Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 09:24:47 +0000 From: Andrew Norman (nja@LEICESTER.AC.UK) Subject: Lush, Cocteaus, Stereolab Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup. In a flimsy Tortoise-style cardboard sleeve (not *quite* as flimsy as "Millions Now Living...", but almost), thirteen tracks, just under an hour. As with the Cocteaus there are no shocks - some strings here, a bit of xylophone there, the guitars get cranked up in a couple of songs, rather too much gently swinging funk (but not too funky) for my taste. It will probably grow on me - there's a fair bit of variety - but they aren't the band who had me foaming at the mouth after I bought "Lo-Fi". Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 09:47:10 +0100 From: Andrew Norman (nja@LEICESTER.AC.UK) Subject: Emperor Tomato Ketchup Jens Alfke wrote on Mon, 22 Apr 1996 (Subject: New Stereolab reviews?) > Doesn't anyone want to share a review or comments on the new > Stereolab album? I've seen a few one-line comments on it but > nothing more descriptive. I'll certainly end up buying it, but MAQ > was rather disappointing so it's rather lower on my shopping list > than it would otherwise be. I listened to the first few seconds at > Tower the other day and the first track reminded me strongly of > Tortoise(!). > > So if anyone would like to post a review, mini or otherwise, I'd > greatly appreciate it. Ta. One of the Tortoises is on it, though mostly doing production as I recall. It's not a bad album - less poppy than MAQ, but somehow more easy-listening, though there are some tracks where they almost hit that guitar groove that has largely been missing since the Too Pure days... A bit of a mixture, in other words. I can't say it has impressed me very much, rather like "Millions now living..." I play it in the background quite a lot but it doesn't move me in the way that "Refried Ectoplasm" did. They seem to be playing around with a lot of styles and odd sounds, and never quite getting comfortable - the great thing about Stereolab when they get it right is that you feel they are bursting with confidence and ability, and a lot of this album sounds too tentative. Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 07:12:25 -0400 From: naranjas en la cabeza (larry@INTERLOG.COM) Subject: Re: New Stereolab reviews? I was wondering about that myself, so here goes. This album is much more worth getting than MAQ. 1. Metronomic Underground Starts with weird wacka-wacka noises and something approaching hiphop beat, then kicks in with something that's indeed a bit like Tortoise, but also a hell of a lot of Can, with deep, round bass and clicking guitar figures. Mary sings the same thing over and over while Laetitia sings something entirely different over the top of it. Motors on for almost 8 minutes. 2. Cybele's Reverie Begins with brittle-sounding string section, then leaps into a classic Stereolab French pop song a la "Lo Boob Oscillator", stopping once or twice for a pulsing keyboard part. The lyric deals with the question of what to when one has done/read/eaten/drunk everything, shouted from every roof, cried and laughed in the city and country (I'm paraphrasing here). 3. Percolator Another upbeat pop song with busy bass riffs going on and lots of this keyboard sound that I can only describe as kinda wah-like. 4. Les Yper-Sound Not much in common with Les Yper Yper Sound from the Cybele's Reverie EP (which I guess is a remix). "You go on that team / I go on this team / divide everything / A flag or a number / make them opposites / so there's a reason / stigmatisation / okay, now we can fight". Very metronomic. 5. Spark Plug Syncopated, swinging, I daresay funky. Tim's got a wah pedal and he's using it all over this album. society; there is no sense if one cannot see in them before anything else the life or its capacity to be founded upon itself". 6. OLV 26 A really old-sounding drum machine, buzzing low-end keyboard, a bit Kraftwerk. Lyrically, it deals with the myth of heaven and paradise: "Depuis le temps que c'est promis nous irons tous au paradis - c'est un appel sourd, une promesse aveuglante qui noie la conscience" (Since the time it's been promised - we're all going to paradise; it's a deaf appeal, a blinding promise that drowns the conscience) 7. The Noise of Carpet Fast, fuzzy and upbeat in a sort of punk way. Laetitia is reprimanding man that's too easy". 8. Tomorrow Is Already Here What sounds like a detuned acoustic(?) guitar bounces back and forth between speakers in time with its own syncopated rhythm. Organ comes in slowly. Mary sings the main part (anyone noticed how she has a weak "s"?) with Laetitia adding little bits. Vibes come in at one point, courtesy of John McEntire, making it sound a little Tortoise-y. "Originally this setup was to serve society; now the roles have been reversed that want society to serve the institutions". 9. Emperor Tomato Ketchup Another track that motors along nicely. Stabbing keyboard, whooshy bits. Not one of the more catchy tracks, so why is it the title track? 10. Monstre Sacre A slow and sad song, somewhat Nico-esque. I have a feeling this song is about Laetitia's relationship with her late mother: "I can't let you go without forgiving". Swooping strings that sound like something from Indian film music. 11. Motoroller Scalatron This is great upbeat pop. A syncopated guitar/keyboard rhythm that sounds familiar but I can't place it. "What's society built on? It's built on bluff, built on trust". 12. Slow Fast Hazel Starts slow with strings. "Discovery of fire, America, the invention of the wheel, steel work and democracy..." Then a bit in double-time, a wah guitar part. As the title suggests, it keeps going from slow to fast and back (can't see where the Hazel comes into it though). 13. Anonymous Collective Mid-tempo, subdued droney keyboard. "You and me are shaped by some things well beyond our acknowledgement" are the only words. More vibes, not much happening. Sorry if these vague descriptions aren't much help, but it's hard to describe what you hear. Definitely worth getting and takes a while to sink in - that kind of record. Larry Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 09:49:27 -0400 From: Joseph Burns (jaburns@ASTRO.OCIS.TEMPLE.EDU) Subject: Re: Emperor Tomato Ketchup I've found on closer instening that one of the biggest notables on this record is the bass. It seems that the bass lines are a lot more prominant and more melodic than alot of other stereolab stuff. I dont know if I'd relegate ETK to back-ground music... there are definately more 'hooks' on this record - if stereolab can be accused of such a thing. One last note, check out 'Motoroller Scalatron' for the most brilliant way I've ever heard a band play a 7/8 song and recoup the 'missing' beat with a doo-wop vocal. Not only is it musically brilliant, but it makes me laugh at the same time. Plus I find myself singing it long after the record is over. Who else can write an infectious song in 7/8?! Date: Mon, 29 Apr 1996 10:39:35 -0700 From: Jens Alfke (jens@APPLE.COM) Subject: Quick reviewlets Stereolab "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" (Elektra/Duophonic) I'm going to have to listen to this one a few more times to get a true impression of it. But at first listening I can say that (a) "Metronomic Underground" is very groovy, with a jazzy/funky/Tortoisey feel to it. My wife from the kitchen complained that it was too repetitive, but only because from that distance she couldn't hear the gradually accreting layers of complexity being piled on the basic riff (which itself is tres cool) as the song goes on. (b) "The Noise Of Carpet" is everything the old-Stereolab fan could want -- a rave-up along the lines of "John Cage Bubblegum" but fuzzier and noisier. If Stereolab did a punk song this would be it. (c) There are other very nice songs on the album, but like "Mars Audiac Quartet" before it, it seems to have four or five too many tracks and wears out its welcome by the time it's ended. I started the album thinking "Stereolab Have Returned!", kept this feeling for about 2/3 of the way through, but ended up feeling disappointed. But, I caution, I have only listened to it once. I think one listen is sufficient for me to conclude that it's a lot better than MAQ, however.