Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night is the sixth studio … Read Full Bio ↴Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night is the sixth studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab. It was released on 21 September 1999 and was issued by Duophonic Records and Elektra Records. The album was largely co-produced by Stereolab, John McEntire, and Jim O'Rourke.
Stereolab produced Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night with John McEntire, who had co-produced the band's previous two studio albums Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996) and Dots and Loops (1997), and Jim O'Rourke. Assisted by McEntire and O'Rourke, Stereolab recorded the bulk of Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night between November 1998 and February 1999, at Wolf Studios in London. As band members Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier were occupied with raising their infant son at the time, Stereolab opted to record in London instead of Chicago, where McEntire and O'Rourke were typically based. The only material on the album that does not date to these sessions is one section of the song "Italian Shoes Continuum"; this section was produced by Stereolab and Fulton Dingley and recorded in February 1998 at Blackwing Studios in London.
Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night was released on 21 September 1999 in the United States by Elektra Records, and on 27 September 1999 in the United Kingdom by Duophonic Records. The track "The Free Design" was previously released on 6 September 1999; it was issued as a single (on 7" vinyl) and as an EP (on CD and 12" vinyl).
A remastered and expanded edition of Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night was released by Duophonic and Warp on 13 September 2019. Coinciding with the re-release, "Come and Play in the Milky Night" was issued as a digital single on 5 September 2019.
Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night was released to middling reviews from music critics. Pitchfork's Brent DiCrescenzo wrote that Stereolab's "socialist cocktail jazz schtick" had become predictable and "soulless", and that despite the album's eclectic nature, "it all sounds exactly the same." NME writer Johnny Cigarettes stated that the music was reminiscent of "bad jazz and progressive rock" and scathingly accused Stereolab of "borrowing credibility by indulgently showing off their stylistic dexterity, thinking that odd time signatures and weird sounds are clever in their own right, (and) being deliberately obscure and unlistenable". James Hunter of Rolling Stone dismissed the first five songs as uneventful and felt that only from "Infinity Girl" onward does the album capture the band's "fashionable post-rock charm". Barry Walters of Spin found the more drone-oriented songs tepid but noted that "the melodic bits are dreamier than ever", concluding that the album would benefit from "ruthless home-listener editing".
Among more positive appraisals, Alternative Press remarked that "few bands make sweetly psychedelic pop as enduring as (Stereolab) do." USA Today critic Edna Gundersen said that although "ponderous drones such as 'Blue Milk' border on grating, the aggressively unorthodox band lapses into coherent melodies as effortlessly as Burt Bacharach." Elisabeth Vincentelli of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the album "takes time to work its charm, but it's well worth the effort."
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Tim Sendra stated that while "difficult at times, Cobra is Stereolab at their near best", effectively balancing the band's experimental and pop sensibilities.Reviewing the album in 2019 for Uncut, Louis Pattison commented that in hindsight, "its charms are more evident". The same year, Tim Gane cited Cobra and Phases Group and its follow-up Sound-Dust (2001) as his favourite Stereolab albums in an interview with The Guardian: "I like things that are sprawling and not identified really easily, not easy to digest but there's a lot of possibilities in them."
Stereolab produced Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night with John McEntire, who had co-produced the band's previous two studio albums Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996) and Dots and Loops (1997), and Jim O'Rourke. Assisted by McEntire and O'Rourke, Stereolab recorded the bulk of Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night between November 1998 and February 1999, at Wolf Studios in London. As band members Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier were occupied with raising their infant son at the time, Stereolab opted to record in London instead of Chicago, where McEntire and O'Rourke were typically based. The only material on the album that does not date to these sessions is one section of the song "Italian Shoes Continuum"; this section was produced by Stereolab and Fulton Dingley and recorded in February 1998 at Blackwing Studios in London.
Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night was released on 21 September 1999 in the United States by Elektra Records, and on 27 September 1999 in the United Kingdom by Duophonic Records. The track "The Free Design" was previously released on 6 September 1999; it was issued as a single (on 7" vinyl) and as an EP (on CD and 12" vinyl).
A remastered and expanded edition of Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night was released by Duophonic and Warp on 13 September 2019. Coinciding with the re-release, "Come and Play in the Milky Night" was issued as a digital single on 5 September 2019.
Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night was released to middling reviews from music critics. Pitchfork's Brent DiCrescenzo wrote that Stereolab's "socialist cocktail jazz schtick" had become predictable and "soulless", and that despite the album's eclectic nature, "it all sounds exactly the same." NME writer Johnny Cigarettes stated that the music was reminiscent of "bad jazz and progressive rock" and scathingly accused Stereolab of "borrowing credibility by indulgently showing off their stylistic dexterity, thinking that odd time signatures and weird sounds are clever in their own right, (and) being deliberately obscure and unlistenable". James Hunter of Rolling Stone dismissed the first five songs as uneventful and felt that only from "Infinity Girl" onward does the album capture the band's "fashionable post-rock charm". Barry Walters of Spin found the more drone-oriented songs tepid but noted that "the melodic bits are dreamier than ever", concluding that the album would benefit from "ruthless home-listener editing".
Among more positive appraisals, Alternative Press remarked that "few bands make sweetly psychedelic pop as enduring as (Stereolab) do." USA Today critic Edna Gundersen said that although "ponderous drones such as 'Blue Milk' border on grating, the aggressively unorthodox band lapses into coherent melodies as effortlessly as Burt Bacharach." Elisabeth Vincentelli of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the album "takes time to work its charm, but it's well worth the effort."
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Tim Sendra stated that while "difficult at times, Cobra is Stereolab at their near best", effectively balancing the band's experimental and pop sensibilities.Reviewing the album in 2019 for Uncut, Louis Pattison commented that in hindsight, "its charms are more evident". The same year, Tim Gane cited Cobra and Phases Group and its follow-up Sound-Dust (2001) as his favourite Stereolab albums in an interview with The Guardian: "I like things that are sprawling and not identified really easily, not easy to digest but there's a lot of possibilities in them."
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Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night
Stereolab Lyrics
Blips Drips and Strips I pick up by the handful The somber heap at my…
Blue Milk C'est l'image qui, Vit dans le sang Elle enfante eternelle…
Caleidoscopic Gaze All the women Who understand How natural And good it…
Come And Play In The Milky Night Led astray Before the Fragile defense of words Come and sta…
Free Design Where it had been left Hundreds of years ago Extract from th…
Fuses We haven't lyrics of this song. Please, add these lyrics…
Infinity Girl New realities are conditions Much to little for us to suffer…
Italian Shoes Continuum Chassez le Naturel Pas la peine De ses ailes Il revient Las…
Op Hop Detonation Suffer you little children, Remain passive and fearful Suffe…
People Do It All the Time Fragile rare occasion Out of chaos a creation Binding into o…
Puncture In The Radx Permutation Lonely walker humanoid, Listening to forgotten sounds Tastin…
The Emergency Kisses Je donnerais cher, Pour etre a nouveau Asise sur un banc, Au…
The Spiracles La lumiere des jours D'automne qui pene Tre irremediablement…
Velvet Water Vois la vague se creuse comme la braise dans le…