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Rating:
Sound Dust
Once upon a time, there were mixtapes. A friend would make you a mixtape to introduce you to a band that, according to them, was worth listening to. Technically, they were terrible, with the constant risk that the cassette player, true to its name, would decide to chew up the tape. Then, since many were taken in the car to listen to during trips, inevitably dust would accumulate, and the scorching summers of the beautiful country ended up blurring the plastic casing.
For many years, my experience with Stereolab was limited to one of these tapes, which contained a sort of best of from the aforementioned friend—best of tracks up to 1994 (the year it dated back to). Since then, in 2001, quite some time had passed, but despite those dark and throbbing sounds that had always fascinated me, I had never bought anything else. Until, for some reason, with the release of this 'Sound Dust,’ I decided to get it. And finally let myself be captivated by the magic of Stereolab. It was love at second sight, then.
Unfortunately, this album retrospectively assumes another important significance in the band's history: it was the last unreleased record by Mary Hansen, the backing vocalist (but calling her a backing vocalist is very limiting) who passed away the following year in a car accident in London. The album is truly beautiful: Laetitia's voice floats more lightly than ever through the grooves; graceful and enchanting, she sings melodies as soft as snow, pursued by Mary's fairy-tale counter-melodies, an elf devoid of language that contrasts with Laetitia's vetero-Marxist theorems. But perhaps what strikes even more about ‘Sound Dust’ are the sounds: so precise and pure that they lack materiality. The richness of sound particles, the fullness, the variety of the arrangements constitute the essential core of the work, its charm, and its key to interpretation.
"Sound Dust" isn't a record of songs, it could be a single long suite that unfolds over 63 minutes, a suite organic yet non-repetitive. Indeed, for those who accuse Stereolab of never having evolved, it would be enough to compare past albums with this one where repetition is a totally absent musical idea. In fact, it seems that Tim Gane really wanted to do something new and construct the album to favor variations: of rhythm, arrangements, and melodies.
"Sound Dust" is an album that gently caresses the listener, invites them on a journey, seduces them in a land of dreams, and then leaves them surprised, directionless, amidst the sound dust.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
03 Captain Easychord (05:33)
Let live what must live, die what must die
Birth comes with a death, comes with a rise
Ne retenez pas, résistez pas
Faites vivre ce qui, ce qui doit vivre
Laissez mourir ce qui doit mourir
There are two sides to one's same thing, there are two sides
Breathing is like a tide rolls in, then retires
Foster the frank questions
The plants in my garden,
Flourish, seed and perish
04 Baby Lulu (05:13)
Dive in, the heart of extremes,
All assembled in a style,
Extremes reconciled
Improvisation
Rational and poetical, summing up contradictions
Lyrical departure
Formal unity
All in one
Intimate sensuality
Big and cold non places of concrete
Art and social action
Freedom and control
All in one
Utopia and reality,
Hand in hand all this way
Dedicate to change that it can't bring about
It failed but succeeded
It failed but succeeded
05 The Black Arts (05:12)
I need somebody
I feel so lonely
somebody to share
my scarcity
all cut from the world
(I need somebody)
unrelated
(I need somebody)
(I need somebody)
this time I need somebody
(I need somebody)
to be family
(I need somebody)
(I need somebody)
some to inspire
(I need somebody)
the dying fire
(I need my body)
surrounded
the world
on top
disconnected
digging my soul
holding my breath
to repossess
I need somebody
(I need somebody)
I feel so lonely
(I need somebody)
this time I need somebody
(I need somebody)
to be family
(I need somebody)
some to inspire
(I need somebody)
the dying fire
(I need my body)
my heart
my heat
my sweat
my feet
I bleed
my bones
and my blood too
need somebody
is my body
07 Double Rocker (05:33)
Oui tu es le bonheur
Le morceau de beurre
Qui rend la vie si
Délicieuse
Ouvrir ton coeur, ouvrir mon coeur
Excuse-moi, j'ai tant résisté
Notre mirroir, m'a tant appeurée
C'est toi qui lui donne
Son gout profond
Ouvrir ton coeur, ouvrir mon coeur
La peur me quitte,
Je peux me livrer.
Je peux sentir et enfin t'aimer...
La chaleur monte dans l'abdomène,
Tu l'alimentes et le feu se réveille
J'étais de glace dans la glace, complètement à la masse
Le feu crépite,
Il a trouvé les os
Les flammes s'agitent
Elles me redonnent force
La chaleur grandissante, m'a faite fondre, me délivre
08 Gus the Mynah Bird (06:10)
A military regime in democratic disguise
that lies in all impunity
that takes apart what it took
people years to build
public institutions
that promised a decent life
self-determination should be a fact
not essentially a right
there are the lobbies
insurance companies
who want to change the whole country
into a vast commercial counter
for the pure consumer
the promise to give the generals a better place
self-determination should be fact
in the face of corruption
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