They were founded in 1990 by songwriters Tim Gane (guitar, keyboards), formerly of the band McCarthy, and Laetitia Sadier (sometimes credited as Seaya Sadier; vocals, keyboards, trombone, guitar), who is from France and sings in both English and French.
Over the years, Gane and Sadier have enlisted a large number of other musicians to accompany them on stage and on record. The initial line-up featured Martin Kean, formerly of The Chills, on bass, and Joe Dilworth (from their Too Pure label-mates Th’ Faith Healers) on drums, with Russell Yates (of Moose) and Mick Conroy (ex-Modern English) also appearing at early live shows. In 1993 they recruited Andy Ramsay (drums), who has remained in the group line-up ever since, and Mary Hansen (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion). Hansen’s distinctive backing vocals became an important aspect of the Stereolab sound, and she remained a regular feature of the line-up until her death in a cycling accident on December 9, 2002. Multi-instrumentalist Sean O’Hagan of The High Llamas has also been a frequent contributor, particularly with string, brass and keyboard arrangements to the band’s studio albums. John McEntire (Tortoise) has also contributed keyboard, electronic effects and studio help over the years. Other members have come and (in some cases) gone over the years, including Duncan Brown, Dave Pajo (from Tortoise), Richard Harrison and Simon Johns (all bass); Gina Morris (vocals); and Katharine Gifford and Morgane Lhote (both on keyboards).
Early Stereolab material displayed a heavy influence of krautrock sounds, particularly Neu! and Faust, characteristically relying on droning, repetitive guitar or keyboard riffs, with or without vocals. Early heavy use of distorted Farfisa combo-organ sounds were also reminiscent of early recordings by The Modern Lovers. As the band developed, they incorporated new instrumentation, and an increasingly complex sense of rhythm and structure, frequently making use of irregular time signatures as well as unorthodox chord progressions and melodic intervals. The band has often made copious use of female backing vocal lines.
Lyrically, Stereolab’s music is quirky (song titles evoke memories of 1950s science fiction stories, and are often borrowed directly from old films and records of the period, but have nothing to do with the song’s content), but highly politically and philosophically charged, sometimes with a decidedly Surrealist or Situationist bent. (Sadier notes the libertarian Marxist theoretician Cornelius Castoriadis as a particular inspiration.) Sadier’s lyrics, in both French and English, often read like highly condensed sociological texts, standing in deliberate and distinct counterpoint to the lush hedonic pop sound of the band. A prime example would be “Ping Pong” from Mars Audiac Quintet, which is an explicit restating of Marxist theory concerning the relationship between economic cycles and war cycles.
Stereolab earned a minor place in the Britpop movement, with their sound proving influential to bands like Blur: occasional keyboard-driven b-sides and singer Damon Albarn’s love of retro keyboards showed the influence, and in recognition Laetitia Sadier was invited to provide vocals on “To The End” from Parklife.
Despite the band’s fan base and critical acclaim, Stereolab has not achieved high levels of financial or popular success. On June 7, 2004, suits at the Warner Music label (to whom the band was signed in the U.S.) announced they were dropping Stereolab in response to the poor sales (40,000 to that date) of Margerine Eclipse. This was part of an ongoing effort by Warner to cut costs; The Breeders and Third Eye Blind were also dropped from the label for this reason. Laetitia Sadier is now also a member of Monade, which is essentially expressive of her own singular musical goals.
Fruition
Stereolab Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The sublimating
Tribulation
The reborn sense
Quest for treasure
All the suffering
All the striving
The lyrics to Stereolab's song Fruition are open-ended and lend themselves to interpretation, but one potential reading of the piece centers around the idea of personal growth and transformation. The lines "The allusion / The sublimating / Tribulation / The reborn sense" suggest the singer is grappling with abstract concepts and a sense of discomfort or conflict as they strive to make meaning from their experiences. The words "sublimating" and "transmutation" also reflect the theme of change and transformation, intimating that the singer is in the process of transforming their negative emotions into something more positive.
The repeated phrase "Quest for treasure" speaks to the idea of searching for some sort of personal fulfillment or satisfaction, perhaps even enlightenment. The lines "All the suffering / All the striving" suggest that achieving such satisfaction might involve struggle and hardship, and yet the song still ends on the word "Fruition" - the achievement of something long-hoped for or worked towards.
Overall, "Fruition" paints a portrait of someone who is grappling with complex and sometimes difficult ideas in their quest for personal fulfillment and growth. It suggests that the journey may be fraught with challenges, but that it is ultimately worth pursuing in order to achieve a sense of rebirth and fulfillment.
Line by Line Meaning
The allusion
The reference or suggestion being made
The sublimating
The process of transforming or refining something, making it more elevated
Tribulation
Adversity or hardship
The reborn sense
The renewed or revitalized feeling
Quest for treasure
The pursuit of valuable or significant goals or objects
All the suffering
The pain and hardship endured
All the striving
All of the effort and determination put forth
Transmutation
The process of changing or transforming into something entirely different
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LAETITIA SADIER, TIMOTHY JOHN GANE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Darkstardeb
Fantastic to see lots of original Stereolab songs back on You Tube. They all got wiped cos of copyright originally. What an amazing song this is.
Mark Boyd
This feels like a preview of their mesmerizing follow up, Mars Audiac Quintet.
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