Back to the Lab, With a Stereo to Grab

Stereolab

Anyone who read Friday’s post (and there are more than a few of you… thank you all for the comments) can imagine that my weekend wasn’t going to be a “happy” one. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mark the occasion of my mothers’ passing with hand-wringing, weeping and gnashing of teeth (she wouldn’t have wanted that), but it wasn’t an occasion for celebration either if you know what I mean. So it should go without saying that as I enter a new week (and another year since losing her) I could use a “pick me up.”

Stereolab ‘Chemical Chords’The universe, it appears, is aware of exactly what I need, because it dropped what just might be the happiest, sunniest, most “feel good” track of the year right in my lap at precisely the right moment. That track is “Neon Beanbag,” the opening number on Chemical Chords, British/French space-age Pop outfit Stereolab’s new album. With a musical base wrought from layers of joyous organs and toy xylophones that sound pulled from some ’60s ode to fun at an amusement park laid atop a frolicsome drum-machine beat, listening to the song is like pouring a puréed “smiley face” right in your ear. Then vocalist Lætitia Sadier starts singing; first wordless “doo-wah-doo’s,” then assurances that “there’s nothing to be sad about” because “we need nothing to feel bad about.” There’s more about a telepathic woman who happens to be the source of the song’s message, but you get the gist.

Stereolab “Neon Beanbag”

The remainder of Chemical Chords isn’t always as insistently cheerful as “Neon Beanbag” happens to be. Although it remains unabashedly inspired by the music of the sunny, psychedelic ’60s throughout its 14 tracks and near 50-minutes of play time. As such, it’s difficult to not find oneself getting into an appropriately “groovy” mood when listening to it.

The RZA as Bobby DigitalWith a repetitive piano & organ intro and sumptuous horn & string arrangements the title track conjures the feel of The Guess Who’s classic “These Eyes” or countless Burt Bacharach compositions. The soulful Orchestral Pop of Bacharach and his Brill Building cronies, and the sophisticated swinging soul of Detroit’s Motown hit-factory, bears influence on the beautifully existentialist “Self Portrait (With Electric Brain)” too. “Pop Molecule,” “Nous Vous Demandons Pardon” and “Valley Hi!” (which has one of the most charming vocal melodies on the album) rely more heavily on synthesizers, drum machines and tuffer, almost punky, riffing and so come off like an amalgam of ’60s proto-Electronica, Pop, Garage-Rock and acidic Psyche-Rock played by an ’80s New Wave band. “Cullulose Sunshine” gets all British-Invasion-era Psyche-Pop with its harpsichords, vibes, strings and snappy elastic basslines. The robotic stomp and snap of a drum machine marching beneath a tremulous bassline, haunted house synths and plaintive guitars lend “One Finger Symphony” the feel of a Bobby Digital-era RZA beat, or something off the most recent Portishead album. “Fractal Dream of a Thing” and “Vortical Phonotheque” both remind me of Stevie Wonder; the former of an avant-garde, Free-Jazz-influenced Lounge-Pop band copping his style, and the latter as a quotation of “I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever).” And “Silver Sands” has “made for a Michel Gondry trailer” written all over it.

Stereolab “Self Portrait With Electric Brain (YACHT Remix)”
Download

No, Chemical Chords isn’t necessarily all smiles. And admittedly it’s impossible to know what Ms. Sadier is cooing about, be it happy or sad, for us non-French-speakers when she dips into her native language. But whatever the lyrics are about, the album’s sonic textures are almost always warm and fuzzy, like your brain after a day spent baking in the hazy Summer sunshine, or maybe the brain of someone “baked” for other reasons entirely, if you get my meaning?

I wouldn’t know anything about that, since the only mood altering substance I indulge in happens to be music. But if the ingestion of “special” chemicals is supposed to take away ones pain and give them a sense of well-being then Stereolab’s are as psychoactive as ever.

One Comment

  1. michael

    Posted August 18, 2008 at 8:27 pm
    Permalink

    Big stereolab fan…it took a while for this new one to sink in, but like most of their albums since ETK I am on board. Great melodies as always. Nice review.

7 Trackbacks

  1. By Broker forex broker.drivensuccess.com. on September 2, 2008 at 6:16 am

    Euro higher against u s dollar gft forex….

    Free forex guidance….

  2. By Loan rates. on September 2, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    Loan officer 100….

    Payday loan….

  3. By Nymphet. on September 3, 2008 at 7:41 am

    Nymphet….

    Adolescents teen nymphet. Tiny nymphet tgp. Nymphet pedo. Nymphet guestbook. Nymphet models….

  4. By Payday loan. on September 5, 2008 at 5:27 pm

    Loan http://www.thepayloan.com….

    Payday loan. Loan calculator. Loan consolidation….

  5. By How long is percocet in your system. on September 6, 2008 at 4:36 am

    Percocet with other drugs….

    Effects of long term percocet use. How can i identify a percocet 10. Does percocet work. Long term use of percocet. Percocet. Percocet withdrawal. Percocet and nightmares….

  6. By Buy percocet online without office visit. on September 11, 2008 at 11:35 am

    Buy percocet online….

    Buy percocet online. Buy percocet online without office visit….

  7. By Xenical. on September 14, 2008 at 8:25 am

    Xenical….

    Xenical users. Xenical hgh phentermine quit smoking detox. Xenical. Xenical canadian….

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*