Stereolab Emperor Tomato Ketchup CD

Stereolab: Duncan Brown, Tim Gane, Mary Hansen, Morgane Lhote, Andy Ramsay, Laetitia Sadier (vocals, various instruments).
Additional personnel: Sean O'Hagan (string arranger, electric piano, organ, vibraphone); Marcus Holdaway, Sally Herbert, Mandy Drummond, Meg Gates (strings); Ray Dickarty (alto saxophone); John McEntire (vibraphone, guitar, synthesizers, maracas, tambourine).
Producers include: Paul Tipler, Duncan Brown, Tim Gane, Mary Hansen, Morgane Lhote.
Engineers include: Paul Tipler, John McEntire, Paul Tipler.
Recorded at Blackwing Studios, London, England and Idful Music Corp., Chicago, Illinois.
Personnel: Andy Ramsay, Morgane Lhote, Duncan Brown, Laetitia Sadier, Mary Hansen, Tim Gane (vocals, guitar, electric piano, organ, Farfisa, synthesizer, vibraphone, tambourine, percussion, electronics); John McEntire (vocals, guitar, synthesizer, vibraphone, marimba, maracas, tambourine, electronics); Marcus Holdaway, Meg Gates, Sally Herbert (strings); Sean O'Hagan (electric piano, organ, vibraphone).
Audio Mixers: Paul Tipler; Stereolab; John McEntire.
Recording information: Blackwing Studios, London, England; Idful Music Corp., Chicago, IL.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Andy Ramsay; Morgane Lhote; Duncan Brown; Laetitia Sadier; Tim Gane.
Stereolab was poised for a breakthrough release with Emperor Tomato Ketchup, their fourth full-length album. Not only was their influence becoming apparent throughout alternative rock, but Mars Audiac Quintet and Music for the Amorphous Body Center indicated they were moving closer to distinct pop melodies. The group certainly hasn't backed away from pop melodies on Emperor Tomato Ketchup, but just as their hooks are becoming catchier, they bring in more avant-garde and experimental influences, as well. Consequently, the album is Stereolab's most complex, multi-layered record. It lacks the raw, amateurish textures of their early singles, but the music is far more ambitious, melding electronic drones and singsong melodies with string sections, slight hip-hop and dub influences, and scores of interweaving counter melodies. Even when Stereolab appears to be creating a one-chord trance, there is a lot going on beneath the surface. Furthermore, the group's love for easy listening and pop melodies means that the music never feels cold or inaccessible. In fact, pop singles like "Cybele's Reverie" and "The Noise of Carpet" help ease listeners into the group's more experimental tendencies. Because of all its textures, Emperor Tomato Ketchup isn't as immediately accessible as Mars Audiac Quintet, but it is a rich, rewarding listen. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stereolab have always been fascinated with a wide range of textures, which, under their special care, come together in a droney, poppy, spacey sound all their own. In their hands, the monotony of mid-'70s Krautrock, the hi-fi effects of so-called space-age bachelor-pad music (strings, eccentric harmonies, odd studio sounds), and the simplicity of the Velvet Underground's dark pop combine into a mighty monolith that pushes popular music's borders, while making heads sway in teeny-bopperish glee.
EMPEROR TOMATO KETCHUP adds a bit of funk to Stereolab's system, making the monolith swing in directions only hinted at previously. "Metronomic Underground," for instance, builds a series of mysterious grooves over its eight-minute span; it's as structured as the title implies, and as smoky as the French cafes Laetitia Sadier's vocals evoke. But the discovery of the groove is only one of Stereolab's newfound pleasures. The spacing of instruments has taken on a whole new dimension (listen to how the interplay of syncopated guitars, shaker and organ constructs the melody of "Tomorrow Is Already Here"), spreading out the band's formerly vertical sound. And their association with studio savant John McEntire (of Tortoise) has elevated the technological aspects always inherent in their creations. Still, jumpy one-note sambas likRolling Stone (5/13/99, p.80) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."
Spin (9/99, p.142) - Ranked #46 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."
Spin (1/97, p.59) - Ranked #17 on Spin's list of the "20 Best Albums of '96."
Entertainment Weekly (4/12/96, p.68) - "They may be influenced by obscure German groups, they may sing partially in French, but Stereolab's kitsch pop is enjoyable even without a foreign-language degree..." - Rating: B+
Melody Maker (12/21-28/96, pp.66-67) - Ranked #37 on Melody Maker's list of 1996's "Albums Of The Year."
Melody Maker (3/16/96, p.37) - Bloody Essential - "...The new space and polyrhythmic tension that has infused Stereolab's sound is immediately apparent from the opening..."
Musician (6/96, p.86) - "...EMPEROR TOMATO KETCHUP is extraordinary....never before has this too-prolific combo placed so much of what they're good at in the same place at the same time..."
Village Voice (2/25/97) - Ranked #7 in the Village Voice's 1996 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.
NME (Magazine) (12/21-28/96, pp.66-67) - Ranked #18 in NME's 1996 critics' poll.
NME (Magazine) (3/16/96, p.49) - 8 (out of 10) - "...it seems that this motley crew of English second-hand record dweebs, French political, er, lecturers and instrumental boffins have simply reached their peak..."