Stereolab

London, 1990

Stereolab formed in London in 1990 after the group McCarthy split, built around Tim Gane on guitar and keyboards and Laetitia Sadier on vocals, keyboards and guitar; they met at a McCarthy concert in Paris in 1988. The name came from a division of Vanguard Records that demonstrated hi-fi effects. Their influences include krautrock (Neu!, Faust, Can), lounge, jazz, bossa nova and 1960s French pop, with motorik beats, analog synths and organs, and vocals in English and French. Sadier writes the lyrics, drawing on Situationist ideas and Cornelius Castoriadis. Mary Hansen, who sang backing vocals, joined in 1992 and died on December 9, 2002.

They founded Duophonic with the manager Martin Pike, whose first release was the 10-inch Super 45 in May 1991; the label also issued Broadcast and Tortoise. Peng! (1992, Too Pure) was followed by Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements (1993), Mars Audiac Quintet (1994), Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996), Dots and Loops (1997, their first Billboard 200 entry, at 111), Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night (1999), Sound-Dust (2001), Margerine Eclipse (2004, the last on Elektra) and Chemical Chords (2008, 4AD). Pike announced a pause in April 2009.

Return

A reunion tour and Warp reissues were announced in February 2019, with a first show at Primavera Sound in Barcelona on May 30, 2019, a North American tour in October 2019 and Australia in March 2020. Instant Holograms on Metal Film, with the single "Aerial Troubles", was announced on April 8, 2025. Pitchfork ranked Mars Audiac Quintet 78th and Emperor Tomato Ketchup 51st among the albums of the 1990s. Side projects include Sadier's Monade, Gane's Cavern of Anti-Matter and Turn, and Sean O'Hagan's High Llamas.