Description
2025 reissue, 2×12″ LP, Duophonic/Warp.
This is the album that marked a departure from a more guitar-y, orthodox approach of using drone style repetition to conjure a transcendental atmosphere. Instead, they embraced interconnecting and looping riffs, which was a creative lease of life for the band at the time. Co-founder Tim Gane has been open about his creative struggle before until they embraced this way of creating, which is more associated with hip-hop and electronica than motorik rock. The shift was a successful one with this album one of theirs one of the most celebrated in their decorated oeuvre. Opening cut ‘Metronomic Underground’ is up there as a highlight: melodies and ideas flow in and around each other in a dense yet hypnotic fashion. And the title-track has a magnetic groove as it invites you in and furnishes you with psychedelic sonic patterns, as chanteuse Laetitia Sadier’s eerie yet beautiful vocals lure you in even further. Stereolab’s music is like magic dust and this album is as strong a proof as any that they have that je ne sais pas.
