Stereolab have shared another new song from their forthcoming Electrically Possessed compilation. You can hear "Household Names" below, which first appeared 2000's The First of the Microbe Hunters.
Following his reflections on the previously shared "Dimension M2," the band's Tim Gane has shared more memories behind Stereolab's latest:
During a two-week break in touring for the Cobra and Phases Group LP we decided to go into Blackwing Studios to record a bunch of tracks "old style" — straight to tape for what would become the world's first double-mini album First of the Microbe Hunters. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing and there was only one song already written ("Outer Bongolia" — originally played by Turn On for three concerts played around the time of the release of their LP 28/07/97) and one song that had already been recorded and mixed earlier ("I Feel the Air" — originally meant for Dots & Loops but we run out of time to mix it for the mastering and so it was left off).
Consequently — as time was tight — all of the other tracks were written very fast across two or three days. "Household Names" was one of three tracks written on the first day (according to the running order on my Fostex cassettes) and it's a little bit of a hark back up to the poppy side of the ETK period I suppose. The track has some lovely singing throughout and great keyboard arrangements courtesy of Sean O'Hagan. We played pretty much as a band and unlike the previous two LPs we didn't use any computers. Andy [Ramsay]'s working title for the song was "Dicky Bows at Dawn," a reference to its cabaret wedding band sound.
As previously reported, Electrically Possessed [Switched On Volume 4] will arrive February 26 through Warp/Duophonic. Find out where the other Switched On compilations sit in our Essential Guide to Stereolab.
Following his reflections on the previously shared "Dimension M2," the band's Tim Gane has shared more memories behind Stereolab's latest:
During a two-week break in touring for the Cobra and Phases Group LP we decided to go into Blackwing Studios to record a bunch of tracks "old style" — straight to tape for what would become the world's first double-mini album First of the Microbe Hunters. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing and there was only one song already written ("Outer Bongolia" — originally played by Turn On for three concerts played around the time of the release of their LP 28/07/97) and one song that had already been recorded and mixed earlier ("I Feel the Air" — originally meant for Dots & Loops but we run out of time to mix it for the mastering and so it was left off).
Consequently — as time was tight — all of the other tracks were written very fast across two or three days. "Household Names" was one of three tracks written on the first day (according to the running order on my Fostex cassettes) and it's a little bit of a hark back up to the poppy side of the ETK period I suppose. The track has some lovely singing throughout and great keyboard arrangements courtesy of Sean O'Hagan. We played pretty much as a band and unlike the previous two LPs we didn't use any computers. Andy [Ramsay]'s working title for the song was "Dicky Bows at Dawn," a reference to its cabaret wedding band sound.
As previously reported, Electrically Possessed [Switched On Volume 4] will arrive February 26 through Warp/Duophonic. Find out where the other Switched On compilations sit in our Essential Guide to Stereolab.