Dots and Loops

Stereolab

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 1997)
• Original Release Date: September 23, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000002HQ3
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,770 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #17 in	Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Ambient Pop
  #57 in	Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Electronic Pop
  #70 in	Music > Indie Music > Dance & DJ > Electronica

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The raw artiness and German rock influences heard on this U.K. sextet's landmark Transient Random-Noise Bursts (1993) have been distilled into a smooth sour-mash cocktail here. As with sister act The High Llamas, there's a buoyant '60s whimsy to these tracks, recorded in Chicago (with Tortoise's John McEntire), Düsseldorf and elsewhere. Laetitia Sadier has refined her Françoise Hardy routine, and Tim Gane marshals his vintage synths to fine effect on "Prisoner of Mars" and "The Flower Called Nowhere." --Jeff Bateman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mesmerizing, Hypnotic, Space Pop, January 28, 2006

By	Jimmy Dean "Artist" - See all my reviews

Stereolab's music is extremely abstract and that is what makes it beautiful. The abstract nature of their songs lies in the musical arrangement and the melodies. They use raw sounds to create a futuristic blend of truly original songs. This is not house, or ambient, or dance because Stereolab still retains percussive elements of rock, and the vocals are structured somewhat. They have tweaked their music in a more experimental way while it remains grounded in their roots. Dots and Loops begins to break away from their earlier work in a more complex way, while still retaining elements of their earlier sounds on Emperor Tomato Ketchup. Stereolab's music requires multiple listens in order to begin to appreciate the heavily layered, textural atmosphere that their music consists of. I do not recommend listening to Dots and Loops while you are doing anything important, because you will fall into a deep hypnotic trance. As far as technical considerations go, the sounds that they use take on a life of their own, and the arrangements further enhance this sophistication. If you forget your name and where you are, don't be surprised. The heavy production is used to maximum advantage. Dots and Loops is a landscape of dreamy, esoteric, chill trip hop. Parsec is such a beautiful song, it's one of my favorite Stereolab songs. Refractions In The Plastic Pulse is just otherworldly, it plays out like a several songs that were strung together. This is the kind of music I would listen to if I was on a spaceship going to Mars. I love the abstract beeps and blurps that are punctuated by Laetitia Sadier's voice. Although I am not fluent in French, I think this helps me appreciate the beauty of her voice. It simply becomes another element. They have fused so many different influences to create such a unique and poetic sound. As a whole, the songs are more focused. Each song is so richly textured with electronic synthesizers and rhythmatic ambient noise. There is a richness and full bodied sound that begins to develop. If you want to listen to something that is truly original and genre defying listen to Stereolab. Stereolab's music could be classified as post-modern, synth-pop electronica, with a touch of rock elements. This isn't an "I'm sorta in the middle" kind of album. You either appreciate it, or you don't. Don't be afraid to let it "grow" on you, because eventually it will.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Mummy! I can hear the fractals!", August 10, 2000

By	David Kipp (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

Mere words cannot adequately describe how I treasure this record: wherein every song is a densely and intricately constructed whole unto itself and still the whole far transcends the sum of its coruscating parts. Best to describe my relationship with this record as a collection of associations and fragments: falling in love and a coffee buzz: Diagonals: angular grooves; driving at night: Contronatura: dark, effervescent pulses; holidaying in mountains at Easter: Brakhage and Parsec: shambolic cadences; above all, the company of loved friends.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strange Reward, November 12, 2004

By	Cant Free (Switzerland) - See all my reviews

I stole my first Stereolab tune off the Internet, Refractions in the Plastic Pulse, what a place to start. Within thirty minutes, I likewise on the net, bought Dots and Loops(I'm fascinated by the reviewers who purchase by cover art; that's backwards to me). Balance, consistency, restraint, maturity, constant attention to symmetry where mugging for the listener/audience/camera through butt jiggling and/or overly decorative lyrics are supposed to be, oh brave new music industry, that there are such wondrous creatures making a living in it. I can't get over the seriousness of their enterprise. A pop band, which does not relinquish their pursuit of making good music to a petite melody designed to grab the average listener at an instant; then there are the hypno-melodies that will enwrap the casual listen as it does the choir. Dots and Loops is not a music release. It is a disc of spells.