Search - Stereolab :: Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night

Ever evolving and revolving

Billy Campbell | Dallas, TX USA | 11/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having been a Stereolab fan since the early 90s, I will admit this is a departure from the noisy droning sound of their early days. But it is a great record nonetheless.



I don't generally listen to groops that do the same thing over and over. Stereolab has veered this way and that, retaining their incredible melodies, harmonies and textures along the way. They are innovators, they always have been and that is their talent.



This album is a huge success in my opinion, as good in its own way as Mars Audiac Quintet, and better than Emperor Tomato Ketchup. There are a few clunkers here, but the songs that work, and that's most of them, work really, really, really well.



Forget the rock critics, they never get it right until 10 years later. In the fullness of time this will be considered one of Stereolab's best works. Get a copy. See the band if you get a chance, I have twice and the second time was especially a gas, they have loosened up their performance over the years it would seem and it was a great time."

Silly Title, Great Music

Mantis Lake | Detroit, MI USA | 11/24/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"CD

Stereolab's full-length follow-up to "Dots and Loops" continues to update old sounds with new techniques and increasingly strong song writing. There are some magnificent tunes on here. This is not as "start-to-finish" excellent as some of their other material but if you like the groop you shan't regret this purchase. It contains two of my favorite songs of theirs in "Infinity Girl" and "Blips Drips & Strips". "Strobo Acceleration" has beauty and atmosphere to spare and "Op-Hop Detonation" is a groovy little ditty to get your toes a-tappin'.



There are one or two tracks I could do without, but that's about it. I think those songs would be good if I heard them apart from the others. I have found many Stereolab songs on other albums that suffer only by comparison to unbelievably fantastic ones. That's it. You have your recommendation. Purchase, listen, and enjoy."

Impressive compilation of relatively mediocre material

IRate | 03/15/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"3 1/2



This might not be one of their most memorable albums, but in an undeniably impressive body of personalized work, this gladly holds up with the best of their light-hearted material. With the personalized stamp of sophisto-indie popsters Stereolab in their full-on prime, it is hard to let many vocal and some instrumental indulgences detract from an ever present playfully arousing but cool, calculated, and detached musical approach. Here more then ever the band is willing to play with it's listeners on as large a level as possible, stretching their already original sound to encompass whatever passing fancy seemed to warrant experimentation. While results feel varied struggling to balance an overtly catchy, structurally-obsessed vocalist with unusually sporadic, sometimes forced band mechanics, through and through the disc remains a solid testament to the group's unique power, only criticized heavily by others when compared to a majority of more focused albums. Still, this lengthy pop excursion would seem essential to anyone into the under appreciated masterminds, and an unlikely though completely appropriate starting point for anyone curious enough to appreciate a good deconstructed melody now and again."