Stereolab Give Me Nothing But Sound-Dust

You know, I was just thinking about Stereolab's "Sound-Dust" quite recently. I'm just that kind of ho, you know? It is the kind of record that just captures your mood and puts you to sleep forever. I believe it to be Stereolab's greatest achievement, there is no question. You are living in a dream during the duration of this record; and it is the kind of record I suggest listening to completely through in one sitting. Ideal options are on CD with your finest pair of headphones or if you happen to nab up the limited edition vinyl, if this is the case, crank it on a decent pair of speakers. There is something about the record that is magical and mystical, almost cinematic in its way. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Stereolab were violently beaten by the worst reviews in their career with their previous effort released two years earlier in 1999 and entitled "Cobra and Phases Groop Play Voltage in The Milky Night."

Jazz cuts worthy of a Peter Sellers Pink Panther film were not what the critics were eating up in 1999, and indeed, Stereolab was made to suffer. Their "The First of The Microbe Hunters" EP released in 2000 went by with little fan fair, and even amongst hardcore Stereolab enthusiasts it is viewed upon as one of their lesser efforts. The Groop licked their collective wounds in 2001 and narrowed down the number of producers they made use of, and in essence, essentially produced the album themselves, as was often their custom in the early days. However, "Sound-Dust" is far from sounding like early Stereolab, which was a sort of sound very close to what the Velvet Underground were offering up on "White Light/White Heat." On "Sound-Dust" Stereolab provide the soundtrack to an intense and thought provoking Mystery film on the album opener, a song called "Black Ants in Sound Dust." The second cut on the record has a similar flair for the dramatic and is entitled "Spacemoth."

The Groop that we know and love fully blossoms on the sing-song harmony of "Captain Easychord," which proved to be the album's only single and was very far away from being a chart-topper, the simple fact that Stereolab ceased making music videos at this point didn't help things much either. While "Cobra and Phases..." had complaints waged at it for being a bit too lengthy in spots, as even the album title itself can attest to. Things were nicely brought into focus on "Sound-Dust." They honestly haven't had an album constructed this successfully since "Dots & Loops," which indeed is their second best effort. A few cuts thankfully feature the late great Mary Hansen on lead vocal, as the darkly humorous Pop jingle "Nothing to Do with Me" is an album highlight. Lætitia Sadier is in fine vocal performance as well and shows just a hint of human emotion on the longing and introspective "The Black Arts."

This is the record that is essentially the end of an era for Stereolab, at least in my mind. As fate would cause their music to ultimately take a more stripped down approach, arguably. But on "Sound-Dust" Stereolab somehow amazingly made Easy Listening music interesting, almost ideal. Easy Listening being a sort of sound that they began to explore as early as "Mars Audiac Quintet." Band leader Tim Gane keeps the focus on melody and nothing drags on for too long before an appropriate fade out introduces us to the next infectious piece of ear candy. The final cut on the record is wonderfully dreamlike, and while Stereolab would go on to make some amazing music as the 2000's drug on, nothing at all compares to "Sound-Dust" and I highly doubt it ever will. The strangest thing of all about this record, at least from a highly personal perspective, is that I don't happen to own it...

Cheerio!