modernist poetry. We have had philosophy. We've had situationists. Situationist references. We've had Asimov. Check out these lyrics, though. Let's begin at the beginning. Just to give you an idea of what you're dealing with here. And, like, the way they are singing it. Leticia and Gina are singing it again. They've got that point, counterpoint, interplay thing. And this one's like this jangly, upbeat bop. It's got this swing to it. And they're singing in this kind of sing song thing. Okay. Like, this is just a cheery boppy song. Yeah, the lyrics. The world is full of indisputables with whom all of us share reality. The world is in fact, just that a long, disputable and rich tradition. The world I know of I'm extrusive To be jealous is to conform not the only one A nominal thing the law of division. Jealousy will make you suffer from being excluded from the universal. Jealousy will make you suffer from being crazy from being a woman. Like, dude. What? That's what she was saying the whole time. I've been listening song for 30 goddamn years and I picked out jealousy. And the only one, like, that's it. But like, again, this is an essay in song form, and it comes off just like a sing songy, cheery bop, man. It's impressive feat.
- [86:43]
A
It's a juxtaposition of the subject matter versus the kind of bouncy pop jingle that it sounds like. I really like the way that Letitia and Gina's lyrics kind of play off of each other. It's almost like a call and response.
- [87:01]
B
Yeah, they're having a conversation. It's like the Greek chorus almost, right?
- [87:08]
A
Like, I like it.
- [87:09]
B
The protagonist is saying something and then the chorus is commenting on it.
- [87:14]
A
Yeah, yeah. Jealousy will make you suffer. And then Gina comes in from being excluded from the universal. Right. From being crazy from being a woman. So. And man, I feel that one to my core.
- [87:29]
B
No, I mean, we've met.
- [87:32]
A
I know we've met, but I mean, smart ass. No, I mean, there. There are things that if I say I'm being hysterical because I'm a woman, but if one of my male colleagues says them, oh, yeah, that. You're absolutely right. That makes sense, you know, it's enough to make you crazy.
- [87:51]
B
Sure. Yeah. No fair.
- [87:53]
A
Yeah. It's a decent one, though. Again, what. What is the title? Stomach Worm. I don't know. Is. Is the jealousy eating you alive from the inside out? Is that what this is about?
- [88:04]
B
Good call.
- [88:05]
A
Yeah. Okay.
- [88:07]
B
That's the best theory that I've heard.
- [88:10]
A
Well, thank you.
- [88:11]
B
It is, to be fair, the only theory I've heard, but the best.
- [88:16]
A
Thanks, Scott.
- [88:19]
B
Moving on to track 11, the final track on this album.
- [88:24]
C
It is surreal chemistry Transformation of man and the world.
- [89:21]
A
All right, can we talk about the song title for a second? Because I noticed something that I didn't notice before. When you pronounced it, you said Surreal chemist, and I've been pronouncing it surreal Temist. And so this is interesting. This is one of those, like, sangreal or Sangreal, you know, where it's like it could be read either way and maybe there's even a double meaning.
- [89:45]
B
Yeah, it's a. I. I have always just seen it as a portamento of surreal and alchemist, but you can combine them. So you get Surreal Chemist, right?
- [89:55]
A
Yeah.
- [89:55]
B
Yeah, I love that.
- [89:57]
A
And I guess. Yeah, I guess that makes Sense, just looking at the lyrics, even more than philosophers, aiming at no less than the total transformation of man and the world. And that is the goal of alchemy. It's transformation. I know that we're taught in school that alchemists, they thought they could turn lead into gold, but that's not really what it was about. It was about transformation of the self. I guess alchemy makes more sense here than chemist.
- [90:28]
B
Sure. But then in surrealism, the transformation through decontextualization and recontextualization of making something into something else with a dreamlike quality to it, Right?
- [90:44]
A
Yes. Yes, that was. That was really profound.
- [90:47]
B
So, yeah, the two work beautifully together, I guess, is what we're saying. Yeah, you got your surrealism in my alchemy, man.
- [90:55]
A
You got your alchemy in my surrealism.
- [90:58]
B
Tastes great.
- [91:03]
A
And then in the lyrics, the second verse and the third verse, they're identical. But we're returning to this whole indictment of Christian beliefs, Christianity, true life embodying pleasure principles, noblest triumph over the cowering mendacity of bourgeois Christian civilization. Okay, first of all, who writes like that?
- [91:31]
B
Those are lyrics, sure. Oh, yeah, Just regular pop lyrics, for sure. Yeah.
- [91:37]
A
So. And, you know, interestingly enough, did you notice that there's no drums on this one either? So the track one and the last track, neither of them have drums.
- [91:47]
B
Book ends it, but, yeah, you don't notice it with this one. Really.
- [91:52]
A
This is like the longest song on the album, too, isn't it?
- [91:55]
B
7 minutes, 13 seconds. Generally, these are 3 to 5 range, but, yeah, this one's a. This one's a barn burner. My thoughts on this one, they don't compare to those of Hayden Merrick from the Pop Matters article that we have already referenced. Would you indulge me in a big old black quote?
- [92:15]
A
Sure.
- [92:17]
B
All right. The album's finest moment is arguably its closing track, Surrealist. Gain's guitar remains tethered to one or two occasionally vacillating chords, albeit with an antithetical wiry lead line on top that strongly evokes the Velvet Underground's clamorous primitivism. Here the pace is slowed right down and the drums are entirely absent. It's an exercise in space and evolvement rather than propulsion. The track's undulating coda, with its pulsing moog, seems to trail off into the sunset as Gain described it in liner notes. Indeed, the sample of a rippling creek seems to suggest a movement towards greener pastures.
- [92:59]
A
This might be a good place for us to wrap this up.
- [93:03]
B
Sure. Well, that's it. It is an 11 track album as far as debuts go. Oh man, it is the smartest debut we have seen in the many albums that you and I have reviewed together. Is it the fully formed Stereo Lab that will come to define English indie music of the mid-90s?
- [93:29]
A
Is it?
- [93:30]
B
No, it's not there yet, but it gives the roadmap for what's to come. More electronic elements will certainly come in, but as far as the solid bass and the formula with the two female vocals, the heavily affected but jangly guitar thing, the throwback to the 60s, but in instrumentation, but keeping it contemporary and fresh, and the heavy effects to get it almost into psychedelic and shoegaze territory. This is the Stereo Lab formula. They will just build on it in amazing ways. Which I think brings us to the section that we usually close out with.
- [94:15]
A
And then what happened?
- [94:17]
B
Well, I mean, a whole long, amazing career. 13 albums, 7 compilations, 15 EPs. The death of a beloved singer, but not Leticia and not Gina, the singer who would come next? The discovery of Stereo Lab by hip hop artists and producers, and the voracious sampling thereof. An indefinite hiatus that lasted like 14 years. And now, as of this year, a new album and a tour. On May 23, 2025, Stereo Lab released Instant Holograms on Metal Film, a full length studio album. And Stereo Lab is touring now. They'll be playing the Cabaret Metro in Chicago on October 9th and 10th, and I am strongly considering going to that show.
- [95:12]
A
You'll be kicking yourself if you don't.
- [95:14]
B
I think I will be. Yeah. I have not in them. I've not seen them live. That seems like an oversight. All right, I got to go to that show. They'll be playing all across North America until November 13, and then the UK and Ireland in December and February, so.
- [95:31]
A
Oh, wow.
- [95:33]
B
They're coming to your town. You probably want to go check them out. They are going to be a damn good live show.
- [95:39]
A
Cool.
- [95:40]
B
Yeah. Well, Stereo Lab. Peng. Peng was my pick. We tend to switch off. So do you have an album in mind for the next episode of the Accelerated Culture podcast?
- [95:57]
A
I do. And it's going to be a total shift.
- [96:00]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [96:01]
A
Hotwired by the Soup Dragons.
- [96:04]
B
Oh, hell yeah. Yeah, That's a fun one.
- [96:08]
A
So we'll be back in two weeks to cover the 1992 album by the Soup Dragons. Hotwired. We'll listen to the tunes, we'll share some memories.
- [96:19]
B
Yeah. Of Soup Dragons. That is going to be some. There's going to be some hazy dance floor memories, if I recall that particular album in 1992, which I do only vaguely sometimes.
- [96:34]
A
Okay. All right.
- [96:36]
B
Well, it's gonna be a fun one. It's gonna be great.
- [96:38]
A
Good, good. I'm glad. I'm glad you're on board. So thank you for listening. Tune in in two weeks. It's a goodbye from me, Laurie, and.
- [96:47]
B
From me, Scott free. We'll see you soon.