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.
Moodles
Stereolab Lyrics
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La tete se demande s'il ne vaut pas mieux baisser les bras
Choses affligeantes se passent dans le monde
Faut-il cesser d'avoir foi en sa nature feconde
Il est des fois o? je suis fatiguee
Ma foi en l'etre humain est alienee
Pourtant au fond de moi coule une riviere
Acceptez certaines choses ne sont pas belles
Mais elles peuvent nous rendre injustes et cruels
Faut-il baisser les bras, se resigner
Devenir mouton et bien s'aligner
Le temps venu d'en arriver la
La tete se demande
S'il ne vaut pas mieux baisser les bras
La tete coupee du corps de ses forces
Nous reculant vite, s'essaie de rentrer dans le moule
Au fond de moi-meme coule la riviere
Et ou m'emmene-t-elle?
La ou j'entends bien, ou je vois vrai
Le beau, le laid, le tout, le rien
La riviere ecrase ceux qui preferent les images
Aux choses reelles
L'apparence a l'etre qui favorise
L'illusion, la realite
Etre naif c'est vouloir le bien
Sans connaitre le mal et le sombre
Rien n'est possible
L'innocence c'est connaitre les recoins
Etre toujours attire par le bien
Tout est possible
Accepter certains phenomenes
Accepter qu'il y a de la haine
(Acceptez, acceptez)
Accepter certain phenomenes
Accepter qu'il y a de la haine
The song "Moodles" by Stereolab is a reflective and introspective piece that delves into the idea of whether to keep a positive or negative outlook on life, humanity, and the world in general. The opening lines, "Le temps venu d'en arriver la / La tete se demande s'il ne vaut pas mieux baisser les bras" (The time has come to reach this point / The head wonders if it is better to give up) sets the tone for the rest of the song. Singer Lætitia Sadier is wrestling with the idea of whether to keep pushing forward, or to accept defeat and give in to the negativity in the world.
The lyrics touch on the negative events happening in the world, and ask whether it's worth having faith in humanity's creative potential. Sadier struggles with feelings of fatigue, alienation from her fellow humans, and a sense of resignation. The chorus asks the listener, "Faut-il baisser les bras, se resigner / Devenir mouton et bien s'aligner" (Should we give up and resign ourselves / Become sheep and align ourselves well). Sadier ultimately concludes that she should keep pushing forward, and accept that not everything in the world is beautiful or pleasant. However, we shouldn't let that darkness turn us into cruel and unjust people.
Overall, "Moodles" is an introspective piece that encourages the listener to reflect on their own feelings of resignation and negativity, and advocates for pushing forward despite the darkness in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Le temps venu d'en arriver la
It's time to get there
La tete se demande s'il ne vaut pas mieux baisser les bras
The mind wonders if it's better to give up
Choses affligeantes se passent dans le monde
Distressing things happen in the world
Faut-il cesser d'avoir foi en sa nature feconde
Should we stop having faith in our fruitful nature
Il est des fois o? je suis fatiguee
There are times when I am tired
Ma foi en l'etre humain est alienee
My faith in human beings is estranged
Pourtant au fond de moi coule une riviere
Yet deep inside of me, a river flows
Qui nettoie l'eau et repose, regenere
That cleanses the water and restores, regenerates
Acceptez certaines choses ne sont pas belles
Accept that some things are not beautiful
Mais elles peuvent nous rendre injustes et cruels
But they can make us unjust and cruel
Faut-il baisser les bras, se resigner
Should we give up, resign ourselves
Devenir mouton et bien s'aligner
Become a sheep and fit in well
La tete coupee du corps de ses forces
The head cut off from the body of its strength
Nous reculant vite, s'essaie de rentrer dans le moule
Quickly retreating, trying to fit into the mold
Au fond de moi-meme coule la riviere
Deep inside me flows the river
Et ou m'emmene-t-elle?
And where does it take me?
La ou j'entends bien, ou je vois vrai
Where I hear well, where I see truth
Le beau, le laid, le tout, le rien
The beautiful, the ugly, the everything, the nothing
La riviere ecrase ceux qui preferent les images
The river crushes those who prefer images
Aux choses reelles
Over real things
L'apparence a l'etre qui favorise
Appearance to the being who favors
L'illusion, la realite
Illusion, reality
Etre naif c'est vouloir le bien
To be naive is to want good
Sans connaitre le mal et le sombre
Without knowing the bad and the dark
Rien n'est possible
Nothing is possible
L'innocence c'est connaitre les recoins
Innocence is to know the corners
Etre toujours attire par le bien
To always be attracted to good
Tout est possible
Everything is possible
Accepter certains phenomenes
Accept certain phenomena
Accepter qu'il y a de la haine
Accept that there is hatred
Acceptez, acceptez
Accept, accept
Accepter certain phenomenes
Accept certain phenomena
Accepter qu'il y a de la haine
Accept that there is hatred
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LAETITIA SADIER, TIMOTHY JOHN GANE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind