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Photo: IO2

Stereolab – Chemical Chords

Chemical Chords
4AD / Duophonic
Released 19th August 2008
Buy

Stereolab are a band I’ve long admired from a distance. The snippets of songs I’ve heard have been intriguing, but never enough to stir a purchase. When Three Women surfaced on the net several months back something changed, and Chemical Chords became an essential purchase. Fast forward to having the beautiful double-LP on the deck, and the record suitably impresses.

The album sounds exactly how I expected a Stereolab album to sound; insistent, wistful and melodic. The bolshy Three Women remains a favourite, joined by the noir swirls of The Ecstatic Static. Pop immediacy flows through the album, interrupted briefly by the distortion of Pop Molecule with its driving rhythm and twisted beats. Frequently the pop feel flirts with retro novelty, absurdly squelchy analogue synth stabs burst into life on tracks like the breezy opener Neon Beanbag.

This retrospection only adds to the charm of this album. This set of tunes not only has that immediacy to pull the listener in, they have the sheen of songs that live in the memory and bear out further plays. Chemical Chords is no revelation though, merely the confirmation that Stereolab are, on this form at least, a fine groop!

Tickets for Stereolab’s December UK tour can be found on Gigantic (Brighton only) and the evil Seetickets.

Stereolab – Three Women (mp3)

Selected Releases: 28 July and 4 August

Nine Inch Nails The Slip MP3: Echoplex Buy	Kitty Daisy & Lewis S/T MP3: Mean Son Of A Gun Buy	Polar Bear S/T MP3: Jig Buy

Conor Oberst S/T MP3: Souled Out!!! Buy	Black Affair Pleasure Pressure Point MP3: Subfuge Buy	Port O’Brien All We Could Do Is Sing MP3: Stuck On A Boat Buy

Little Ones Morning Tide Buy	Stereo MCs Dubble Bubble Buy	Simian Mobile Disco Sample and Hold MP3: Hustler (A-Trak Rmx) Buy

Santogold & Diplo Top Ranking MP3: Guns of Brooklyn Buy	XX Teens Welcome To Goon Island MP3: B-54 Buy	Sonic Youth Andre Sider Af Buy

You can vote for your favourite release over in the left sidebar

The last poll results were:
1. Primal Scream – Beautiful Future
2. CSS – Donkey
=3. Micah P. Hinson – And The Red Empire Orchestra
=3. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive

Sister Ray – Soon To Be Gone?

Sister Ray - End of an Indpendent Era?

Another of London’s rare independent record shops is feeling the one-two punch of illegal downloads and the credit crunch…  Sister Ray this week announced that it was heading into administration. Since the news washed in a few days ago I’ve been trying to pin down why exactly it saddens me to such an extent. I mean, there’s bigger indie shops in London (Rough Trade East), HMV and subsidiary Fopp have reduced their vinyl prices to more or less compete, and a fuller range is stocked by online funboys Norman and Boomkat…

I guess it’s the ever diminishing experience of being surrounded by good music, and people who love good music. Not that I ever spoke to many people in there, I once recommended a chap TV On The Radio’s Desperate Youth And Bloodthirsty Babes as he had a crisis of confidence at the counter but that’s about it. I have, however, got some of my most treasured records from there. It always annoys and astonishes my girlfriend how I will take a good look in the windows of Sister Ray before heading into it’s dark and familiar interior, only to reap more frustration in the haphazard way I’d take to browsing their racks.

Of course the store is not yet bound for closure, the owner is hopeful that the store’s reputation will find it speedy investment. Nor is it perfect, their second hand selection is limited and often over-priced. The offers are never that extensive or special. The pricing is average. But, and it is a big but, they were independent. Run by folks who value selection and variation over profit lines and charts. They’ll be a big miss for me, the particular location having stared at me since 1995 and the cover of Oasis’ (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, the shop hosted my first London record shopping visits when I moved there in late-2001. Hopefully they’ll manage to pull it out of the fire – it’s a long way over to Rough Trade!

Velvet Underground – Sister Ray
Joy Division – Sister Ray (Live)

Selected Releases: 14 and 21 July

Micah P. Hinson & The Red Empire Orchestra S/T MP3: Tell Me It Ain’t So Buy	CSS Donkey MP3: Left Behind Buy	Primal Scream Beautiful Future MP3: Time Of The Assasins Buy

The Hold Steady Stay Positive MP3: Yeah Sapphire Buy	Nas Untitled MP3: Sly Fox Buy	Wire Object 47 Buy

One Day As A Lion S/T Buy	The Dodos Visiter MP3: Ashley Buy	She & Him Volume One MP3: Black Hole Buy

You can vote for your favourite release of the last two weeks in our poll over on the left.

Last time’s winners were:
1. Beck – Modern Guilt
=2. Tricky – Knowle West Boy
=2. Black Kids – Partie Traumatic
=3. Leila – Blood, Looms & Blooms
=3. Melvins – Nude With Boots