Customer Reviews

The Groop Played "Space Age Batchelor Pad Music"

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

 

 

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.

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.

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!

Perhaps the slightest release in Stereolab's impressive discography, "The Groop..." is more of an extended-play single than an album proper, although it clocks at 28 minutes, a good portion of that feels half-formed. Both versions of the title track included seem more like unfinished ideas than songs: the "mellow" version's nasal chords plod insistently through a repetitive chord progression that is probably the closest the band has ever come to annoying, and the "foamy" version burbles and bubbles along forgettably and formlessly.

Those two disappointing tracks aside, there are several sublime moments that find the group (sorry, I refuse to say "groop") in a gentle musical mode that belies fiercely political lyrics. "Avant Garde M.O.R.," the album opener, is one of those -- a sedately paced slice of 60s-inspired pop with lovely harmonies and staunchly anti-war lyrics. While there are few of the syncopated tempo switch-ups that Stereolab would become adept at further along in their recording career, songs like this manage to be contemplative at the same time that they pack a potent sense of musical lift. "The Groop Played Chord X" is similarly lovely, though brief and feeling a little underdeveloped with it's wordless vocal harmonies.

Things finally get a jolt of energy with side two's "We're Not Adult Orientated," a droning clatter that is reprised in an even more energized live version at the end of the disc. All in all, "The Groop..." is a little of a letdown considering the exciting and varied music the group released on either side of it. This could stem from the sequencing, packing all the mellower songs toward the beginning, or it could stem from the unrealized potential of about half of the songs. "Peng," the first Switched On collection, "Transient Random Noisebursts" and "Mars Audiac Quintet" all had quite a bit more going for them than this stopgap album-ette, and it certainly suffers by comparison to any of those.

While it may be their least essential, it is something completists will want, or listeners that want to hear some of their experiments in a somewhat raw and unpolished/unfinished form.

In the vein of Peng! and Transient Random Noise Bursts, comes this album, which was released between those two brilliant albums. There isn't much to say about it, really. If you like those albums, you'll like this one too.

All I can say is that it lacks the lyrical urgency of Peng! and it lacks the musical focus of Transient Random. Not the greatest Stereolab album, but it's drenched in their style from top to bottom.

There are 2 standout tracks here: "Avant Garde M.O.R." and "We're Not Adult Orientated." I would recommend this album to Stereolab fans for these two tracks alone. "U.H.F. - MFP" is good too, but they would go on to do that particular sound to absolute perfection on "Transient Random Noise Bursts." The rest of the album is not bad, but it's mostly forgettable when you take into account some of the incredible releases this band has put out over the years.

If you're new to Stereolab, this probably isn't the best place to start. I would go with "Peng!" or "Transient Random Noise Bursts" and move on from there.

When I bought "Space Age Bacherlor Pad Music," I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I was expecting more trance rock, or their new sound (ie. Dots and Loops or Microhunters). What I got was a little disappointing.
A side from being a rather short album, the content is not that cohesive. However, its not as great as their secound album or "Cobra Phases..."

Don't listen to Stereolab fans. A good review from a Stereolab fan means that an album makes good background music while cooking, dancing, or talking--in other words, a beat to listen to + music to completely ignore. They love fluff, and almost all of Stereolab's albums provide it in quantity. The band has an unfortunate ration of cheese/fluff to musical merit, but at the same time, they reliably place at least one positively sublime track on every album. There are exceptions of course--Emperor Tomato deserves it's reputation for its startling originality, and Switched On is powerful though simple, and completely fluff-free. This one belongs with those. It's lighter, but don't be misguided by the title. It's not "lounge" music, it is thankfully free from the emptyheaded groovy tripe that so often overwhelms the band. This one, like the earliest albums, owes more to the Velvet Underground. It's VU element is quite subtle, but the connection is unmistakable--perhaps moreso than on any other album. But it is nonetheless quintessentially Stereolab, and not a dull rehashing of the VU. This is no masterpiece--it's a bit of a stretch to say that any of their albums are--but it's a strong, lovely album, and certainly belongs among their best--Emperor Tomato, Switched On, and Transient Random.

Stereolab is probably one of the most original and daring groups of the 90's, but this record is not as good as the rest of their work. Though it has sweet rock melodies and dynamic songs, it would be a good Stereolab record if it would be their first. Is as if they had lost their inspiration in the process of making this album. Fortunately, it came before masterpieces like "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" (their best so far) and the underrated "Dots and Loops". If people say that this album is better than "Dots", they are overrating this album.

One always has to becareful with stereolab some of their stuff is truly wonderful. But this album like some of their other has a grinding organ on each track. Why the groop thinks this organ is so wonderful is beyond me. The groop writes and plys beutiful music and then they ruin it by putting in that "grating on your nerves" organ. bachelor pad music is a perfect example of this.

the typo in the title aside, this album is as satisfactory as you could expect from early stereolab, though way too short. however, tracks like "uhf-mfp" or "we're not adult orientated" (sic) are memorable.