As I said in this column a few weeks ago, Stereolab's new album is called "Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night" (on Elektra Records).
If you had to chose one group from the nineties that has consistently bridged the gap between Krautrock and Bossa Nova, between the Velvet Underground and Ennio Morricone, between avant-garde instrumentalism, electronic beats and vintage pop/rock stylings, it would have to be Stereolab. While founding members Tim Gane and Laetitia Sandier are a soft-spoken European couple with a newborn child, they are also the de facto leaders of this prolific, genre-busting sound ensemble. Since Stereolab's first EP was released in 1992, they have put out more than a dozen original recordings. This large number of CDs, EPs and assorted collectors items is especially remarkable in lieu of the fact that the band hasn't made a new record since 1997's "Dots And Loops," that is, until now. Speaking from his publicist's office in Manhattan, Tim Gane admits that he needs to stay busy and Stereolab's new album occured right in the nick of time. "I get jittery if we don't do stuff for a while," he tells me. "We had the compilation come out last year but that doesn't really count, it wasn't new material. Last year was busy because we had a child and we were building a studio. We were working a lot, but we were doing stuff where you don't have a record at the end of it." Just for fun, I asked Tim some mildly probing questions about music in general. Here, for the very first time, are the answers straight from Tim Gane's mouth.
Q) What's in your disc player right now?
A) It would be the Captain Beefheart box set ("Grow Fins").
Q) And your favorite album?
A) My favorite album is "Metal Box" by Public Image.
Q) Favorite party album?
A) We usually put on something French like Serge Gainsbourg that's usually pretty good. Something French though, they're just great party records.
Q) What song/album are you most likely to get naked to?
A) Naked? Oh god, a very short album. We don't have any record player in our bedroom and I rarely prance around in the living room.
Q) Guilty Pleasures?
A) I'll tell you what I really like, "Out Of The Blue" by ELO (Electric Light Orchestra). For some people that's a bad record, but it's a great record. I also like some of the early Queen albums.
Q) What was the first record/group that you fell in love with?
A) The first real impression I remember having was the band Cabaret Voltaire "Nag, Nag, Nag," that was my absolute all time, Numero Uno/Year One kind of record. That just changed the whole way I thought about music. When I heard that, everything went off on a different tangent. That would be that record.
Q) Name one song that you wish you would have written?
A) I don't have one that I wish I'd written but sometimes I listen to a record and think "What a great idea it was to do that!"-like when you listen to the first Velvet Underground record. I suppose it would be "Good Vibrations." To have the wherewithal to create such an arrangement and chords, that's something you can only wish to do something as strong as that.
Q) What music do you want played at your funeral?
A) That's a question that I never ever thought of.
Q) Who's your favorite Beatle, fifth or otherwise?
A) My favorite Beatle is definitely Ringo Starr.
by Mitch Myers
copyright 1999 New City Communications, Inc.