Cover photo by Stephanie F. Black
It was my first time in 19 years seeing London, England’s vanguard avant-pop group Stereolab founded by guitarist Tim Gane & French-native lead singer/guitarist/synth-player/trombonist Lætitia Sadier (whom I and Jack Rabid interviewed in 2004 for The Big Takeover) in 1990 after the dissolution of ‘80s indie pop band McCarthy, who resumed live gigs in 2019 after a 10-year pause, and released an excellent réunion LP Instant Holograms on Metal Film on their long-running Duophonic label in May, which made this second sold-out show at Brooklyn Steel much more than introducing the Stereolab catalogue to a new generation of indie music fans (over half the crowd seemed to be under 29) who are embracing post-rock & shoegaze purveyors (Gane guested on shoegaze pioneer Moose’s early recordings).
I had seen Sadier play in 2017, both solo and with her Lætitia Sadier Source Ensemble, which included skilled bassist/backing vocalist Xavi Munoz, who joined the 2019 lineup, with the return of versatile longer-term members Andy Ramsay and synth wizard/backing vocalist Joe Watson, and while her delightful shows clarified to me her integral contribution to the sturdy melodicism of Stereolab’s adventurous recordings, it’s a welcome return to hear her playing music with Gane again, echoing memories of phenomenal shows I saw at Irving Plaza (of which Sadier warmly reminisced about when I caught up with her after the show), but with more of a raw sound that recall the earliest records.
The 17-song tour setlist includes nine songs from the new LP, all of which feel like a continuation of the band’s remarkable discography that reformulates key ‘60s &’70s influences from a melange of psychedelic rock drone (the beautiful noise outro of “Melodie Is a Wound”), Krautrock, experimental electronic music, boss nova, pop standards, minimalism, instrumental soundtracks (“Electrified Teenybop!” was an electro soundscape raveup) and jazz/funk into a delectable, wonderfully odd, harmony-laden soundtrack for a post-modern world.
While the song titles remain archly obtuse, Sadier continues to integrate more personal & philosophical observations (spectral third single “Transmuted Matter” asks the listener “What do you see through the eye of the heart”) into her French and English lyrics that still draw from the surrealist & situationist inspirations of earlier albums. She introduced “If You Remember I Forgot How to Dream” as being “about belonging to the Earth, not the other way around” and “Esemplastic Creeping Eruption” as a song of “reconciliation, primarily inner reconciliation … the battle starts here” pointing to her heart, “then by extension outer reconciliation,” which speaks to the complicated journey Stereolab has made (overcoming tragic loss of Mary Hansen in 2002 and the romantic breakup of Gane & Sadier not long after) to reinvigorate their richly creative symbiosis.
While I would have preferred to hear more from heavenly 1997 LP Dots and Loops (the single “Miss Modular” & “The Flower Called Nowhere” were great, but bring back the divine “Rainbo Conversation”!) and anything from 2004 LP Margerine Eclipse (really, a double length set would be ideal!), the inclusion of debut LP indie pop banger “Peng! 33”, and sublime 1996 single “Cybele’s Reverie” and blip-bloop fest “Percolator” from the Emperor Tomato Ketchup LP reminded the grateful crowd of the cosmic musical chemistry and deep DIY legacy that Sterolab shares everytime they appear on stage.
Toronto singer-songwriter Dorothea Paas (who has sang w/ U.S. Girls) opened on her first night joining the Stereolab tour with a quietly beautiful trio set. Paas sweet singing and hanging electric guitar mixed well with the baroque folk harmony vocals from keyboardist Mara Nessrallah & cellist/bassist Eliza Niemi on songs that showed the influence Stereolab has had on her melodic sense, including loneliness ballad “Frozen Window”, “Whatever That Means”, and “Diver”.
This North American tour continues through October and is hopefully the beginning of the next Stereolab renaissance!
Stereolab setlist:Aerial Troubles
Mystical Plosives
Motoroller Scalatron
Transmuted Matter
Peng! 33
The Flower Called Nowhere
Melodie Is a Wound
If You Remember I Forgot How to Dream Pt. 1
If You Remember I Forgot How to Dream Pt. 2
Miss Modular
Household Names
Electrified Teenybop!
Esemplastic Creeping Eruption
Cybele’s Reverie
Encore:
The Way Will Be Opening
Percolator
Immortal Hands
