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.
Les Yper Yper Sound
Stereolab Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Divide everything, a flag or a number
Make 'em opposites, so there's a reason
Stigmatisation, OK, now we can fight
Divide everything, just put it all flat
Justification, OK, now you can fight
You go in that team, I go on this team
Divide everything, a flag or a number
Divide everything, just put it all flat
Justification, don't think, now you can fight
Make 'em opposites, so there's a reason
Stigmatisation, OK, now we can fight
You go in that team, I go on this team
Divide everything, a flag or a number
The lyrics of Stereolab's song "Les Yper Yper Sound" delve into the concept of division - how the human tendency to divide everything into binary oppositions and stigmatize the "other" is often a precursor to conflict. The lyrics talk about the process of dividing everything into opposing teams, giving them flags or numbers, justifying the division, and finally, finding a reason to fight. The song seems to imply that these divisions are arbitrary, and it is the human desire to categorize and label everything that leads to conflict.
The lyrics also touch upon the idea of conformity and how one can be easily swayed to join a particular team or group. The repetitive nature of the lyrics emphasizes the mindless and robotic nature of this process of division that humans succumb to. The use of the phrase "OK, now we can fight" portrays the eagerness of humans to engage in conflict once they have been assigned a "team" to fight for.
Overall, the song highlights the role of human nature in creating divisions and fueling conflict. It is a commentary on the power of propaganda and the dangers of blindly following what is presented to us.
Line by Line Meaning
You go in that team, I go on this team
We will separate ourselves into opposing groups
Divide everything, a flag or a number
We will create divisions based on arbitrary distinctions
Make 'em opposites, so there's a reason
Creating a reason for conflict by polarizing each group's differences
Stigmatisation, OK, now we can fight
We will further separate and demonize the other group to justify conflict
Divide everything, just put it all flat
We will create a flat, simplistic view of the world based on these divisions
Justification, OK, now you can fight
We will create a false sense of justification for the conflict we have created
Divide everything, a flag or a number
We will continue to divide and simplify the world into opposing groups and distinctions
Divide everything, just put it all flat
We will continue to reduce the complexity of the world into a simplistic view
Justification, don't think, now you can fight
We will discourage critical thinking and rely on false justification to fuel our conflict
Make 'em opposites, so there's a reason
We will continue to polarize differences to create a rationale for violence
Stigmatisation, OK, now we can fight
We will continue to dehumanize and vilify the other group to fuel our conflict
You go in that team, I go on this team
We will remain divided and opposed to one another
Divide everything, a flag or a number
We will continue to create divisions based on arbitrary distinctions
Contributed by Gabriella P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@myRadiotron
RIP Mary Hansen. Thanks for the memories.
@AnotherAnonymousMan
So many emotions watching this. Bitter sweet joy, nostalgia, melancholie. Mary lives on in the music and it's truly enriched my life. Thank you.
@briansmith9455
Not fun fact : Mary, my friend Jenson, and I were all hit by vehicles on bicycles that year. Jenson was paralyzed from the waist down, I have a metal left leg, and we know what happened to Mary unfortunately.
@AnotherAnonymousMan
@@briansmith9455 Life is both more fragile and more precious than we think. Every now and then, I have to remind myself to step back from my negativity, and cherish my life and not to take it for granted.
All the best, friend!
@brunilda106
@@briansmith9455 OMG!!! so sorry to hear this. Thinking of all of you <3
@blooflazh7
@@briansmith9455 Sorry to hear that man. Be safe out there
@NoName-fo7mz
@@briansmith9455 thanks for making it about you
@mikenaughton
R.I.P. Mary ❤️
@sidDkid87
💔😢
@adamfindlay7091
Thanks I didn't know.