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.
Margerine Rock
Stereolab Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The extent of its paradox only be equaled by
Because it wanted two things
Opposite and conflicted
It wanted the light, it wanted everything in sight
Wanted to dominate or at least to participate
Idling in the comfort
The curiosity of the extraordinary creature
Was indeed limited because it could not suffer
The unknown, in any shape or form
At the same time it wanted to look everywhere
Set up in its seat at the top of its tower
The creature reveled in being a spectator
Through the glass, what a glorious view
Relishing the gift of so much transparency
Relishing the gift of so much transparency
Having had absolutely no influence.
The lyrics of Stereolab's "Margerine Rock" are a meditation on the contradictions inherent in human desire. The creature in question is portrayed as both beautiful and paradoxical, trapped between opposing desires that cannot be reconciled. On the one hand, it wants to dominate and control everything in sight, while on the other it wants to simply relax in comfort and idleness. This contradictory nature is further highlighted by the creature's intense curiosity, tempered by an aversion to the unknown.
The reference to the creature being set up in a tower, looking down on everything through a glass wall, reinforces the idea of how we can become trapped by our desires and perspective. There is something glorious about transparency, but it also reveals our limitations and lack of influence. The creature's internal contradictions are reflected in the world around it and suggest that we are all battling our own internal paradoxes.
Overall, the song presents a poignant commentary on how our desires can both elevate us and limit us, and how striving for too much can leave us without any real influence at all. The repetition of the line "relishing the gift of so much transparency" serves as a kind of ironic commentary on this theme and underscores the idea that sometimes, even when we can see clearly, our power is illusory.
Line by Line Meaning
The beauty of this creature could only be equaled by
The extent of its paradox only be equaled by
Because it wanted two things
Opposite and conflicted
It wanted the light, it wanted everything in sight
Wanted to dominate or at least to participate
Idling in the comfort
Of its chair and its slippers
The curiosity of the extraordinary creature
Was indeed limited because it could not suffer
The unknown, in any shape or form
At the same time it wanted to look everywhere
Set up in its seat at the top of its tower
The creature reveled in being a spectator
Through the glass, what a glorious view
Relishing the gift of so much transparency
Relishing the gift of so much transparency
Having had absolutely no influence.
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
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