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.
The Noise of Carpet
Stereolab Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This world would give you anything
As long as you will want to
As long as you will want to
I hate your state of hopelessness
And that vain articulateness
Your loser type wreck want to be
Not a pretty sight really
I hate to see your broken face
A lazy life of fatal waste
Of fashionable cynicism
The poison they want you to drink
Oh no man that's too easy
Oh no man that's too easy
We weren't talking bout happiness
Apply your leading potential
To be useful to this planet
The world would give you anything
As long as you will want to
As long as you will want to
Ba da ba
The lyrics of Stereolab's song "The Noise of Carpet" express a strong negative sentiment towards a person who is regarded as hopeless and vain, and who leads a lazy life of cynicism. At the same time, the lyrics convey a sense of pity for this person, who is seen as having potential that could be applied to making a useful contribution to the world. The song suggests that the world would be willing to give this person anything they wanted, as long as they were willing to make an effort to be productive and not give in to their self-destructive tendencies.
The opening lines of the song, "I hate to see your broken face, this world would give you anything," set the tone for the rest of the lyrics, which express a complex mix of frustration, pity, and a desire to see the person in question use their potential for something positive. The song's repeated refrain, "As long as you will want to," underscores this theme, suggesting that the key to making a positive difference in one's life and the world around them is to have a willingness and desire to do so.
Line by Line Meaning
I hate to see your broken face
I feel sad when I see the negative emotions on your face
This world would give you anything
The world is full of possibilities and opportunities
As long as you will want to
As long as you are motivated and willing to work for it
I hate your state of hopelessness
I dislike how you feel powerless and lack optimism
And that vain articulateness
Your tendency to phrase your thoughts eloquently but without substance is irritating
Your loser type wreck want to be
Your desire to appear as someone who is a failure is not attractive
Not a pretty sight really
It's not pleasant to witness
In another world it'd be funny
In a different context, it might be amusing
A lazy life of fatal waste
You are wasting your life by being idle and unproductive
Of fashionable cynicism
Your cynical attitudes are trendy but a waste of time
The poison they want you to drink
The negativity and pessimism that others try to impose on you
Oh no man that's too easy
It's easy to give in to negativity, but you need to resist it
We weren't talking bout happiness
Our conversation wasn't about feeling happy, but rather making a difference
Apply your leading potential
Utilize your abilities to take charge
To be useful to this planet
To contribute to making the world a better place
Ba da ba
N/A
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: LAETITIA SADIER, TIMOTHY JOHN GANE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@manuel-fx5bo
I hate to see your broken face
This world would give you anything
As long as you will want to
As long as you will want to
I hate your state of hopelessness
And that vain articulateness
Your loser type wreck wanna be
Not a pretty sight really
In another world it'd be funny
I hate to see your broken face
A lazy life of fatal waste
Of fashionable cynicism
The poison, they want you to drink
Oh no man, that's too easy
Oh no man, that's so easy
We weren't talking 'bout happiness
Apply your leading potential
To be useful to this planet
The world would give you anything
As long as you will want to
As long as you will want to
I hate to see your broken face
A lazy life of fatal waste
Of fashionable cynicism
The poison, they want you to drink
Oh no man, that's so easy
Oh no man, that's too easy
We weren't talking 'bout happiness
Apply your leading potential
To be useful to this planet
The world would give you anything
As long as you will want to
As long as you will want to
@boingomendoza8303
Do you have ANY idea how hard it was to cultivate a personality in the mid 90s😂! You had to search hard, set your VCR to record 120mintues to see NEW unique bands like this! MTV was once upon a time cool!😂😂
@ombra711
This is so accurate!🤣
@timsanchez5834
One of my favorite Stereolab songs
@IFHorus
Thanks to Stereolab, the carpets in my home are so noisy all the fleas have gone away! And the areas rugs too!
@auralepiphanies4055
These lyrics say it all
@aquilhall262
This the song that made me fall in love with stereolab!
@daverawcliffe3212
You should hear there earlier stuff
@jamespierre8784
I absolutely love their sound......just found them out ....
I totally missed out on them......
@trainelavalais6280
When Stereolab came out with this song in the summer of 1996 I began having interest in them. I like their sound because it's like synth-pop and electronic.
@smithnameman5588
I've seen a ton of shows from a huge range of genres over 35 years and seeing Stereolab in 2006 in a small venue is still at the top of the list for the most energy and excitement and groove I've ever witnessed performers generate in a crowd. That show hit harder and rocked harder than even any rock/hard rock/metal/thrash show I've ever been to.✊