View source for Stereolab

{{Short description|English-French avant-pop band}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name             = Stereolab
| background       = group_or_band
| image            = StereolabRoundhs141121 (8 of 59) (51681815198).jpg
| alt              = The band onstage
| landscape        = yes
| caption          = Stereolab performing at the London [[Pitchfork Festival]] in 2021
| origin           = [[London]], England
| genre            = {{flatlist|
*[[Avant-pop]]
*[[post-rock]]
*[[indie electronic]]
*[[indie pop]]
}}
| years_active     = 1990–2009, 2019–present
| label            = {{flatlist|
*[[Duophonic Records|Duophonic]]
*[[Elektra Records|Elektra]]
*[[Too Pure]]
*[[American Recordings (US)|American]]
*[[4AD]]
*[[Slumberland Records|Slumberland]]
*[[Drag City (record label)|Drag City]]
*[[Warp Records|Warp]]
}}
| associated_acts  = {{flatlist|<!--- Do not add artists that are simply solo projects such as Monade --->
*[[McCarthy (band)|McCarthy]]
*{{nowrap|[[Turn On (band)|Turn On]]}}
}}
| website          = {{URL|stereolab.co.uk}}
| current_members  = *[[Tim Gane]]
*[[Lætitia Sadier]]
*Andy Ramsay
*Joseph Watson
*Xavier Muñoz Guimera<ref name="McLean (2019)" />
| past_members     = *Joe Dilworth
*Martin Kean
*Gina Morris
*[[Mary Hansen]]
*[[Sean O'Hagan]]
*Duncan Brown
*Katharine Gifford
*Richard Harrison
*Morgane Lhote
*Simon Johns
*Dominic Jeffery
*[[David Pajo]]
*Joseph Walters
*Julien Gasc
}}

'''Stereolab''' are an [[English people|Anglo]]-French [[avant-pop]] band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of [[Tim Gane]] and [[Lætitia Sadier]], the group's sound incorporates repetitive [[motorik]] beats with the use of vintage electronic keyboards and female vocals sung in English and French, drawing influences from [[krautrock]], [[funk]], [[jazz]], 1960s [[Yé-yé|French pop]] and [[Brazilian music]]. Their lyrics have political and philosophical themes influenced by the [[Surrealist]] and [[Situationist International|Situationist]] art movements.

Stereolab were formed by Gane (guitar and keyboards) and Sadier (vocals, keyboards and guitar) after the break-up of [[McCarthy (band)|McCarthy]]. The two were romantically involved for fourteen years and are the group's only consistent members. Other longtime members included 1992 addition [[Mary Hansen]] (backing vocals, keyboards and guitar), who died in 2002, and 1993 addition Andy Ramsay (drums). [[The High Llamas]]' leader [[Sean O'Hagan]] (guitar and keyboards) was a member from 1993 to 1994 and continued appearing on later records for occasional guest appearances.

Throughout their career, Stereolab have achieved moderate commercial success. The band were released from their recording contract with [[Elektra Records]], and their self-owned label [[Duophonic Records|Duophonic]] signed a distribution deal with [[Too Pure]] and later [[Warp Records]]. After a ten-year hiatus, the band reunited for live performances in 2019, and eventually released the studio album ''[[Instant Holograms on Metal Film]]'' in 2025.

==History==

===1990–1993: Formation===
[[File:Stereolabcliff.svg|left|thumb|upright=0.65|The band's "Cliff" logo appeared in early releases. It was taken from the 1970 comic strip "Der Tödliche Finger" by Anton Holtz Portmann.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dale|first=John|date=2016-02-17|title=The complete guide to Stereolab|url=https://www.factmag.com/2016/02/17/stereolab-guide-best-albums-songs/|access-date=2021-01-16|website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]}}</ref>]]
In 1985, Tim Gane formed [[McCarthy (band)|McCarthy]], a band from [[Essex]], England, known for their left-wing politics.<ref name="sutton">{{cite web | last=Sutton, Michael | url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p203494|pure_url=yes}} | website=[[AllMusic]] | title=Biography (McCarthy) | access-date=30 May 2007}}</ref> Gane met Lætitia Sadier, born in France,<ref name="Arundel (1991)">{{cite news | last=Arundel, Jim | url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article_with_login.html?ArticleID=610 | work=Melody Maker | title=Stereolab | date=26 October 1991 | access-date=26 May 2007 | archive-date=28 September 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040332/http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article_with_login.html?ArticleID=610 | url-status=live }}</ref> at a 1988 McCarthy concert in Paris and the two quickly fell in love. Sadier was disillusioned with the rock scene in France and soon moved to London to be with Gane and to pursue a music career.<ref name="McLean (2019)" /><ref name="Arundel (1991)" /> In 1990, after three albums, McCarthy broke up and Gane immediately formed Stereolab with Sadier (who had also contributed vocals to McCarthy's final album), ex-[[The Chills|Chills]] bassist [[Martin Kean]] and Gina Morris on backing vocals.<ref name="sutton" /><ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)">{{cite web | last=Phares, Heather | url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/stereolab-mn0000026520/biography | website=AllMusic | title=Biography (Stereolab) | access-date=25 May 2007 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114046/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/stereolab-mn0000026520/biography | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Dale |first=Jon |title=Stereolab - Switched on Volumes 1-3 |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/stereolab-switched-refried-ectoplasm-switched-volume-2-aluminum-tunes-switched-volume-3 |website=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]] |date=9 November 2018 |access-date=13 February 2019 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114051/https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/stereolab-switched-refried-ectoplasm-switched-volume-2-aluminum-tunes-switched-volume-3-108173/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Stereolab's name was taken from a division of [[Vanguard Records]] demonstrating [[hi-fi]] effects.<ref name="perrone">{{cite news|last=Perrone, Pierre |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20021213/ai_n12656122 |work=[[The Independent]] |title=Obituary: Mary Hansen |date=13 December 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016152930/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20021213/ai_n12656122 |archive-date=16 October 2007 }}</ref><ref name="Harvey (2017)">{{cite web|last=Harvey, Eric|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/stereolab-dots-and-loops/|title=Stereolab: Dots and Loops Album Review|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|access-date=19 March 2018|date=23 July 2017|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114118/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/stereolab-dots-and-loops/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Grunebaum (2007)">{{cite news |last=Grunebaum, Dan |title=In Person: Don't call us retro |url=http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/415/interview.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061119153819/http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/415/interview.asp |archive-date=19 November 2006 |access-date=29 May 2007 |publisher=[[Metropolis (English magazine in Japan)|Metropolis]]}}</ref>

Gane and Sadier, along with future band manager Martin Pike, set up a record label called [[Duophonic Super 45s]] which, along with later offshoot Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks, would become commonly known as "Duophonic".<ref name="H2O (Chunklet: Tim Gane)">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.chunklet.com/index.cfm?section=article&IssueID=8&ID=53 |magazine=[[Chunklet (magazine)|Chunklet]], Issue 14 |publisher=Chunklet |title=Tim Gane (Duophonic/UHF Disks) |author=((H2O)) |access-date=26 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123215624/http://chunklet.com/index.cfm?section=article&IssueID=8&ID=53 |archive-date=23 November 2010 }}</ref> Gane said that their "original plan" was to distribute multiple 7 and 10-inch records "–to just do one a month and keep doing them in small editions".<ref name="McGonical">{{cite journal |last=McGonical |first=Mike |title=Stereolab / Serene Velocity |journal=(compilation Album Booklet) R2 79533|date=August 2006}}</ref> The 10-inch vinyl EP ''[[Super 45]]'', released in May 1991, was the first release for both Stereolab and the label, and was sold through mail order and through the [[Rough Trade Shop]] in London. ''Super 45''{{'}}s band-designed album art and packaging was the first of many customised and limited-edition Duophonic records. In a 1996 interview in ''[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]'', Gane calls the "do-it-yourself" aesthetic behind Duophonic "empowering", and said that by releasing one's own music "you learn; it creates more music, more ideas".<ref name="Shapiro (1996)">{{cite news|last=Shapiro, Peter |author-link=Peter Shapiro (journalist) |url=http://www.thewire.co.uk/archive/interviews/stereolab.html |work=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]] |title=Laboratory Secrets—Stereolab |date=July 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630172144/http://www.thewire.co.uk/archive/interviews/stereolab.html |archive-date=30 June 2007 }}</ref>

Stereolab released the EP ''[[Super-Electric]]'' in September 1991, and a single, titled "Stunning Debut Album" (which was neither debut nor album), followed in November 1991. The early material was rock and guitar-oriented; of ''Super-Electric'' Jason Ankeny wrote in [[AllMusic]] that "Droning guitars, skeletal rhythms, and pop hooks—not vintage synths and pointillist melodies—were their calling cards&nbsp;..."<ref>{{cite web | last=Ankeny, Jason | url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r804005|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Super-Electric) | access-date=30 May 2007}}</ref> Under the independent label [[Too Pure]], the group's first full-length album, ''[[Peng!]]'', was released in May 1992. A compilation titled ''[[Switched On]]'' was released in October 1992 and would be part of a series of compilations that anthologise the band's more obscure material.<ref name="Phares (AMG: Fab Four Suture)">{{cite web | last=Phares, Heather | url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r821199|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Fab Four Suture) | access-date=25 May 2007}}</ref>

Around this time, the line-up consisted of Gane and Sadier plus vocalist and guitarist [[Mary Hansen]], drummer Andy Ramsay, bassist Duncan Brown, and keyboardist Katharine Gifford. Hansen, born in Australia, had been in touch with Gane since his McCarthy days. After joining, she and Sadier developed a style of vocal counterpoint that distinguished Stereolab's sound.<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)" /><ref name="perrone" /><ref>{{cite news | last=DeRogatis, Jim | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1504869.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103034444/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1504869.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]| publisher=Sun-Times News Group  | title=Great Chemistry // Stereolab Concocts a Unique Mix of Sounds | date=14 October 1993}}</ref> [[Sean O'Hagan]] of [[the High Llamas]] joined as a quick replacement for their touring keyboardist, but was invited for their next record and "was allowed to make suggestions".<ref name="ps5">{{cite web|author1=Popshifter|title=Painters Paint: The Definitive Career-Spanning Interview (to date) With The High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan (Snowbug and Buzzle Bee)|url=http://popshifter.com/2011-01-30/painters-paint-interview-with-the-high-llamas-sean-ohagan/5/|website=Popshifter|date=30 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225145009/http://popshifter.com/2011-01-30/painters-paint-interview-with-the-high-llamas-sean-ohagan/5/|archive-date=25 December 2017}}</ref>

===1993–2001: Sign to Elektra===
Stereolab introduced [[easy-listening]] elements into their sound with the EP ''[[Space Age Bachelor Pad Music]]'', released in March 1993. The work raised the band's profile and landed them a major-label American record deal with [[Elektra Records]]. Their first album under Elektra, ''[[Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements]]'' (August 1993), was an underground success in both the US and the UK.<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)"/> Mark Jenkins commented in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' that with the album, Stereolab "continues the glorious drones of [their] indie work, giving celestial sweep to [their] garage-rock organ pumping and rhythm-guitar strumming".<ref>{{cite news | last=Jenkins, Mark | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-974533.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005061724/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-974533.html | archive-date=5 October 2007 | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]  | title=Acting on Pulse: Shimmery Stereolab | date=12 November 1993}}</ref> In the UK, the album was released on Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks, which is responsible for domestic releases of Stereolab's major albums.<ref name="H2O (Chunklet: Tim Gane)"/>

[[File:Stereolab (1994).jpg|alt=|thumb|Stereolab performing in London in 1994]]
In January 1994, Stereolab achieved their first chart entry when the 1993 EP ''[[Jenny Ondioline]]'', entered at number 75 on the [[UK Singles Chart]]. (Over the next three years, four more releases by the band would appear on this chart, ending with the EP ''[[Miss Modular]]'' in 1997.) Their third album, ''[[Mars Audiac Quintet]]'', was released in August 1994. The album contains the single "[[Ping Pong (EP)|Ping Pong]]", which gained press coverage for its explicitly [[Marxism|Marxist]] lyrics.<ref name="DeRogatis (1994)">{{cite news | last=DeRogatis, Jim | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4241865.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103034452/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4241865.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | work=Chicago Sun-Times | publisher=Sun-Times News Group | title=Stereolab Stands Alone With Hypnotic Drone | date=7 August 1994}}</ref><ref name="Mason (AMG: Ping Pong)">{{cite web | last=Mason, Stewart | url={{AllMusic|class=song|id=t3599445|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Song Review (Ping Pong) | access-date=25 May 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Reynolds, Simon |author-link=Simon Reynolds |url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article_with_login.html?ArticleID=1030 |work=Melody Maker |title=Stereolab: Separation Terrorists |date=16 July 1994 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040054/http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article_with_login.html?ArticleID=1030 |archive-date=28 September 2007 }}</ref> The band focused more on pop and less on rock, resulting in what AllMusic described as "what may be the group's most accessible, tightly-written album".<ref>{{cite web | last=Phares, Heather | url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r204124|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Mars Audiac Quintet) | access-date=1 June 2007}}</ref> It was the last album to feature O'Hagan as a full-time member. He would continue to make guest appearances on later releases.<ref name="amsean">{{cite web|last=McClintock|first=J. Scott|title=Sean O'Hagan|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sean-ohagan-mn0000839359/biography|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=25 December 2017|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114124/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sean-ohagan-mn0000839359/biography|url-status=live}}</ref> The group issued an EP titled ''[[Music for the Amorphous Body Study Center]]'' in April 1995. The EP was their musical contribution to an interactive art exhibit put on in collaboration with New York City artist Charles Long.<ref name="Reynolds (1995)">{{cite news | last=Reynolds, Simon | url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article_with_login.html?ArticleID=1018 | work=[[Artforum]] | title=Plasticine and Heard. (Interactive Exhibit) | date=1 May 1995 | access-date=26 May 2007 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114121/https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/stereolab-simple-minds/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Their second compilation of rarities, titled ''[[Refried Ectoplasm|Refried Ectoplasm (Switched On, Vol. 2)]]'', was released in July 1995.

The band's fourth album, ''[[Emperor Tomato Ketchup (album)|Emperor Tomato Ketchup]]'' (March 1996), was a critical success and was played heavily on [[college radio]].<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)"/> A record that "captivated alternative rock", it represented the group's "high-water mark" said music journalists Tom Moon and Joshua Klein, respectively.<ref name="Klein (2001)"/><ref>{{cite news | last=Moon, Tom | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-118466091.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103035102/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-118466091.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | work=[[Philadelphia Inquirer]]| publisher=Philly Online, LLC  | title=Latest album from Stereolab continues high-tech tradition | date=20 April 2004}}</ref> The album incorporated their early krautrock sound with funk, hip-hop influences and experimental instrumental arrangements.<ref name=":0">{{cite web | last=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas | url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r233504|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Emperor Tomato Ketchup) | access-date=1 June 2007}}</ref> [[John McEntire]] of Tortoise also assisted with production and played on the album. Katharine Gifford was replaced by Morgane Lhote before recording, and bassist Duncan Brown by Richard Harrison after.<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)"/> Lhote was required to both learn the keyboards and 30 of the group's songs before joining.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mason |first=Rachel |title=Stereolab's Morgane Lhote Talks Video Games, Daft Punk and New Project Hologram Teen |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rachel-mason/stereolabs-morgane-lhote-_b_10402066.html |website=Huffington Post |access-date=22 February 2019 |date=13 June 2016 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114118/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stereolabs-morgane-lhote-_b_10402066 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Released in September 1997, ''[[Dots and Loops]]'' was their first album to enter the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200 charts]], peaking at number 111. The album leaned towards [[jazz]] with [[bossa nova]] and [[1960s in music|60's pop]] influences.<ref>{{cite web | last=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/dots-and-loops-mw0000026813 | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Dots and Loops) | access-date=12 August 2018 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114126/https://www.allmusic.com/album/dots-and-loops-mw0000026813 | url-status=live }}</ref> [[Barney Hoskyns]] wrote in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' that with it the group moved "ever further away from the one-chord Velvets drone-mesh of its early days" toward easy-listening and [[Europop]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Hoskyns, Barry|date=October 1997|title=Stereolab: Dots and Loops|magazine=Rolling Stone|url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article_with_login.html?ArticleID=1365|url-status=live|access-date=2 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114131/https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/stereolab-dots-and-loops-/|archive-date=12 January 2021}}</ref> A review in German newspaper ''[[Die Zeit]]'' stated that in ''Dots and Loops'', Stereolab transformed the harder Velvet Underground-like [[riff]]s of previous releases into "softer sounds and noisy playfulness".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.zeit.de/1997/44/19899 | work=Die Zeit | title=Review (Dots and Loops) | date=4 April 1997 | access-date=12 June 2007 | archive-date=16 October 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016073552/http://www.zeit.de/1997/44/19899 | url-status=live }}</ref> Contributors to the album included John McEntire and Jan St. Werner of German electropop duo [[Mouse on Mars]].<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)" /><ref name="Cooper (1999)">{{cite news|last=Cooper, Neil |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_19990523/ai_n13939563 |work=The Sunday Herald  |title=Hold the front page&nbsp;...&nbsp;Stereolab have learned a second chord |date=23 May 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016152910/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_19990523/ai_n13939563 |archive-date=16 October 2007 }}</ref> Stereolab toured for seven months and took a break when Gane and Sadier had a child.<ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)" /> The group's third compilation of rarities, ''[[Aluminum Tunes]]'', was issued in October 1998.

Their sixth album, ''[[Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night]]'', was released in September 1999. It was co-produced by McEntire and American producer [[Jim O'Rourke (musician)|Jim O'Rourke]], and was recorded with their new bassist, Simon Johns.<ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)" /> The album received middling reviews from critics and peaked at number 154 on the ''Billboard'' 200.<ref name="uncutcobra">{{cite magazine|title=Stereolab: Emperor Tomato Ketchup / Dots and Loops / Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night|magazine=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]|issue=269|date=October 2019|last=Pattison|first=Louis|page=50}}</ref><ref name="exclaimcobra">{{cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/stereolab-cobra_and_phases_group_play_voltage_in_the_milky_night|title=Stereolab: Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night (Expanded and Remastered)|website=[[Exclaim!]]|date=12 September 2019|access-date=14 March 2020|last=Ranta|first=Alan}}</ref> An unsigned ''[[NME]]'' review said that "this record has far more in common with bad jazz and progressive rock than any experimental art-rock tradition."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/1392.htm |website=NME |title=Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night |access-date=11 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016080835/http://www.nme.com/reviews/1392.htm |archive-date=16 October 2007 }}</ref> In a 1999 article of ''Washington Post'', Mark Jenkins asked Gane about the album's apparent lack of guitars; Gane responded, "There's a lot less upfront, distorted guitar&nbsp;...&nbsp;But it's still quite guitar-based music. Every single track has a guitar on it."<ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/11/05/stereolabs-latest-experiment/3750c74e-ee0b-4248-960e-0a11c52a81db/?noredirect=on|title=Stereolab's Latest Experiment|last=Jenkins, Mark|date=5 November 1999|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=28 December 2018|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114145/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/11/05/stereolabs-latest-experiment/3750c74e-ee0b-4248-960e-0a11c52a81db/?noredirect=on|url-status=live}}</ref>

Stereolab's seventh album, ''[[Sound-Dust]]'' (August 2001), rose to number 178 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album also featured producers McEntire and O'Rourke. ''Sound-Dust'' was more warmly received than ''Cobra and Phases Group…''.<ref name="Klein (2001)"/><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Walters, Barry |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/stereolab/albums/album/282736/review/5944773/sounddust |magazine=Rolling Stone |title=Sound-Dust |date=20 August 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016075146/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/stereolab/albums/album/282736/review/5944773/sounddust |archive-date=16 October 2007 }}</ref> Critic Joshua Klein said that "the emphasis this time sounds less on unfocused experimentation and more on melody&nbsp;...&nbsp;a breezy and welcome return to form for the British band."<ref name="Klein (2001)">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/08/29/what-the-bleep-stereolab-does-some-actual-tunes/f5ecba58-415b-4394-aac6-9ebf56f59e6e/|title=What the Bleep? Stereolab Does Some Actual Tunes|last=Klein, Joshua|date=29 August 2001|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=10 October 2019|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114142/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/08/29/what-the-bleep-stereolab-does-some-actual-tunes/f5ecba58-415b-4394-aac6-9ebf56f59e6e/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] of AllMusic stated that the album "[finds the group] deliberately recharging their creative juices" but he argued that ''Sound-Dust'' was "anchored in overly familiar territory."<ref>{{cite web | last=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas | url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r547823|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Sound-Dust) | access-date=1 June 2007}}</ref>

===2002–2010: Death of Hansen, later releases and hiatus===
In 2002, as they were planning their next album, Stereolab started building a studio north of [[Bordeaux]], France. ''[[ABC Music (Stereolab album)|ABC Music: The Radio 1 Sessions]]''; a compilation of [[BBC Radio 1]] sessions was released in October.<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r612216|pure_url=yes}}|title=Review (ABC Music: The Radio 1 Sessions)|last=Mason, Stewart|website=AllMusic|access-date=1 June 2007}}</ref> In the same year, Gane and Sadier's romantic relationship ended.<ref name="McNair (2004)">{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20040130/ai_n9686514|title=Rock & pop: Total eclipse of the heart|last=McNair, James|work=The Independent|access-date=30 January 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016152935/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20040130/ai_n9686514|archive-date=16 October 2007}}</ref>{{Quote box
| quote = Losing Mary is still incredibly painful&nbsp;...&nbsp;But it's also an opportunity to transform and move on. It's a new version. We've always had new versions, people coming in and out. That's life.<ref>{{cite news | last=Laban, Linda | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-115189718.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103035048/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-115189718.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 |work=Boston Herald  | title=Stereolab changes with 'Eclipse' | date=9 April 2004}}</ref> 
| source = —Sadier, 2004
| align = right| width = 25em
}}

On 9 December 2002, Hansen was killed when hit by a truck while riding her bicycle in London.<ref name="McLean (2019)" /> She was 36. Writer Pierre Perrone said that her "playful nature and mischievous sense of humour came through in the way she approached the backing vocals she contributed to Stereolab and the distinctive harmonies she created with Sadier."<ref name="perrone"/> For the next few months, Stereolab lay dormant as the members grieved. They eventually decided to continue. Future album and concert reviews would mention the effects of Hansen's absence.<ref name="Harvey (2017)" /><ref name="DeRogatis (2003)"/><ref name="Harrington (2004)"/><ref name="Wagner (2004)">{{cite news | last=Wagner, Lori | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-113256578.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103035134/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-113256578.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 |publisher=The Virginian Pilot  | title=Music Reviews: A little old, a little new from Stereolab. (Daily Break) | date=13 February 2004}}</ref>

The EP ''[[Instant 0 in the Universe]]'' (October 2003) was recorded in France, and was Stereolab's first release following Hansen's death. Music journalist [[Jim DeRogatis]] said that the EP marked a return to their earlier, harder sound—"free from the pseudo-funk moves and avant-garde tinkering that had been inspired by Chicago producer Jim O'Rourke".<ref name="DeRogatis (2003)">{{cite news | last=DeRogatis, Jim | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4194873.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103034504/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4194873.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | work=Chicago Sun-Times | publisher=Sun-Times News Group | title=Stereolab, "Instant O in the Universe" (Elektra) | date=5 October 2003}}</ref>

Stereolab's eighth album, ''[[Margerine Eclipse]]'', was released on 27 January 2004 with generally positive reviews,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/stereolab/margerineeclipse?q=stereolab | website=Metacritic | title=Margerine Eclipse | access-date=6 June 2007 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114110/https://www.metacritic.com/music/margerine-eclipse/stereolab | url-status=live }}</ref> and peaked at number 174 on the US Billboard 200. The track "Feel and Triple" was written in tribute to Hansen; Sadier said, "I was reflecting on my years with her&nbsp;... reflecting on how we sometimes found it hard to express the love we had for one another."<ref name="McNair (2004)"/> Sadier continued, "Our dedication to her on the album says, 'We will love you till the end', meaning of our lives. I'm not religious, but I feel Mary's energy is still around somewhere. It didn't just disappear."<ref name="McNair (2004)"/> The ''[[The Observer|Observer]]'''s Molloy Woodcraft gave the album four out of five stars, and commented that Sadier's vocal performance as "life- and love-affirming", and the record as a whole as "Complex and catchy, bold and beatific."<ref>{{cite news | last=Woodcraft, Molloy | url=https://www.theguardian.com/observer/omm/reviews/story/0,,1133242,00.html | work=[[The Observer]] | title=Stereolab: Margerine Eclipse | date=1 February 2004 | access-date=11 June 2007 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114050/https://www.theguardian.com/observer/omm/reviews/story/0,,1133242,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Kelefa Sanneh commented in ''Rolling Stone'' that ''Margerine Eclipse'' was "full of familiar noises and aimless melodies".<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Sanneh, Kelefa | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/4938923/review/5943038 | magazine=Rolling Stone | title=Margerine Eclipse | date=5 February 2004 | access-date=15 September 2017 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114128/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/ }}</ref> ''Margerine Eclipse'' was Stereolab's last record to be released on American label Elektra Records, which shut down that same year.<ref name="Eliscu (2004)">{{cite magazine|last=Eliscu, Jenny |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/stereolab/articles/story/6085957/warner_to_ax_eighty_artists |magazine=Rolling Stone  |title=Warner to Ax Eighty Artists |date=3 June 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016075201/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/stereolab/articles/story/6085957/warner_to_ax_eighty_artists |archive-date=16 October 2007 }}</ref> Future material would be released on Too Pure, the same label which had released some of the band's earliest material.<ref name="beggars.com">{{cite web | url=http://www.beggars.com/us/monade/index.html | website=Official Website | publisher=Beggars Group, USA | title=Monade | access-date=26 May 2007| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070202110910/http://www.beggars.com/us/monade/index.html| archive-date = 2 February 2007}}</ref>

[[File:Stereolab glass house (2878601320).jpg|alt=|left|thumb|Stereolab performing in [[Pomona, California|Pomona]], California in 2008]]
The group released six limited-edition singles in 2005 and 2006, which were anthologised in the 2006 compilation ''[[Fab Four Suture]]'', and contained material which Mark Jenkins thought continued the brisker sound of the band's post-Hansen work.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Mark |title=STEREOLAB "Fab Four Suture ..." |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-110126.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214064733/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-110126.html |archive-date=14 December 2018 |access-date=11 December 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=17 March 2006}}</ref> By June 2007, Stereolab's line-up comprised Tim Gane, Lætitia Sadier, Andy Ramsay, Simon Johns, Dominic Jeffrey, Joseph Watson, and Joseph Walters.<ref>{{cite web |via=[[MySpace]]|title=Stereolab |url=http://www.myspace.com/stereolab |access-date=12 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080707041641/http://www.myspace.com/stereolab |archive-date=7 July 2008}}</ref> In 2008, the band issued their next album under the label [[4AD]] titled, ''[[Chemical Chords]]'', which "[downplays] their arsenal of analog synths in favor of live instrumentation".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://fasterlouder.junkee.com/st-jeromes-laneway-festival-line-up-2009/796275|title=St Jerome's Laneway Festival line-up 2009|date=12 October 2008|work=FasterLouder|access-date=8 March 2018|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114050/https://music.junkee.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2009, Stereolab manager Martin Pike announced a pause in their activities for the time being. He said that it was an opportune time for the members to move on to other projects.<ref>{{cite web |last=Breihan |first=Tom |date=2 April 2009 |title=Stereolab Go on Hiatus |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/34993-stereolab-go-on-hiatus/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114128/https://pitchfork.com/news/34993-stereolab-go-on-hiatus/ |archive-date=12 January 2021 |access-date=14 August 2018 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]}}</ref> ''[[Not Music]]'', a collection of unreleased material recorded at the same time as ''Chemical Chords'', was released in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stereolab: Not Music Album Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14838-not-music/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114111/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14838-not-music/ |archive-date=12 January 2021 |access-date=25 December 2017 |website=Pitchfork}}</ref>

===2019–present: Reunion and ''Instant Holograms on Metal Film''===
In February 2019, the group announced a tour of Europe and the United States to coincide with expanded, remastered reissues of several of the albums released under [[Warp Records]].<ref name="McLean (2019)" /> Stereolab were part of the lineup for 2019's Primavera Sound festival, taking part on the weekend of 30 May in Barcelona, Spain, and the following weekend in Porto, Portugal. It was the group's first live performance since 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2018/12/stereolab-reunion-shows/|title=Sounds Like Stereolab Are Coming Back|last=Cush|first=Andy|date=4 December 2018|website=Spin|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517201012/https://www.spin.com/2018/12/stereolab-reunion-shows/|archive-date=17 May 2019|url-status=live|access-date=17 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/primavera-sound-festival-lineup-cardi-b-janelle-monae-interpol-solange-763618/|title=Primavera Sound: Cardi B, Janelle Monae, Interpol, Solange Lead 2019 Lineup|first=Ryan|last=Reed|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=5 December 2018|access-date=19 June 2019|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114130/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/primavera-sound-festival-lineup-cardi-b-janelle-monae-interpol-solange-763618/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shrapnel.org/b2/2019/06/06/1-stereolab-at-primavera-sound-2019-youtube/|title=Stereolab at Primavera Sound 2019|website=shrapnel.org|access-date=19 June 2019|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114132/http://shrapnel.org/b2/2019/06/06/1-stereolab-at-primavera-sound-2019-youtube/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 8 April 2025, the band announced their first album of brand-new material in 15 years, ''[[Instant Holograms on Metal Film]]''. It was accompanied by the release of ''Aerial Troubles'' as a single and music video on the same day.<ref>{{cite web|title=Stereolab announces first album in 15 years|last=Gillis|first=Drew|url=https://www.avclub.com/stereolab-new-album-instant-holograms-on-metal-film|date=8 April 2025|website=[[The A.V. Club]]}}</ref>

==Musical style==
{{Listen
| filename     = Stereolab_-_Jenny_Ondioline.ogg
| title        = "Jenny Ondioline"
| description  = Sample of "Jenny Ondioline", from ''[[Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements]]'' (1993). This song is considered an example of their musical style<ref name="jimsullivan"/> and "the most ambitious—and definitive—moment of Stereolab's early years".<ref name="pharestransient">{{cite web | last=Phares, Heather | url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r188417|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements) | access-date=31 May 2007}}</ref>
| filename2    = Stereolab_-_Motoroller_Scalatron.ogg
| title2       = "Motoroller Scalatron"
| description2 = Sample of "Motoroller Scalatron", from ''[[Emperor Tomato Ketchup (album)|Emperor Tomato Ketchup]]'' (1996). This clip illustrates the vocal interplay between Lætitia Sadier and Mary Hansen.
}}
Stereolab's music has been generally termed as [[avant-pop]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Couture|first=François|title=Sucre 3|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/sucre-3-mw0000774524|website=[[AllMusic]]|year=2001|access-date=21 April 2020|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114124/https://www.allmusic.com/album/sucre-3-mw0000774524|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="maloney2016">{{cite news|last=Maloney|first=Sean L.|title=Album review: Your Friend, 'Gumption'|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2016/01/27/album-review-your-friend-gumption/mVPjAOYJ9KWmE1ZeKkBoNP/story.html|work=[[Boston Globe]]|date=28 January 2016|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-date=18 December 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20161218154555/https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2016/01/27/album-review-your-friend-gumption/mVPjAOYJ9KWmE1ZeKkBoNP/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[indie pop]],<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)"/><ref name="billboard-obituary">{{cite magazine | title=Obituaries | magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] | date=21 December 2002 | volume=114 | issue=51 | page=54}}</ref> [[art pop]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://exclaim.ca/music/article/stereolab_reveal_vinyl_reissues_of_emperor_tomato_ketchup_dots_loops | title=Stereolab Reveal Vinyl Reissues of 'Emperor Tomato Ketchup' and 'Dots and Loops' | website=[[Exclaim!]] | date=18 September 2012 | access-date=28 February 2016 | last=Adams, Gregory | archive-date=7 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307225954/http://exclaim.ca/music/article/stereolab_reveal_vinyl_reissues_of_emperor_tomato_ketchup_dots_loops | url-status=live }}</ref> [[indie electronic]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/indie-electronic-ma0000012275|title=Indie Electronic – Significant Albums, Artists and Songs|website=AllMusic|access-date=21 April 2020|archive-date=1 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401185537/http://www.allmusic.com/style/indie-electronic-ma0000012275|url-status=live}}</ref> [[indie rock]],<ref name="AM"/> [[post-rock]],<ref name="McLean (2019)" /><ref name="AM">{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/post-rock-ma0000002790 | title=Post-Rock | website=[[AllMusic]] | access-date=28 February 2016 | archive-date=1 April 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401185538/http://www.allmusic.com/style/post-rock-ma0000002790 | url-status=live }}</ref> [[experimental rock]],<ref name="billboard-obituary"/> and [[experimental pop]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Cole|first=Matthew|title=Album Review: Stereolab – Not Music|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/stereolab-not-music|website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|date=15 November 2010|access-date=12 July 2016|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114228/https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/stereolab-not-music/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Rick Reger 1996">{{cite web |last=Reger |first=Rick |title=Stereolab's Catchy Artiness |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-12-03-9912030101-story.html |website=Chicago Tribune |date=3 December 1999 |access-date=13 February 2019 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114212/https://www.chicagotribune.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The band combines a droning [[Rock music|rock]] sound with [[lounge music|lounge]] instrumentals, overlaid with sing-song female vocals and [[Pop music|pop]] melodies, and have also made use of unorthodox time signatures.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sherburne |first=Phillip |title=Stereolab: Switched On / Refried Ectoplasm / Aluminum Tunes |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/stereolab-switched-on-refried-ectoplasm-aluminum-tunes/ |website=Pitchfork |date=6 October 2018 |access-date=11 February 2019 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114133/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/stereolab-switched-on-refried-ectoplasm-aluminum-tunes/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Sadier remarked in 2015 that "[the band's] records were written and recorded very quickly… we would write 35 tracks, sometimes more".<ref name="rbma">Lætitia Sadier Lecture (2015) ''[[Red Bull Music Academy]]''</ref>

Jim Sullivan of ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' described their general style and instrumentation as being "often pegged as [[The Velvet Underground|Velvet Underground]]-influenced [[Retrofuturism|retro-futurists]]. [The group] utilize old [[Moog synthesizer|Moog synthesi[s]ers]] and [[Farfisa]] and [[Vox Continental]] organs, [and] two guitars, bass, and drums."<ref name="jimsullivan">{{Cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Jim |date=5 November 1997 |title=Stereolab trades drone for spacier sound: [City Edition] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/403904916 |website=[[The Boston Globe]] |id={{ProQuest|403904916}} }}</ref> Gane described their use of vintage synthesisers: "We use the older effects because they're more direct, more extreme, and they're more like plasticine: you can shape them into loads of things."<ref>Taylor (2001), p.110</ref> The 1994 album ''[[Mars Audiac Quintet]]'' prominently features Moog synthesisers.<ref name="Shapiro (1996)"/><ref name="DeRogatis (1994)"/>

Lætitia Sadier's English, French and occasionally wordless vocals have been a part of Stereolab's music since the beginning,<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)" /><ref name="Klein (2001)" /> In reference to her laid-back delivery, [[Peter Shapiro (journalist)|Peter Shapiro]] wrote facetiously in ''[[The Wire (magazine)|Wire]]'' that Sadier "display[ed] all the emotional histrionics of [[Nico (German singer)|Nico]]",<ref name="Shapiro (1996)" /> while some critics have commented that her vocals were unintelligible.<ref name="Klein (2001)"/><ref name="Shea (2002)">{{cite book|pages=55, 56|author=Shea, Stuart|year=2002|title=Rock & Roll's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Lame Lyrics, Egregious Egos, and Other Oddities|publisher=Potomac Books|isbn=978-1-57488-477-7}}</ref> Sadier would often trade vocals with Mary Hansen back-and-forth in a sing-song manner that has been described as "eerie" and "hypnotic", as well as "sweet [and] slightly alien".<ref name="perrone"/><ref name="pharestransient"/> After Hansen's death in 2002, critic Jim Harrington commented that her absence is noticeable on live performances of Stereolab's older tracks, and that their newer songs could have benefited from Hansen's backing vocals.<ref name="Harrington (2004)">{{cite news|last=Harrington, Jim |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20040401/ai_n14573449 |work=Oakland Tribune  |title=Stereolab won't let Hansen be forgotten |date=1 April 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016153026/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20040401/ai_n14573449 |archive-date=16 October 2007 }}</ref>

In interviews, Gane and Sadier have discussed their musical philosophy. Gane said that "to be unique was more important than to be good."<ref name="Stark (1999)">{{cite news|last=Stark, Jeff |url=http://www.salon.com/ent/music/int/1999/09/22/stereolab/index.html |work=Salon  |title=Surrealist manifesto |date=22 September 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208061520/http://www.salon.com/ent/music/int/1999/09/22/stereolab/index.html |archive-date=8 February 2007 }}</ref> On the subject of being too obscure, he said in a 1996 interview that "maybe the area where we're on dodgy ground, is this idea that you need great knowledge [of] esoteric music to understand what we're doing." Sadier responded to Gane, saying that she "think[s] we have achieved a music that will make sense to a lot of people whether they know about [[Steve Reich]] or not."<ref name="Shapiro (1996)"/> The duo were up-front about their desire to grow their sound: for Gane, "otherwise it just sounds like what other people are doing",<ref name="Hoskyns (1999)">{{cite magazine|last=Hoskyns |first=Barney |title=Stereolab: Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night (Duophonic) |magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|date=September 1999}}</ref> and for Sadier, "you trust that there is more and that it can be done more interesting."<ref name="Fritch (2004)">{{cite news|last=Fritch, Matthew |url=http://www.magnetmagazine.com/interviews/stereolab.html |work=[[Magnet (magazine)|Magnet]] |title=Stereolab |date=November–December 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060327015748/http://www.magnetmagazine.com/interviews/stereolab.html |archive-date=27 March 2006 }}</ref>

===Influences===

Their records have been heavily influenced by the "[[motorik]]" technique of [[1970s in music|1970s]] [[krautrock]] groups such as [[Neu!]] and [[Faust (band)|Faust]].<ref name="Shapiro (1996)"/><ref name="Klein (2001)"/> Tim Gane has supported the comparison: "Neu! did [[Minimal music|minimalism]] and [[Drone (sound)|drones]], but in a very pop way."<ref name="Reynolds (1996)">{{cite magazine | last=Reynolds, Simon | url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-16967983 | magazine=Rolling Stone | title=Stereolab: Simple Minds | date=4 April 1996 | access-date=7 January 2019 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114214/https://www.gale.com/databases/questia | url-status=live }}</ref> Dave Heaton of ''[[PopMatters]]'' said that their music also had "echoes of [[Bubblegum music|bubblegum]], of [[exotica]], of [[Beach Boys]] and [[bossa nova]]", with their earlier work "bearing strong [[Velvet Underground]] overtones".<ref name="Dave Heaton 2006">{{cite web |last=Heaton |first=Dave |title=Stereolab: Serene Velocity: A Stereolab Anthology |url=https://www.popmatters.com/stereolab-serene-velocity-a-stereolab-anthology-2495702336.html |website=[[PopMatters]] |access-date=13 February 2019 |date=20 September 2006 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114210/https://www.popmatters.com/stereolab-serene-velocity-a-stereolab-anthology-2495702336.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Funk]], [[jazz]], and [[Brazilian music]] were additional inspirations for the band.<ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)"/><ref name="McNair (2004)"/> Stephan Davet of French newspaper ''[[Le Monde]]'' said that ''[[Emperor Tomato Ketchup (album)|Emperor Tomato Ketchup]]'' (1996) had musical influences such as [[Burt Bacharach]], and [[Françoise Hardy]].<ref>{{cite news | last=Davet, Stephane | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_breve/1,13-0,37-206716,0.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130107133307/http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_breve/1,13-0,37-206716,0.html | archive-date=7 January 2013 |work=Le Monde  | title=Stereolab—Emperor Tomato Ketchup | date=6 April 1996 }}</ref> The sounds influenced by minimalist composers [[Philip Glass]] and Steve Reich can be found on the 1999 album ''[[Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night|Cobra and Phases Group&nbsp;Play Voltage in the Milky Night]].''<ref name="Klein (2001)" /><ref>{{cite news | last=Hodgkinson, Will | url=https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,4228473,00.html | work=[[The Guardian]] | title=Home entertainment—Stereolab | date=21 July 2001 | access-date=13 December 2016 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114209/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2001/jul/27/artsfeatures4 | url-status=live }}</ref> Stereolab's style also incorporates [[Easy listening|easy-listening]] music of the [[1950s in music|1950s]] and [[1960s in music|'60s]]. Joshua Klein in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' said that, "Years before everyone else caught on, Stereolab [were] referencing the 1970s German bands [[Can (band)|Can]] and Neu!, the Mexican lounge music master [[Juan García Esquivel|Esquivel]] and the decidedly unhip Burt Bacharach."<ref name="Klein (2001)" /> Regarding their later work such as ''[[Instant 0 in the Universe]]'' (2003) and ''[[Margerine Eclipse]]'' (2004), critics have compared the releases to the band's earlier guitar-driven style.<ref name="DeRogatis (2003)"/><ref name="Wagner (2004)"/>

===Live performances===
Stereolab toured regularly to support their album releases. In a 1996 ''Washington Post'' gig review, Mark Jenkins wrote that Stereolab started out favouring an "easy-listening [[syncopation]]", but eventually reverted to a "messier, more urgent sound" characteristic of their earlier performances.<ref>{{cite news | last=Jenkins, Mark | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-776792.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103034528/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-776792.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | newspaper=The Washington Post  | title=Stereolab (Concert Review) | date=28 May 1996}}</ref> In another review Jenkins said that the band's live songs "frequently veer[ed] into more [[Cacophony|cacophonous]], guitar-dominated territory", in contrast to their albums such as ''Cobra and Phases Group…''<ref>{{cite news | last=Jenkins, Mark | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-626054.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103034909/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-626054.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | newspaper=The Washington Post  | title=Stereolab's Velvet Fog | date=13 November 1999}}</ref> In the ''[[Minneapolis Star Tribune]]'', Jon Bream compared the band's live sound to feedback-driven rock bands like the Velvet Underground, [[Sonic Youth]] and [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]].<ref>{{cite news | last=Bream, Jon | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62629381.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103034435/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62629381.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 |work=Star Tribune  | title=French-British band Stereolab brings its diverse influences to First Avenue | date=9 May 1996}}</ref> Jim Harrington of ''[[The Oakland Tribune]]'' argued that Sadier's vocals sounded subdued, further stating in regard to her switching between singing in English and French that "a Stereolab show is one of the few concerts where it's hard to find even the biggest fans mouthing along with the lyrics."<ref name="Harrington (2004)" /> Regarding being onstage, Gane has said that "I don't like to be the center of attention&nbsp;...&nbsp;I just get into the music and am not really aware of the people there. That's my way of getting through it."<ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)"/> Remarking of the band's 2019 reunion tour, he added that "[Stereolab] never were really a festival band''…'' We're not like, 'Hey, how you all doing?' and all that stuff."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Harvilla|first=Rob|date=2019-07-25|title=The Anti-Nostalgia of the Stereolab Reunion|url=https://www.theringer.com/music/2019/7/25/20727074/stereolab-reunion-tour-pitchfork|access-date=2020-06-12|website=[[The Ringer (website)|The Ringer]]|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114217/https://www.theringer.com/music/2019/7/25/20727074/stereolab-reunion-tour-pitchfork|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Lyrics and titles==
{{Quote box
| quote = "What enters my work, we call it human complexities, and politics is a part of that. In the sense that I feel that humanity can do much better… [and] we could organize ourselves in a much more fair and efficient way. In [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] and in the media, they seem to flatten things up— it's simple and one-leveled and easy to digest. This is not how we feel life really is.  I'm always trying to explore and make sense of contradictions."<ref name="jimsullivan"/>
| source = Sadier in an interview with ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' (1997)
| align = right
| width = 312px
}}Stereolab's music is politically and philosophically charged.<ref name="Reynolds (1996)"/> Dave Heaton of ''[[PopMatters]]'' said that the group "[uses] lyrics to convey ideas while using them for the pleasurable way the words sound."<ref>{{cite web |last=Heaton |first=Dave |title=Sound-Dust |url=https://www.popmatters.com/stereolab-sound-2496081238.html |website=PopMatters |access-date=27 September 2018 |date=27 August 2001 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114216/https://www.popmatters.com/stereolab-sound-2496081238.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Lætitia Sadier, who writes the group's lyrics, was influenced by both the [[Situationist International|Situationist]] philosophy ''[[Society of the Spectacle]]'' by [[Marxism|Marxist]] theorist [[Guy Debord]],<ref name="Harvey (2017)"/> and her anger towards the [[Iraq War]].<ref name="Stanley (2003)">{{cite news | last=Stanley, Bob |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517034615/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article994976.ece|archive-date=17 May 2011| url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article994976.ece | work=The Times | title=Stereolab—starting at zero | date=17 October 2003}}</ref> The [[Surrealist]], as well as other Situationist cultural and political movements were also influences, as stated by Sadier and Gane in a 1999 ''[[Salon (website)|Salon]]'' interview.<ref name="Stark (1999)"/>

Critics have seen Marxist allusions in the band's lyrics, and have gone so far as to call the band members themselves Marxist.<ref name="Shapiro (1996)"/><ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)"/><ref name="Fritch (2004)"/><ref name="Reynolds (1996)" /> Music journalist [[Simon Reynolds]] commented that Sadier's lyrics tend to lean towards Marxist social commentary rather than "affairs of the heart".<ref name="Reynolds (1996)" /> The 1994 single "[[Ping Pong (EP)|Ping Pong]]" has been put forward as evidence in regard to these alleged views. In the song, Sadier sings "about [[capitalism]]'s cruel cycles of slump and recovery" with lyrics that constitute "a plainspoken explanation of one of the central tenets of Marxian economic analysis" (said critics Reynolds and Stewart Mason, respectively).<ref name="Mason (AMG: Ping Pong)"/><ref name="Reynolds (1996)"/>

Band members have resisted attempts to link the group and its music to Marxism. In a 1999 interview, Gane stated that "none of us are Marxists&nbsp;... I've never even read [[Karl Marx|Marx]]." Gane said that although Sadier's lyrics touch on political topics, they do not cross the line into "sloganeering".<ref name="Jenkins (5 November 1999)"/> Sadier also said that she had read very little Marx.<ref name="Stark (1999)"/> In contrast, [[Cornelius Castoriadis]], a radical political philosopher but strong [[Criticism of Marxism|critic of Marxism]], has been cited as a marking influence in Sadier's thinking.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vanguard-online.co.uk/archive/music/stereolb.htm|title=Stereolab – Lataetia and Tim|website=Vanguard-online.co.uk|access-date=25 December 2017|archive-date=28 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228223025/http://www.vanguard-online.co.uk/archive/music/stereolb.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reviler.org/2010/09/16/high-five-with-laetitia-sadier-stereolab/|title=High Five with Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab) – Reviler|last=Behm, John|date=16 September 2010|website=Reviler|access-date=25 December 2017|archive-date=26 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226022904/http://www.reviler.org/2010/09/16/high-five-with-laetitia-sadier-stereolab/|url-status=live}}</ref> The name of her side project, [[Monade]], and its debut album title, ''Socialisme ou Barbarie'', are also references to the work of Castoriadis.<ref name="Fritch (2004)"/><ref name="Phares (AMG: Monade)">{{cite web | last=Phares, Heather | url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p514220|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Biography (Monade) | access-date=1 June 2007}}</ref>

Stereolab's album and song titles occasionally reference [[avant-garde]] groups and artists. Gane said that the title of their 1999 album ''[[Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night|Cobra and Phases Group…]]'' contains the names of two Surrealist organisations, "[[COBRA (avant-garde movement)|CoBrA]]" and "Phases Group",<ref name="Stark (1999)"/> The title of the song "Brakhage" from ''[[Dots and Loops]]'' (1997), is a nod to [[Experimental film|experimental]] filmmaker [[Stan Brakhage]].<ref name="Stark (1999)"/> Other examples are the 1992 compilation ''[[Switched On]]'', named after [[Wendy Carlos]]' 1968 album ''[[Switched-On Bach]]'',<ref>Taylor (2001), p.108</ref> and the 1993 song "[[Jenny Ondioline]]", a portmanteau of inventor [[Georges Jenny]] and his instrument the [[Ondioline]].<ref>Taylor (2001), p.109</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Stereolab_live.jpg|thumb|left|Stereolab were credited for reviving the use of vintage analogue instruments.]]
Stereolab have been called one of the most "influential" and "fiercely independent and original groups of the Nineties" by writers Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Pierre Perrone respectively.<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)"/><ref name="perrone"/> Mark Jenkins called them one of "the decade's most innovative British bands."<ref name="Jenkins (1998)">{{cite news | last=Jenkins, Mark | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-676214.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103034707/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-676214.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | newspaper=The Washington Post  | title=Snowpony | date=18 September 1998}}</ref> Simon Reynolds commented in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' that the group's earlier records form "an endlessly seductive body of work that sounds always the same, always different."<ref name="Reynolds (1996)"/> In a review for the 1992 single "John Cage Bubblegum", Jason Ankeny said that "No other artist of its generation fused the high-minded daring of the avant-garde and the lowbrow infectiousness of pop with as much invention, skill, and appeal."<ref>{{cite web |last=Akeny |first=Jason |title=John Cage Bubblegum/Eloge d'Eros - Stereolab |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/john-cage-bubblegum-eloge-deros-mw0001015021 |website=AllMusic |access-date=26 September 2018 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114135/https://www.allmusic.com/album/john-cage-bubblegum-eloge-deros-mw0001015021 |url-status=live }}</ref> In ''The Wire'', Peter Shapiro compared the band to [[Britpop]] bands [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]] and [[Blur (band)|Blur]], and defended their music against the charge that it is "nothing but the sum total of its arcane reference points."<ref name="Shapiro (1996)" />

Stereolab were one of the first groups to be described as [[post-rock]]—in a 1996 article, journalist Angela Lewis applied the "new term" to Stereolab and three other bands who have connections to the group.<ref name="lewis">{{cite news|last=Lewis, Angela |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4793572.html |work=The Independent |title=Angela Lewis on pop |date=19 April 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103035054/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4793572.html |archive-date=3 November 2012 }}</ref> Stylistically, music journalist [[J. D. Considine]] credits the band for anticipating and driving the late 1990s revival of vintage analogue instruments among indie rock bands.<ref>{{cite news|last=Considine, J. D. |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_19971212/ai_n10384575 |newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel  |title=Music so retro it's cutting edge |date=12 December 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016153034/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_19971212/ai_n10384575 |archive-date=16 October 2007 }}</ref> Stephen Christian, a creative director of [[Warp Records]], said that the group "exists in the gap between the experimentation of the underground and the appeal of the wider world of pop music".<ref name="McLean (2019)" />

The group have also received negative press. [[Barney Hoskyns]] questioned the longevity of their music in a 1996 ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'' review, saying that their records "sound more like arid experiments than music born of emotional need."<ref>{{cite news | last=Hoskyns, Barry | url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=6573 | work=Mojo | publisher=Emap Consumer Media Limited | title=The High Llamas: Hawaii; Stereolab: Emperor Tomato Ketchup | date=May 1996 | access-date=27 May 2007 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114249/https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-high-llamas-hawaii-stereolab-emperor-tomato-ketchup-/ | url-status=live }}</ref> In ''[[The Guardian]],'' Dave Simpson stated: "With their borrowings from early, obscure [[Kraftwerk]] and hip obtuse sources, [Stereolab] sound like a band of rock critics rather than musicians."<ref>{{cite news | last=Simpson, Dave | url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2001/dec/10/artsfeatures4 | work=[[The Guardian]] | title=Stereolab (Manchester University) | date=10 December 2001 | access-date=11 June 2007 | archive-date=16 October 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016081022/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,704969,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Lætitia Sadier's vocals were cited by author Stuart Shea as often being "indecipherable".<ref name="Shea (2002)" />

A variety of artists, musical and otherwise, have collaborated with Stereolab. In 1995 the group teamed up with sculptor Charles Long for an interactive art show in New York City, for which Long provided the exhibits and Stereolab the music.<ref name="Reynolds (1995)"/> They have released tracks by and toured with post-rock band [[Tortoise (band)|Tortoise]], while [[John McEntire]] of Tortoise has in turn worked on several Stereolab albums.<ref>{{cite news | last=Jenkins, Mark | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-256365.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103035004/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-256365.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | newspaper=The Washington Post  | title=The Sea And Cake: One Bed&nbsp;... | date=25 April 2003}}</ref> In the 1990s, the group collaborated with the industrial band [[Nurse with Wound|Nurse With Wound]] and released two albums together, ''[[Crumb Duck]]'' (1993) and ''[[Simple Headphone Mind]]'' (1998),<ref name="Dale (2016)">{{cite news|url=https://www.factmag.com/2016/02/17/stereolab-guide-best-albums-songs/|title=The complete guide to Stereolab|last=Dale|first=John|date=17 February 2016|work=[[Fact (UK magazine)|FACT Magazine]]|access-date=11 December 2018|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114256/https://www.factmag.com/2016/02/17/stereolab-guide-best-albums-songs/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Stereolab also released "Calimero" (1998) with French avant-garde singer and poet [[Brigitte Fontaine]].<ref name="Dale (2016)" /> The band worked with [[Herbie Mann]] on the song "One Note Samba/Surfboard" for the 1998 AIDS-Benefit album, ''[[Red Hot + Rio]]'', produced by the [[Red Hot Organization]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/red-hot-rio-mw0000081170|title=Red Hot + Rio – Various Artists – Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=25 December 2017|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114154/https://www.allmusic.com/album/red-hot-rio-mw0000081170|url-status=live}}</ref>

Stereolab alumni have also founded bands of their own. Guitarist Tim Gane founded the side project Cavern of Anti-Matter and also formed Turn on alongside band member [[Sean O'Hagan]], who formed his own band [[the High Llamas]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Sherburne |first=Philip |title=Cavern of Anti-Matter: Void Beats / Invocation Trex |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21470-void-beats-invocation-trex/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=11 December 2018 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114148/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21470-void-beats-invocation-trex/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |title=Turn On {{!}} Biography & History |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/turn-on-mn0000206966/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=11 December 2018 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114235/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/turn-on-mn0000206966/biography |url-status=live }}</ref> Katharine Gifford formed [[Snowpony]] with former [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]] bassist [[Debbie Googe]].<ref name="Jenkins (1998)"/><ref>{{cite web | last=Unterberger, Richie | url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p169439|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Biography (The High Llamas) | access-date=26 May 2007}}</ref> Sadier has released three albums with her four-piece side-project [[Monade]], whose sound Mark Jenkins called a "little more Parisian" than Stereolab's.<ref>{{cite news | last=Jenkins, Mark | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-42690.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103035031/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-42690.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | newspaper=The Washington Post  | title=Monade: A Few Steps More&nbsp;... | date=20 May 2005}}</ref> Backing vocalist [[Mary Hansen]] formed a band named Schema with members of [[Hovercraft (band)|Hovercraft]] and released their eponymous EP in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/schema-mw0000099801|title=Schema - Schema|first=François|last=Couture|website=AllMusic|access-date=15 January 2018|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114151/https://www.allmusic.com/album/schema-mw0000099801|url-status=live}}</ref> Former keyboardist, Morgan Lhote, formed a band named Hologram Teen.<ref>Lyon, Judy. "[https://torchedmagazine.com/2017/11/11/stereolabs-morgane-lhote-on-becoming-hologram-teen Stereolab’s Morgane Lhote On Becoming Hologram Teen]". torchedmagazine, 11 November 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2025</ref><ref>"[https://www.kcrw.com/music/shows/todays-top-tune/hologram-teen-connection-transpacifique Today's Top Tune Hologram Teen: ‘Connection transpacifique’]". [[KCRW]], 7 March 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2025</ref>

As of August 1999, US album sales stood at 300,000 copies sold.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nggEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA100|title=''Elektra Plugs Stereolab's Voltage''|magazine=Billboard|first=Lisa|last=Gidley|date=28 August 1999|via=Google Books|access-date=30 June 2018|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114242/https://books.google.com/books?id=nggEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA100|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite receiving critical acclaim and a sizeable fanbase, commercial success eluded the group.<ref name="Eliscu (2004)"/><ref name="Stevens (2003)">{{cite web | last=Stevens, Andrew | url=http://www.3ammagazine.com/musicarchives/2003/jan/messrs_modular.html | publisher=3:AM Magazine | title=Stereolab—Radio 1 Sessions | year=2003 | access-date=26 May 2007 | archive-date=3 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174159/http://www.3ammagazine.com/musicarchives/2003/jan/messrs_modular.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Early in their career, their 1993 EP ''[[Jenny Ondioline]]'' entered the [[UK Singles Chart]], but financial issues prevented the band from printing enough records to satisfy demand.<ref name="Stevens (2003)"/><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.stereolab.co.uk/discography/?no=10 | website=Stereolab Official Site | publisher=Stereolab | title=Discography (Jenny Ondioline) | access-date=26 May 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927230939/http://www.stereolab.co.uk/discography/?no=10 | archive-date=27 September 2007 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> According to Sadier, however, the band "[avoided] going overground" like [[PJ Harvey]], [[Pulp (band)|Pulp]] and [[the Cranberries]], all of whom quickly rose from obscurity to fame, adding: "This kind of notoriety is not a particularly good thing, [and] you don't enjoy it anymore."<ref name="McLean (2019)">{{cite web |last=McLean |first=Craig |title=Stereolab, Britain's Clever Post-Rock Innovators, Want to Capture Ears Again |date=10 May 2019 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/arts/music/stereolab-reunion.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=13 May 2019 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114302/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/arts/music/stereolab-reunion.html |url-status=live }}</ref> When [[Elektra Records]] was closed down by [[Warner Bros. Records]] in 2004, Stereolab was dropped along with many other artists, reportedly because of poor sales.<ref name="Eliscu (2004)"/> Tim Gane said in retrospect that the group "signed to Elektra because we thought we would be on there for an album or two and then we'd get ejected. We were surprised when we got to our first album!"<ref name="McGonical" /> Since then, Stereolab's self-owned label [[Duophonic Records|Duophonic]] has inked a worldwide distribution deal with independent label [[Too Pure]].<ref name="beggars.com"/> Through Duophonic, the band both licenses their music and releases it directly (depending on geographic market). Gane said, "...&nbsp;we license our recordings and just give them to people, then we don't have to ask for permission if we want to use it. We just want to be in control of our own music."<ref name="H2O (Chunklet: Tim Gane)"/>

==Members==
'''Current members'''
*[[Tim Gane]] - guitar, keyboards {{small|(1990–2009, 2019–present)}}
*[[Lætitia Sadier]] - lead vocals, keyboards, guitar, percussion, trombone {{small|(1990–2009, 2019–present)}}
*Andy Ramsay - drums {{small|(1992–2009, 2019–present)}}
*Joseph Watson - keyboards, vibraphone, backing vocals {{small|(2004–2009, 2019–present)}}
*Xavier Muñoz Guimera - bass guitar, backing vocals {{small|(2019–present)}}

'''Former members'''
*Joe Dilworth - drums {{small|(1990–1992)}}
*Martin Kean - bass guitar {{small|(1990–1992)}}
*Gina Morris - backing vocals {{small|(1991)}}
*[[Modern English (band)|Mick Conroy]] - keyboards {{small|(1992)}}
*[[Mary Hansen]] - backing and lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion {{small|(1992–2002)}} {{small|(died 2002)}}
*[[Sean O'Hagan]] - keyboards, guitar {{small|(1993)}} 
*Duncan Brown - bass guitar, backing vocals {{small|(1993–1995)}}
*Katharine Gifford - keyboards {{small|(1993–1995)}}
*Morgane Lhote - keyboards {{small|(1995–2001)}}
*[[David Pajo]] - bass guitar, backing vocals {{small|(1995)}}
*Richard Harrison - bass guitar {{small|(1996–1998)}}
*Simon Johns - bass guitar {{small|(1999–2009)}}
*Dominic Jeffery - keyboards {{small|(2001–2006)}}
*Joseph Walters - French horn, guitar, keyboards {{small|(2004–2008)}}
*Julien Gasc - keyboards, backing vocals {{small|(2008–2009)}}

'''Timeline'''
{{#tag:timeline|
ImageSize = width:790 height:auto barincrement:20
PlotArea = left:120 bottom:80 top:10 right:15
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/08/1990 till:{{#time:d/m/Y}}
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4
ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1991
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1991

Colors =
 id:vocals    value:red         legend:Vocals
 id:bvocals   value:pink        legend:Backing_vocals
 id:guitar    value:green       legend:Guitar
 id:brass     value:skyblue     legend:Brass
 id:keys      value:purple      legend:Keyboards
 id:bass      value:blue        legend:Bass
 id:drums     value:orange      legend:Drums
 id:studio    value:black       legend:Studio_album
 id:bars      value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData =
 layer:back
  color:studio
   at:26/05/1992
   at:24/08/1993     
   at:02/08/1994
   at:18/03/1996
   at:22/09/1997
   at:21/09/1999
   at:28/08/2001
   at:27/01/2004
   at:18/08/2008
   at:16/11/2010
   at:23/05/2025

BarData =
 bar:Lætitia       text:"Lætitia Sadier"
 bar:Gina          text:"Gina Morris"
 bar:Tim           text:"Tim Gane"
 bar:Mary          text:"Mary Hansen"
 bar:JoeWal        text:"Joseph Walters"
 bar:Tim           text:"Tim Gane"
 bar:Mick          text:"Mick Conroy"
 bar:Sean          text:"Sean O'Hagan"
 bar:Katharine     text:"Katharine Gifford"
 bar:Morgane       text:"Morgane Lhote"
 bar:Dominic       text:"Dominic Jeffery"
 bar:JoeWat        text:"Joseph Watson"
 bar:Julien        text:"Julien Gasc"
 bar:Martin        text:"Martin Kean"
 bar:Duncan        text:"Duncan Brown"
 bar:David         text:"David Pajo"
 bar:Richard       text:"Richard Harrison"
 bar:Simon         text:"Simon Johns"
 bar:Xavier        text:"Xavier Muñoz Guimera"
 bar:JoeD          text:"Joe Dilworth"
 bar:Andy          text:"Andy Ramsay"

PlotData=
 width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
 bar:Lætitia     from:start      till:09/04/2009      color:vocals
 bar:Lætitia     from:start      till:09/04/2009      color:guitar width:7
 bar:Lætitia     from:start      till:09/04/2009      color:keys width:3
 bar:Lætitia     from:20/02/2019      till:end      color:vocals
 bar:Lætitia     from:20/02/2019      till:end      color:guitar width:7
 bar:Lætitia     from:20/02/2019      till:end      color:keys width:3
 bar:Tim     from:start      till:09/04/2009      color:guitar
 bar:Tim     from:start      till:09/04/2009         color:keys width:3
 bar:Tim     from:01/03/1998 till:21/09/1999 color:bass width:7
 bar:Tim     from:20/02/2019      till:end      color:guitar
 bar:Tim     from:20/02/2019      till:end      color:keys width:3

 bar:Gina     from:01/06/1991 till:31/12/1991 color:bvocals
 bar:Mary     from:01/07/1992      till:09/12/2002      color:vocals
 bar:Mary     from:01/07/1992      till:09/12/2002      color:guitar width:3
 bar:Mary     from:01/07/1992      till:09/12/2002      color:keys width:7

 bar:Martin  from:start till:31/12/1992 color:bass
 bar:Duncan  from:01/01/1993 till:01/06/1995 color:bass
 bar:Duncan  from:01/01/1993 till:01/06/1995 color:bvocals width:3
 bar:David   from:01/06/1995 till:31/12/1995 color:bass
 bar:Richard from:01/01/1996 till:01/03/1998 color:bass
 bar:Simon   from:21/09/1999 till:09/04/2009 color:bass
 bar:Xavier  from:20/02/2019 till:end      color:bass
 bar:Xavier  from:20/02/2019 till:end      color:bvocals width:3

 bar:JoeD    from:start till:30/04/1992 color:drums
 bar:Andy    from:01/06/1992 till:09/04/2009 color:drums
 bar:Andy    from:20/02/2019      till:end      color:drums

 bar:Mick    from:01/07/1992      till:31/12/1992      color:keys
 bar:Sean    from:01/01/1993      till:01/07/1993      color:keys
 bar:Sean    from:01/01/1993      till:01/07/1993      color:guitar width:3
 bar:Katharine    from:01/07/1993      till:01/04/1995      color:keys
 bar:Morgane from:01/06/1995 till:31/08/2000 color:keys
 bar:Dominic from:01/06/2001 till:01/07/2007 color:keys
 bar:JoeWat  from:01/03/2004 till:09/04/2009 color:keys
 bar:JoeWat  from:01/03/2004 till:09/04/2009 color:bvocals width:3
 bar:JoeWat  from:20/02/2019 till:end      color:keys
 bar:JoeWat  from:20/02/2019 till:end      color:bvocals width:3
 bar:Julien  from:01/09/2008 till: 09/04/2009 color:keys
 bar:Julien  from:01/09/2008 till: 09/04/2009 color:bvocals width:3

 bar:JoeWal from:01/03/2004 till:18/08/2008 color:brass
 bar:JoeWal from:01/07/2007 till:18/08/2008 color:keys width:7
 bar:JoeWal from:01/03/2004 till:18/08/2008 color:guitar width:3
}}

==Discography==
{{main|Stereolab discography}}

'''Studio albums'''
* ''[[Peng!]]'' (1992)
* ''[[Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements]]'' (1993)
* ''[[Mars Audiac Quintet]]'' (1994)
* ''[[Emperor Tomato Ketchup (album)|Emperor Tomato Ketchup]]'' (1996)
* ''[[Dots and Loops]]'' (1997)
* ''[[Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Sound-Dust]]'' (2001)
* ''[[Margerine Eclipse]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Chemical Chords]]'' (2008)
* ''[[Not Music]]'' (2010)
* ''[[Instant Holograms on Metal Film]]'' (2025)

'''Compilation albums''' Stereolab released many non-LP tracks that they later anthologised as compilation albums.<ref name="Phares (AMG: Fab Four Suture)"/>
* ''[[Switched On]]'' (1992)
* ''[[Refried Ectoplasm]]: Switched On, Vol. 2'' (1995)
* ''[[Aluminum Tunes]]: Switched On, Vol. 3'' (1998)
* ''[[ABC Music (Stereolab album)|ABC Music: The Radio 1 Sessions]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Oscillons from the Anti-Sun]]'' (2005)
* ''[[Fab Four Suture]]'' (2006)
* ''[[Serene Velocity (album)|Serene Velocity: A Stereolab Anthology]]'' (2006)
* ''[[Electrically Possessed]]: Switched On, Vol. 4'' (2021)
* ''[[Pulse of the Early Brain]]: Switched On, Vol. 5'' (2022)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Book sources===
* {{cite book | last=Taylor, Timothy | title=Strange Sounds: Music, Technology and Culture | url=https://archive.org/details/strangesoundsmus00tayl | url-access=registration | publisher=Routledge | edition=1st | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-415-93684-2}}

===Chart data===
* {{cite magazine | url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/stereolab/chart-history/tlp/ |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] | title=Stereolab Chart History | access-date=29 March 2018}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/29702/stereolab/ |website=[[Official Charts]] |title=Stereolab |access-date=29 March 2018}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{Discogs artist|388}}

{{Stereolab|state=expanded}}
{{Lætitia Sadier}}
{{featured article}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Stereolab| ]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1990]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2009]]
[[Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2019]]
[[Category:Indie rock groups from London]]
[[Category:English post-rock groups]]
[[Category:Flying Nun Records artists]]
[[Category:Drag City (record label) artists]]
[[Category:4AD artists]]
[[Category:British indie pop groups]]
[[Category:English experimental rock groups]]
[[Category:Art pop musicians]]
[[Category:Experimental pop musicians]]
[[Category:Avant-pop musicians]]
[[Category:Slumberland Records artists]]
[[Category:1990 establishments in England]]
[[Category:French-language musical groups from the United Kingdom]]