{"id":1459,"date":"2025-05-23T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/stereolab-disorients-the-dream-of-the-90s\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T15:00:00","slug":"stereolab-disorients-the-dream-of-the-90s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/stereolab-disorients-the-dream-of-the-90s\/","title":{"rendered":"Stereolab Disorients the Dream of the \u201890s"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Stereolab<\/figure>\n

It\u2019s easy to forget that it\u2019s been more than 15 years since Stereolab released a studio album. Since the group\u2019s reemergence toward the end of the last decade, we\u2019ve gotten reissues of their \u201890s classics, new compilations of archival material, and even a couple of tours, all of which have kept the European avant-pop band visible. And then there\u2019s the music: Stereolab\u2019s mix of EZ-listening, vintage electronics, cruise-control grooves, and Velvet Underground drone has always sounded at home in any decade, from the esoteric tail end of the millennium to the sunset of the aughts, when the band\u2019s prior album, 2009\u2019s capable Chemical Chords<\/em> dropped.<\/p>\n

So, it\u2019s hard to call Instant Holograms on Metal Film<\/em> (out May 23 via Duophonic UHF\/Warp) <\/em>a comeback exactly. But it does balance a return to fundamentals with forays into new territory while making a case for the band\u2019s continued relevance. Only songwriters Tim Gane (guitar-synths), L\u00e6titia Sadier (vocals-synths-guitar), and longtime drummer Andy Ramsay remain from the old days, but Xavi Mu\u00f1oz (bass) and Joe Watson (keys) have been touring members long enough to know how to produce the kind of chilled-out modular grooves that a good Stereolab song depends on. Tracks like \u201cMelodie Is a Wound\u201d and \u201cTransmuted Matter\u201d blend subdued digital pulses with slinky melodies and stiffly funky rhythms, elegantly recapturing the mojo of the \u2018lab\u2019s heyday, while suggesting links to younger weird-pop outfits like Magdalena Bay and Dummy.<\/p>\n

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