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.
Surrealchemist
Stereolab Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Aiming at no less than the total transformation of man and the world
Begin with the dissolution of superfluous matters
So that desire and consciousness are free
New man, new woman proud and free
New man, new woman happy to be
Over the cowering mendacity of bourgeois/Christian civilization
In the song Surrealchemist by Stereolab, the lyrics delve into the philosophical concept of transformation on a grand scale. The opening line, "Even more than philosophers," sets the stage for the idea that the song will explore something beyond the usual musings and proclamations of intellectuals. What follows is a description of a very specific kind of transformation - "the total transformation of man and the world." The song then offers a path toward this goal - "begin with the dissolution of superfluous matters so that desire and consciousness are free." The idea seems to be that by clearing away distractions and unnecessary things, people can access their true desires and consciousness, which will then lead to a better, transformed state.
The second stanza of the song envisions what this transformed state might look like. The chorus repeats the phrases "New man, new woman" with the descriptors "proud and free" and "happy to be." These lines suggest that in the transformed state, people are living authentically and joyfully, unencumbered by societal norms or expectations. The final stanza of the song uses oppositional language to drive home the idea of transformation. "True life" embodies "pleasure principle's noblest triumph" and stands in opposition to "the cowering mendacity of bourgeois/Christian civilization." Here, the song is making a clear distinction between the old way of living and a new, transformed way.
Line by Line Meaning
Even more than philosophers
We are striving for a greater goal than even the most learned thinkers
Aiming at no less than the total transformation of man and the world
Our objective is nothing short of a complete metamorphosis of humanity and the world we inhabit
Begin with the dissolution of superfluous matters
To achieve our objective, we must first rid ourselves of unnecessary distractions and burdensome excesses
So that desire and consciousness are free
By shedding these superfluous matters, we unlock our full potential for creativity and awareness
New man, new woman proud and free
Through this transformation, we will usher in a new era of human development, with individuals who are confident, liberated, and unrestrained
New man, new woman happy to be
These individuals will not only be unrestrained, but will actively embrace their freedom, finding joy in living as their authentic selves
True life embodying pleasure principle's noblest triumph
This new way of living will be grounded in the idea that pleasure and enjoyment are the highest goals of life, and will represent the pinnacle of human achievement
Over the cowering mendacity of bourgeois/Christian civilization
This vision stands in opposition to the shallow and hypocritical values of conventional society, which seeks to suppress and control the individual for the sake of maintaining the status quo
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LAETITIA SADIER, TIMOTHY JOHN GANE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind