Bio by Heather Phares<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With their hypnotic rhythms and mesmerizing singsong vocals, Stereolab was one of the most influential and distinctive bands to emerge in the ’90s. Led by\u00a0Tim Gane<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Laetitia Sadier<\/a>, the group celebrated forms of music that were on the fringe of rock and brought attention to strands of pop music — bossa nova, lounge-pop, movie soundtracks — that were traditionally banished from the rock lineage. On early singles and albums such as 1993’s\u00a0Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements<\/a>, Stereolab combined ’60s pop melodies with an art rock aesthetic borrowed from Krautrock bands like\u00a0Faust<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Neu!<\/a>, but by the time of 1996’s\u00a0Emperor Tomato Ketchup<\/a>, their sound incorporated jazz, hip-hop, and dance. Later, their collaborations with\u00a0John McEntire<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jim O’Rourke<\/a>\u00a0on 1997’s\u00a0Dots and Loops<\/a>\u00a0and 2001’s\u00a0Sound-Dust<\/a>\u00a0reflected an increasingly intricate, experimental approach. Following the tragic 2002 death of member\u00a0Mary Hansen<\/a>, the band returned to a poppier style for albums like 2008’s\u00a0Chemical Chords<\/a>. Stereolab’s unmistakable sound had a lasting impact: During the ’90s, indie contemporaries like\u00a0Pavement<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Blur<\/a>\u00a0aped their style, while hip-hop artists such as\u00a0J Dilla<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Tyler the Creator<\/a>\u00a0sampled the band’s music or collaborated with its members in the 2000s and 2010s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tim Gane<\/a> (born July 12, 1964; guitar, keyboards) was the leader of McCarthy<\/a>, a London-based band from the late ’80s that functioned as a prototype for Stereolab’s sound. Gane<\/a> met Laetitia Sadier<\/a> (born May 6, 1968; vocals, keyboards), a French-born vocalist, at one of McCarthy<\/a>‘s concerts. The pair began a romantic relationship that became a musical collaboration after McCarthy<\/a> disbanded in 1990; Sadier<\/a> sang on the final McCarthy<\/a> album. The duo began recording as Stereolab, borrowing the name from Vanguard Records’ hi-fi effects division in the ’50s. Gane<\/a> and Sadier<\/a> also formed the label Duophonic Records with manager Martin Pike<\/a> to release their singles. Stereolab’s first year of existence was prolific: The debut EP Super 45<\/a> arrived in May 1991, followed quickly by the Super-Electric<\/a> EP that September and the Stunning Debut Album<\/a> EP that November. At that point, the group were working with Th’ Faith Healers<\/a> drummer Joe Dilworth<\/a> and former Chills<\/a> bassist Martin Kean<\/a>; Gina Morris<\/a> occasionally provided backup vocals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>Too Pure released the band’s first full-length, Peng!<\/a>, in May 1992, and the EP compilation Switched On<\/a> in October. As with all of the group’s releases from this era, both albums featured the visual trademark of a maniacally grinning cartoon taken from a ’70s Swiss political comic (which the band named “Cliff”). That year, Stereolab also issued the Lo-Fi<\/a> EP and added keyboardist\/vocalist Mary Hansen<\/a> and drummer Andy Ramsay<\/a> to the fold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>Released in early 1993, Stereolab’s The Groop Played “Space Age Bachelor Pad Music”<\/a> EP featured the core group of Gane<\/a>, Sadier<\/a>, Hansen<\/a>, and Ramsay<\/a>, along with ex-Microdisney<\/a> guitarist Sean O’Hagan<\/a> and bassist Duncan Brown<\/a>. One of the first ’90s alternative records to explicitly draw from the “Space Age” lounge-pop music of the ’50s, The Groop<\/a> became an underground sensation, paving the way toward Stereolab’s first American record contract with Elektra Records. Their next album, and first American release, was Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements<\/a>. Released in August 1993, it became an underground and college hit throughout the U.S. and U.K. They followed it that October with Crumb Duck<\/a>, a split EP with Nurse with Wound<\/a>. Early the following year, the Jenny Ondioline<\/a> EP became Stereolab’s first charting release when it entered the U.K. Singles chart at number 75.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>Stereolab soon became a hip name to drop for many musicians, including Sonic Youth<\/a>, Pavement<\/a>, and Blur<\/a>, who had Laetitia Sadier<\/a> provide guest vocals on their 1994 hit single “To the End.” Where Transient<\/a> was dominated by a lo-fi experimentalism, the group’s sound became lusher and more layered with Mars Audiac Quintet<\/a>, which was released in August 1994. O’Hagan<\/a> moved from a full member to a part-time guest during the recording of the album — he was busy forming his own band, the High Llamas<\/a> — and the group added keyboardist Katherine Gifford. By the time of Mars Audiac Quintet<\/a>‘s release, Stereolab’s style was prominent throughout the underground, and the band began to change their approach. Created for an interactive art exhibit by Charles Long<\/a>, the limited-edition 1995 EP Music for the Amorphous Body Center<\/a> boasted detailed, intricate string and vocal arrangements that were more sophisticated than the group’s previous releases. That July, the band issued their second rarities compilation, Refried Ectoplasm<\/a>, which was released on Drag City in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>Before Stereolab recorded a new album, Gifford was replaced by Morgane Lhote<\/a>. Featuring contributions from Tortoise<\/a>‘s John McEntire<\/a>, 1996’s Emperor Tomato Ketchup<\/a> was an even bigger departure from the band’s early drone rock, demonstrating a heavy hip-hop, jazz, and dance influence. It was Stereolab’s greatest success to date, earning positive reviews in both the U.S. and U.K. and becoming a significant college hit in the process. After the recording of Emperor Tomato Ketchup<\/a>, bassist Duncan Brown<\/a> was replaced by Richard Harrison<\/a>. That year, the band worked with Herbie Mann<\/a> on “One Note Samba\/Surfboard,” which appeared on the Red Hot Organization’s AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio<\/a>. At the end of 1996, Stereolab released the limited-edition, horn-driven Fluorescences<\/a> EP. For their next album, Dots and Loops<\/a>, the band reunited with McEntire<\/a> and recruited Mouse on Mars<\/a>‘ Jan St. Werner<\/a>; after its September 1997 release, it peaked at number 111 on the Billboard 200 chart. Another Nurse with Wound<\/a> collaboration, Simple Headphone Mind, appeared that year, and singer\/poet Brigitte Fontaine<\/a> joined Stereolab on the 1998 single “Calimero,” which featured the debut of Sadier<\/a>‘s other project Monade<\/a> on its B-side. Aluminum Tunes<\/a>, the group’s third rarities collection, appeared in October 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>After taking time off from touring following the birth of Gane<\/a> and Sadier<\/a>‘s first child, Stereolab resurfaced in 1999 with the intricate Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night<\/a>, which featured production by McEntire<\/a> and Jim O’Rourke<\/a>. An EP, The First of the Microbe Hunters<\/a>, quickly followed in 2000. Their seventh full-length, 2001’s Sound-Dust<\/a>, reunited the band with O’Rourke<\/a> and McEntire<\/a> and took a more melodic approach. In 2002, Sadier<\/a> and Gane<\/a> ended their relationship, but Stereolab continued. The collection ABC Music: The Radio 1 Sessions<\/a> arrived that October, just a few months before Hansen<\/a> died at the age of 36 when the bicycle she was riding was hit by a truck in December 2002. Following Hansen<\/a>‘s death, the group soldiered on, releasing The Instant 0 in the Universe<\/a> EP in October 2003 and the full-length Margerine Eclipse<\/a> — a tribute to Hansen<\/a> — in January 2004. After Elektra Records folded later in 2004, Stereolab returned to Too Pure, which released a series of six limited-edition singles collected on 2006’s Fab Four Suture<\/a>. The group re-teamed with producer\/arranger Sean O’Hagan<\/a> for 2008’s Chemical Chords<\/a>, a collection of short, poppy songs released by 4AD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following their Australian tour in February 2009, Stereolab went on an indefinite hiatus. Not Music<\/a>, a collection of material recorded during the Chemical Chords<\/a> sessions, arrived in 2010. Subsequently, Gane<\/a> formed the kosmiche-inspired trio Cavern of Anti-Matter<\/a>, which also featured former Stereolab drummer Joe Dilworth<\/a>. Sadier<\/a> pursued several projects, including solo albums and the groups Little Tornados<\/a> and the Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble<\/a>. In 2019, Stereolab ended their hiatus to play a series of concerts and festivals that coincided with deluxe reissues of their albums, beginning with Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements<\/a> and Mars Audiac Quintet<\/a> that May. Emperor Tomato Ketchup<\/a>, Dots and Loops<\/a>, and Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night<\/a> followed that September, and Sound-Dust<\/a> and Margerine Eclipse<\/a> appeared that November. Electrically Possessed: Switched On, Vol. 4<\/a> arrived in February 2021 and collected singles, B-sides, and rarities from 1999 to 2008, including the entirety of The First of the Microbe Hunters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12114,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"inline_featured_image":false},"class_list":["post-7129","artisti","type-artisti","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n