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.
Hillbilly Motobike
Stereolab Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Et recommencement
La nature a des cycles
Eternel changement
ca c'est fini, c'est bien fini
Oui c'est fini maintenant
C'est ca la vie qui continue
Il a choisi la vie
La vitesse c'est fini
Pourtant on s'aimait
Mais on se dechirait
C'est bien fini, oui c'est fini
La vie avec mon amant
C'est ca la vie qui continue
Au travers du changement
Tout est finitude et recommencement
Tout est finitude et recommencement
The lyrics to Stereolab's song Hillbilly Motobike reflect on the concept of impermanence and cycles in nature. The opening lines "Tout est finitude / Et recommencement" translate to "Everything is finite / And beginning again." The song emphasizes how nature operates in cycles, with eternal change that encompasses everything around us.
The subsequent lines speak about the ending of a romantic relationship between two people, as they are portrayed tearing each other apart despite their love. However, the singer realizes that the relationship and the phase of life has come to an end, and it's time to move on. The lyrics signify the broader meaning of life, encompassing various cycles of nature and the significance of change.
The song uses French phrases to blend in the theme of change and allow the audience to visualize the entirety of nature's cycles. Stereolab has always used their music to explore the idea of the cyclical nature of things, and Hillbilly Motobike is a great example of that. It’s a thoughtful and insightful track that reflects both hope and sadness while exploring the inevitable changes we all must face.
Line by Line Meaning
Tout est finitude
Everything is finite
Et recommencement
And repeating
La nature a des cycles
Nature has cycles
Eternel changement
Eternal change
ca c'est fini, c'est bien fini
That's finished, it's well finished
Oui c'est fini maintenant
Yes it's finished now
C'est ca la vie qui continue
That's life that goes on
Au travers du changement
Through change
Il a choisi la vie
He chose life
La vitesse c'est fini
Speed is finished
Pourtant on s'aimait
Yet we loved each other
Mais on se dechirait
But we tore each other apart
C'est bien fini, oui c'est fini
It's well finished, yes it's finished
La vie avec mon amant
Life with my lover
Tout est finitude et recommencement
Everything is finite and repeating
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