Appreciation for Stereolab

Video: Stereolab - “French Disko” (The Word)

I realized with some amount of horror earlier today that the only Stereolab I had heard was Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996), Stereolab and Nurse With Wound’s incredible, krautrock-esque collaboration Simple Headphone Mind (1997), and a handful of other tracks.

Now that I’m a member of Spotify, I dove into the large portion of the sprawling Stereolab discography that they have, finding some excellent tracks along the way. The First of the Microbe Hunters (2000), The Groop Played Space Age Bachelor Music (1993), and compilation Refried Ectoplasm: Switched on Volume 2 (1995) are my top picks. Even the less impressive releases, such as Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night (1999) make for pleasant enough background music. Bring Stereolab to your dinner party. Bring them with you when you nap. When you study. A band with songs suitable for a host of purposes but, above all, their strong points are in relaxation and/or grooving.