The Groop Played "Space Age Batchelor Pad Music"

Stereolab | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 10, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Too Pure / Beggars Banquet
• ASIN: B000006AZE
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,114 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It may take getting use to, but its well worth it., February 3, 2001

By 

R. Reviewer (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Groop Played "Space Age Batchelor Pad Music" (Audio CD)

Listening to this CD is like meeting an old friend and wondering later why you lost touch with them. On my first few listens of this CD I thought I had bought a real stinker and put it aside for quite awhile. Then, after listening to 'Mars Audiac Quintet' again recently (which is a great 'Lab' CD!) I decided to give 'Space Age' another try. Well, the second time around was a pleasant surprise and I'm glad I found this music again. Clearly first impressions are not always the most accurate.

There are many things that I now like about this CD. The CD is organized like a vinyl record album with the music divided into Sides One and Two. Side One juxtaposes several beautiful vocal melodies with quirky yet very pleasing techno melodies. 'Avant Garde M.O.R.', 'The Groop Play Chord X' and 'Ronco Symphony' have great vocalizations that remind me of the band 'The Cowboy Junkies'. 'Bachelor Pad Music' Mellow' and 'Foamy' versions are techno instrumentals interspersed between the afore mentioned vocal tracks. Side Two then beautifully blends Laetitia Sadier's great vocals with the bands techno drone with wonderful results such as in the CD's last track 'We're Not Adult Oriented (Neu Wave Live)'. This CD accomplished a lot with only 28 minutes of music, but I think every minute is excellent.

What I also like about this CD - and the band in general - is the titles of their songs. They give the music odd titles that evoke a 2001 Space Odyssey mood. I also like the mod techno computer artwork that adorns the CD case of this and other albums like 'Dots and Loops' and 'Mars Audiac Quintet'. Again it evokes a fun retro Space Age kind of theme.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars definitive stereolab that gives me chills, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Groop Played "Space Age Batchelor Pad Music" (Audio CD)

The opening track, "Avant Garde M.O.R." is an absolute classic. The words: "Now it is the time to say no to the war. Yes we can stop them before it gets too far." In the break is the wooziest, lovliest organ-bending melody in the world, that will make your heart transcend pain. Then the closing assurance: "Can't you see the power is within us. It can take us beyond any bounds." The two instrumental tracks entitled "Space age Bachelor Pad Music" Take organ-chopping to new levels. The "(Mellow)" version is insistently, devotedly, maddeningly repetitive and bright, the other "(Foamy)" version gurgles like some secret electric toothbrush or geyser in a pit of mollasses and soda water. We're talking a half-dozen analog synthesizers here, and they are beautiful. Throughout this and all other Stereolab recordings are messages of inspiration, revolution, youth-energy, love, and integrity. These are not flippant hipsters looking to cash in. These are political aesthetes who want to make a difference by making beautiful, powerful music.

5.0 out of 5 stars TGPSABPM Revisited, July 10, 2011

By 

James M. Bailey - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Groop Played "Space Age Batchelor Pad Music" (Original Mini LP) (Vinyl)

Ya know, about ten years ago when I actually had a well-paying career, and vowed to buy all the Stereolab CDs to that point, (Sound-Dust), I bought this one, played it once, said "ho-hum" and put it away. I was too hooked on Emperor, Peng!, TRNBWA, Switched on 1 and 2, all that killer early stuff. Pulled it out again in 2005 when I bought an iPod and burned it, then put it back.

But a few days ago I pulled it up on my (still going strong) IPod and listened to it again. I was wrong. Although short, this EP contains some of their finest earlier efforts, that fit is well between the strummy trance of Peng! and the more radical TRNBWA. Especially Ronco Symphony and UHF-MFP, those songs are masterpieces of their time.

It just shows that the earlier work of most groups defines their context. If you feel the same way, that you didnt care much for this when U first heard it, give it another shot. Given the context of what they've released since Dots and Loops, you may be surprised at just how GOOD this is!