Customer Reviews

A Few Steps More

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yeah, I was crushed to hear that Pram's Rosie Cuckston was no longer a part of the roster-- especially since Monade is going to be touring the US in the next few months. But that's my problem.

For Stereolab fans out there, this should be a must-buy. It doesn't feature the electronic gimmickry of recent Stereolab (don't get me wrong-- I love that stuff), but can best be described as a fusion of early, more instrument-driven Stereolab and their more recent addiction to psychedelic romance.

No less an authority than Manhattan's Other Music described this as being less an independent project of Sadier's than an extension of Stereolab's body of work, but I have to respectfully disagree. If this were a new Stereolab album, it would mark a new direction for the 'groop.' The differences might be subtle, but they're undeniable. While Sadier's vocal stylings remain the same (and thank heaven for that), the supporting music is less concerned with cradling her voice in a wash of supportive sound, and more focused on maintaining a more "band-like" sound, albeit with a similar retro feel. Sort of a Stereolab-now meets a Stereolab-then. Maybe I'm just doing some defensive quibbling.

People who were fans of early Stereolab should be thrilled, but those of us who love the sound they've created over the last seven years or so will also be pleased. What you have here is a happy medium between the two incarnations of the band-- today's Letitia combined with an earlier-sounding supporting cast. Maybe I'm just starved for more from the musicians who've been favorites of mine for years and years now, but this strikes me as being an excellent addition to the Stereolab saga, as well as being a nice introduction to the Stereolab sound for people who find them to be a tad overproduced and off-putting.

Note: Emperor Tomato Ketchup buffs should be very, very happy with this one.

If you like Stereolab then you should probably like this CD too. The musical style is very similar and features Stereolab's vocalist, but this disc lacks the dynamic range and glossy production of a Stereolab CD. The tracks feel more like parts of a whole, not distinct songs per se- sort of like a musical collage. It's not really what I would call beautiful, but the overall sound is appealing though a bit limited in scope. Sadier is joined by another vocalist Marie Merlet who I wouldn't mind hearing on the next Sterolab CD- she has a very distinct baby-doll quality. I would say that with this CD the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts, working best as front-to-back listening experience. I understand that there will be no new Stereolab full-length CD until 2006, and this Monade CD is a great way to fill in the gap until then.

The title of this album is appropriate- the songs here are of the quality you would expect from Laetitia Sadier, but with more embellished music and production since the first release from Monade. The players do a great job and the arrangements are elegant and appealing. The muted bass and signature organ sounds are quintessential Stereolab, and the songs have that same spaced-out lullaby quality to them, strangely traditional sounding yet entirely new at the same time. "Das Kind" is immediately catchy and kind of sounds like it could have been on Sound-dust. "Pas Toujours, Encore" is simple and beautiful. Awesome album, definitely worth buying.

Requires multiple listens...If you're looking for simple, powerful pop songs, then this is not for you.

A development from the multi-instrumentalist solo debut, this album features Ms. Sadier with a full band.

The songs have a delicate, shifting quality which can be underwhelming on first listen but soon reveal depth and beauty. The aesthetic is complex and sophisticated, much like recent Stereolab.

It's a little confusing to figure out what the point of Monade is since it's basically Stereolab-lite... nothing more. I guess I was hoping for something a little outside the box from Laetitia Sadier but unfortunately there aren't any real surprises here because... well... it's Stereolab. The cd isn't bad but it doesn't come across as a side project that serves any real purpose.

There are 2 interesting melodic tracks -- A few Steps More and Paradoxale -- but the other tracks border on abstruse and under-cooked. 3 of the tracks are very very short and another is 3 minutes. Basically, this could have been a fine EP, but not a full-length CD.