ARTIST

Stereolab

There's no arguing the charmed appeal of Stereolab's repetitive bliss. But neither the integration of the group's favorite bubblegum demonstration records and lounge esoterica, nor their phalanx of Moog and Farfisa keyboards can hide their wholesale theft of Neu!'s tranced-out Krautrock shtick from the 1970s. So what? Stereolab's unique identity lies in their ability to reconfigure "classic" musical exotica, as fashioned by guitarist Tim Gane. The results are analogous to chanteuse Laetitia Sadier's obsession with thrift shops: The band rummages through older, neglected musical goods and employs their discoveries in off-balance, semi-modernized mood music.

French-born Sadier met Gane, who grew up in East London, after a gig he was playing with...
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