SOUND-DUST

I am a sucker for Stereolab's music. (1997's Dots and Loops sits at #3 on my list of All-time Favorite Albums.) Sound- Dust is my second favorite from the group. The addition of horns is great but the more sectioned up songs doesn't always work for me as some parts are gorgeous and hook the listener in while the next part might be totally off-the- wall weird.

1. "Black Ants in Sound-Dust" (1:58) (3.5/5)

2. "Space Moth" (7:35) with it's 1:40 woodwind- and horn-laced intro, the song finally kicks into gear but doesn't really hook the listener until its fifth minute--and later when the horns finally return (12/15)

3. "Captain Easychord" (5:33) the piano-based song has many tracks weaving in and out including horns, steel guitar, and, of course, multiple vocal lines but it rarely feels as if all cylinders are firing (7.5/10)

4. "Baby Lulu" (5:13) one of my all-time favorite Stereolab songs, the melody earworms are endless on this one. (10/10)

5. "The Black Arts" (5:13) a gorgeous, hypnotic, emotional song (9.5/10)

6. "Hallucinex" (3:56) opens quite nicely, one of Stereolab's non-intro song that hooks you in right from the start, and the horns and acoustic guitars and tuned percussions are excellent, but it never reaches the heights of some of the others (8.5/10)

7. "Double Rocker" (5:33) for its first 2:27 this song moves along like a slow time-piece: hypnotic and soporific, then it kicks into third gear with a great sound and weave (9/10)

8. "Gus the Mynah Bird" (6:10) great, slow fade-in intro, then awesome body with gorgeous vocals; even the ambient mid-song shift and second half is pretty cool (9/10)

9. "Naught More Terrific Than Man" (4:10) one of the prettiest and best Stereolab songs ever. (10/10)

10. "Nothing to Do with Me" (3:38) is made so special by the 'dialogue' of vocals between Lætitia and Mary. (9.5/10)

11. "Suggestion Diabolique" (7:53) starts out sounding like the rare sinister-sounding S'lab song but then shifts in the second minute into the hypnotic, beautiful, PSYCHEDLELC FURS-like "jouer" section. The song springboards back and forth from positive to negative, yin and yang. (12.75/15)

12. "Les bon bon des raisons" (6:44) really showcases the vocal symbiosis of these two amazing vocalists with it's Beatles-esue opening half melodies but then morphs into a kind of space-satire piece for the second half. (12.75/15)

Rife with incredible highs, Sound-Dust is also populated with a few dogs.

B+/4.5 stars, a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music and an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection.

STEREOLAB as the Bio here states, began as the husband and wife duo of Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier. They formed the band in 1990, and are described here as an Anglo/French Kraut/Pop band. Their debut from 1992 called "Peng!" saw the band as a four piece. It would be album number two from 1993 that second female vocalist Mary Hansen would join the crew. Sadly this album I'm reviewing from 2001 would be her last with the band as she tragically passed away after this recording.

This was a band who shone in the nineties, but most fans would include this album "Sound-Dust" from 2001 along with "Margerine Eclipse" from 2004 as part of their classic era. The music here has been called Art Pop, Ambient Pop and a new one for me Indietronica. We get female dominated vocals that are whimsical, yet dead pan almost. Very samey throughout, and leading the way. Both female singers add percussion, so we get a lot of intricate sounds on this album, including the keyboards etc. This is a long one at 66 1/2 minutes when it's that uniform sounding. I'm just not used to listening to light, poppy music for such a long period. Crossover indeed.

The biggest surprise was seeing a couple of Post Rock names guesting. I'll get to them in a second, but there is a lot of guests on here. Mostly horns I might add. And not in a good way, as it reminds me of being a kid in the seventies and hearing those pop tunes with the lame horns on them. The great thing is that on the album that follows the horns are gone. Much more stripped down that record.

Back to the Post Rock guys. Well ever since 1996 and "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" John McEntire has been helping in a major way with production, but also as a performer. McEntire is from TORTOISE, but also GASTR DEL SOL and later RED KRAYOLA. I mention that last two bands in particular because Jim O'Rourke was part of those two bands and he started playing with John and STEREOLAB in 1999. Of course they bring a Post Rock vibe to the proceedings.

The two tracks that stood out for me are surprising because both have slide guitar on them. Not usually my thing, but it's just such a nice departure from the horns and vocals. The closer reminded me of THE BEATLES. The packaging here is an issue for me. Everything is in writing rather than printing. And not orderly, yeah I'm getting old. But why even bother having liner notes. But that's a Post rock thing isn't it. I had this in my car when I took out my middle adult kid last week. It was interesting after a while to see this Metal loving child reach over and turn it right down. Haha, this was out of character, but I get it.