Emperor Tomato Ketchup

Too engaging to be background music, but not catchy enough to hold my full attention. Three and one-half stars. Gaining a half-star because their track (not on this album), "Le Boob Oscillator" was used in the movie, "High Fidelity."

I like some stereolab songs, but I've never been able to get into this album. It's not bad, but nothing really sticks. Also I hate the album cover and title.

Had some moments of some toe tappin. Just not anything memorable here either but it’s very easy to listen to.

I dig lots of this--a good mix of cool songwriting and experimental sounds and rhythms. A 3.5, but hitting 3 for being unfamiliar and repetitiveness at times.

kinda fire idk i refuse to elaborate 3/5

Regular album, really enjoyed "Cybele's Reverie".

Tiene cierto interés, pero no pasa de ser un buen album sinmás.

Ok

bbc radio 6 fodder

A pleasant blend of English and French singing. Grooves and melodies are pretty hypnotic - a great first foray into this 90s alt-rock band.

Imagine indie rock, now make it French, now make their main influence be all of the James Bond Soundtracks. That's this album and I cannot explain any further.

I like this one - it made me hanker for more French chill music. I’ve since listened to more Stereolab and Françoise Hardy so it put me in a comfortable easy frame of mind. Très agréable, n’est-ce pas?

I really like Stereolab, but prefer their songs that are not trying to make a point. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a complete album of theirs before. I do have many of their songs from, I think, the sound dust album on various burned CDs.

This may deserve a higher rating in terms of the group achieving what they were hoping to, I'm just not sure I'm on for the ride. I liked that there were vocals and melodies, and there was a lot of movement in the arrangements, but the robotic vibe wasn't appealing to me.

fun indie stuff, sounds like something id've listened to

I am positive as I can be that I have never heard of Stereolab or heard anybody their music before. While I like to think I have heard at least a bit of most music genres, this album defies any kind of categorization. Catchy, almost pop riffs, but nothing pop about this. The music is based on unusual chords and progressions. The lyrics are sparce but philosophical in nature, and, repetitive. I kind of liked it and I am glad it is on the list. It is something I am glad I heard once but probably won't return to

Weird. But in a good way?

As boring as an album can get. Nothing uniquely good or bad, and I can't even remember how any of them sounded. It just... was.

Emperor Tomato Ketchup seemed like something I would not like but I did. It’s avant-garde trip-hop, pop rock indie. Catchy with beautiful vocals, but slightly too long If you asked me what year it was from, I’d bet my house it was 2003-06. It’s 10 years ahead of it’s time. 7.4/10

Pretty good. I was surprised by how many songs I recognised from this, including Metronomic Underground

I listened to about half of this last year, on the advice of someone from the subreddit for this website. On paper, this is definitely up my alley. In reality, it's just okay. I wish I liked it more.

Een boel geïnstitutionaliseerde vaagheid. Grappig dat dit op een bepaalde manier tijdloos is, dit had ook in 1976 of 2016 gemaakt kunnen worden. Het mist wel wat zeggingskracht, het fladdert voorbij en dat is het dan.

Dit heeft allerlei zaken waarom ik er een teringhekel aan zou kunnen hebben. Wazige bijna schurende zang, tingeltangelgeluidjes, snobberigheid, Frans. En toch vind ik het ook sfeervol en fijn om te luisteren, als goede postrock, als lekkere triphop, als foute italo disco, als Mart Smeets die de avondetappe afkondigt. Ik ben dus ook enorm in dubio, want ik hoor dit helemaal niet leuk te vinden. En toch vind ik het geinig. Niet 4 of 5 sterren geinig natuurlijk. Maar ik had het ook een 1 of een 2 kunnen geven. Misschien dat het de opmaat is naar een zomer vol sport in la douce France. Maar ik ga gewoon een 3 geven, maar wellicht dat dit geen vergeetbare 3 is.

Good stuff. I enjoyed gobbling up this portion of ketchup.

Boringly ok.

Cybele's Reverie

Eugh, I want to like this but it feels like it never ends, and doesn’t really get into a fifth gear or feel more than what it is. Theres a few motifs that I really love but maaaan, it never sustains that level of goodness.

not bad

Enjoyable background music. 3/5

Oh, wow, this is delightful. Stereolab was totally off my radar!

Weird. Not sure. Probably a 2.5, should listen to it more and to other material by that band.

very good very nice

New to me, and pretty listenable.

Way soft to be termed "rock." Album has a lot of real "pop" songs on it. Not a bad, light listen. Mostly 'meh. Some is downright annoying.

I know one song by this band, and I love it. It turns out there is a reason I only know that one song. That said, there is something very comforting about the repetitive beats, whisper-soft voices, and the interplay between the French and English lyrics. It’s very nice background music, but not something to sit up and take notice.

A very interesting new discovery for me. Really liked the overall happy mood of the album. An eclectic mix of sounds and loops. Didn’t reach for the skip button at any point. A high 3 star ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

I love the mix of French and English, and there are very unique, unusual, and eclectic sounds that worked. It's just not something that I would actively seek to listen to again.

Interesting listen, not overly exciting to me though

Nice chilled vibe.

Kept my interest throughout

Started rocky but I really liked the French tracks (trying to get more francophone). We made pizza while listening

An interesting listen but gets a bit repetitive after a while. My favourite of theirs though.

Wasn't super into this at first, but over the course of the album I actually started to dig it. I would probably rate this higher after more listens, but for now it's a solid 3.

Initially didn't think much of this but it grew on me by the end. Dunno why, but it kept reminding me of Deerhoof. 3.25/5

Kind of cool.

Really dug the bass-driven melodies. The first and last tracks were the best - both gave me some Chili Peppers vibes. However, the middle just kinda drug along for me.

Interesting

Ryan said that this was awesome and I thought it was fine

3.4

Not bad, but not exactly for me.

Not bad

Some decent songs, some bad ones. Didn't have a great flow to it, I won't be going back to this album.

I dunno about this

Interesting, quirky little songs. 3/5

✌️

hmm… - sounds interesting, but at the end it‘s not my favorite. Good try - 3 stars

5.5/10

3 - I was really hoping to like this. I was even expecting for it to get something close to a 5 because I like other music that is considered similar to Stereolab. But alas, it was not meant to be. It was much more repetitive than I expected. Every song sounded pretty similar to me. It wasn't bad, but there was only one song that I cared about. Oh well...

While it didn't absolutely blow me away, it did pique my interest. The style felt very indie, and very groovy. Favorites were Noice of Carpet and Tomorrow is Already Here

I found this one to be very interesting. Some good melodies and loops. Favorite songs were Cybele’s Reverie, Percolator, The Noise of Carpet, and the title track.

3.5/5

The music is fine, albeit very, very repetitive at times. There are several tracks that are mostly one chord, which is always a risky move. I don't reckon that choice ever paid off (e.g. The Noise of Carpet, an otherwise fantastic rock track, is seriously marred by how harmonically monotone it is. Tomorrow Is Already Here suffers from the same issue). It's also bold to start off the album with the heavily looped electronic track Metronomic Underground - an 8-minute track that uses almost exclusively one repeated lyric - and expect the product to be likeable by wider audiences. That being said, some of the instrumental and (especially) vocal layering in tracks like Cybele's Reverie and Les Yper-Sound is super cool. The combination of synths and more old-school rock elements in songs like The Noise of Carpet is enjoyable. Additionally, I can respect the lack of electronic percussion in an album from the mid-90s.

This was a great mix of feeling like background music that is still engaging to listen to.

Happy chill upbeat music. Great backdrop for a chill workday, but not something I'm going to write home about.

Good to get a chance to listen to this

3-4 Precolator, Les Yper-Sound

Ah, Stereolab - I *know* them. Having checked Wikipedia, it appears I don't know them at all. Can see why the indie hipsters would absolutely cream themselves over this - Anglo/French? check. Bloopy bleepy? check Passed by in the background nicely enough. Am I going to rush out to purchase it on vinyl and learn to be a barista? No.

It was an interesting album. Gave it two listens. Not sure it’s for me, but I found myself enjoying the laid back electronic loops. 3/5.

Really enjoyed this. It was quite an experimental sound in places but it was good enough to listen back to back ! High 3*, probably not quite a 4

Way better than I anticipated. Still not my thing, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Metronomic Underground

I enjoyed this, although it's not something I'd listen to regularly. Very varied sound on this

Actually a unique sounding record. Some tracks didn't exactly do it for me but nevertheless it was a good listen.

Blind album and artist. Definitely one of the more intriguing albums I have listened to, but in a sort of weird feeling way I say to myself "I feel like this could potentially sound cool...?"

really dug this, but the looping lyrics and repetitive beats sometimes irritated my brain - would be a regular listen for me if the songs were each about 1/4 shorter

Didn’t really connect with any of the songs, but I appreciate having my palette challenged.

Good background music for working.

It was an interesting album. It was not terrible Not an album that I would listen to again.

I didn't hate it but wouldn't put it on again. Bit low quality/vague and repetitive within songs. Song's weren't bad overall, but not great either.

Took a minute to get used to, more of a vibe album than something I would actively listen to, still pretty good though. Low 3.

Maybe even 4, need to listen more

Emperor tomato ketchup.. what a goofy name. Did not enjoy the first song so I was pleasantly surprised by the rest of the album. The electric techno vibe is not really my thing and I have too unrefined of an attention span for the amount of instrumentals/non singing bits present so don’t think I’d listen again… but I actually liked most of it, the French was fun I think I liked it better than the English parts 7/10 rounded down bc I don’t think I’d listen to any of the songs just cause

It was fine, got pretty boring 6/10

English-French vibey goodness. Merry Christmas.

Interesting. Francoanglaies. Cool songs harmonies keyboards builds kinda electronic, but still rock/indie. Bears further investigation

I appreciate how it takes the Kraftwerk idea of semi-robotic music, and throws a little more pop into it. I think the vocals can be a little same-y throughout, but overall it's a pleasant-enough record to throw on in the background. Favorite tracks: "Motoroller Scalatron", "Cybele's Reverie"

I like it. This album will probably go into my rotation but I don't think it's groundbreaking or particularly influential. It reminds me of those Instagram guitar players that are clearly talented but lacking any real depth or interest once you can puzzle together the different techniques they've mashed together into a song. Going with a strong 3 but it could be a weak 4 instead.

insufficiently saucy

I listened to the first 2 songs. I am going to send the rest of the songs to my husband cos he liked regurgitator and might get something more out of this. Some stars.

Too gimmicky, but this list had me listen to much worse

More familiar with other stereo lab tracks. This was ok though.

Decent

Aside from the name of the album, there wasn't much here that I could take away. Seems like perfectly serviceable rock music, albeit I'm sure some messaging went over my head being in a different language and all. Highlight: The Noise of Carpet Lowlight: Olv 26 Surprise Hit: Emperor Tomato Ketchup

Not what I thought. UK/EU neo-krautrock. 3.5

Það er eitthvað ljúft og heillandi við þetta.

3.5 Good French, almost as good a French Kissing.

Decent from a musical point of view but vocal and lyrical content didn’t really do much for me.

fun lush tunes gotta listen more sadly I enjoy dots and loops way more

Rock alternativo.

This was goofy.

Unusual album, I quite liked it

Would be ok to listen to high. Otherwise not great, not bad, just chill.

Very meh, pas trop de substance mais de petites idées quand même. +1 à la note grâce aux petits bouts en français

3,5

Fun album

I really like stereolab, but honestly, they’re kinda samey after a few songs.

Enjoyed at the start but couldn't wait for it to finish by the end...

An interesting record from a band that hasn't crossed my path before. I enjoyed the Anglo-French vibe. The songs are metronomic looped sounds and have a light and summery feel. Great pop.

Pretty awesome French music.

Good to have on in the background but didn't blow me away

Really enjoyable but just lacked any killer tracks to make it a 4

enjoyed the bloops and beats

I don’t like the album cover or name, and Stereolab isn’t a gripping name either so I have ignored them until now, which is my bad. They are a clear influence on bands from the 00s that I love and I should be more respectful. Album has some chill tunes but it loses me at points. 5/10

God, I liked it, but why is it so long?

Вот вроде смотришь на список альбомов и ждёшь чего-то французского на Rythmes Digitales. А в итоге - кетчуп тут как тут. Какой же музыкальный язык конечно всё-таки... смыслов там правда немного. Вот только не знаю, как не везде мне вокал понравился. Особенно когда Летиция пытается петь низко - странно выходит. По вайбу напомнило Spiritualized на минималках: здесь как будто не хватило глубины.

мозг перегрузился от жужжания знатно конечно

It was interesting and had some well crafted music but not sure how much I will listen to this going forward.

A mix of French and English, more French sounding but with a English 90s Alternative twist

Better than I expected. The first and last tracks were annoying and repetitive, but some of the stuff in between was pretty good and varied.

not bad

Fun alternative album that I think deserves a spot on this list for it's uniqueness alone. Great unpacking music!

Quite enjoyed it, some songs more than others but overall quite enjoyable 3.5/5

Some nice dreamy sounds

Som bizarre plein de truc que j'ai aimé 3.75.

I listened to this album like four or five times today and while I cannot remember a single track distinctly each time was a good listen. I got Komeda meets St. Etienne vibes all day long. Success?

Unique sound. I really liked certain parts, but others were a bit much for me

Good name album. Good album art. Just find music. It's very French and even if I hadn't read the blurb I think it's Frenchness would have been apparent. Not bad!

Another album I had wanted to hear but never got to. It gets a lot of praise but I wasn't totally on board. It's fairly interesting and not a bad listen but it never really had any standout moments to me. Pleasant enough to listen to, but not good enough to make me really want to return.

It's quite nice. Easy going but with some interesting things going on.

Can‘s legit offspring !

3.75

interesting and fun

Too long, but inoffensive

I'm pretty sure this would fall into my sleep music category, mostly really chill, interesting album. Definitely will listen again.

Splatty bloopy Frenchy poppy weirdness.

Background work music. Kind of pleasant.

The musical definition of competence.

Never heard of stereolab before, this is as an interesting album, enjoyed this but the French vocals were a bit annoying stops this getting anything more than a 3.

Some really longs songs that are somewhat repetitive. Could have cut some songs in thirds and still be OK.

Best Song: Cybele's Reverie. The overlapping vocals were really pleasant. Worst Song: Emperor Tomato Ketchup. This track has one of those rhythm sections that is so repetitive that it oscillates between catchy/bouncy and grating/mind-numbing. By the end of the song, it landed fully on the latter. Overall: I always like to see pop that feels unique and experimental. Not everything works here (sometimes the rhythms are downright annoying), but damnit I respect them for being weird. Has a nice jazzy feel. Well suited for background music.

A pretty chill album, I kind of liked the half French, half English

You know how sometimes people are irritating just for the sake of being irritating? What if one of these people was an entire album? Okay, so I wrote those lines after the first 2 songs. Clearly, this album didn’t start off well for me. Thankfully it got better and better as it went. Slow Fast Hazel is the second to last track and I love it. Need to give this album, and band, more time. 1 - bad 2 - average 3 - good 4 - great 5 - outstanding

Groovy, charming, really lovely. A little goes a long way though. Fave Songs: Cybele's Reverie, Motoroller Scalatron, Metronomic Underground, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, Spark Plug

Kinda mid. I kinda enjoyed it.

Lyrics half in English and half en français - une très bonne idée! Keeps it intéressant, même si la musique is sometimes un peu dull. Je l'aime, but didn't love it, mais je crois que I might have been very into them si j'avais les connais quand j'etais plus jeunes. Trois étoiles / three stars

Very interesting sounds. I liked the production, and the vocals in french sounded great. Overall it good background jams.

I actually mostly like this. The soft french vocals, the beats, and other layered musicals work well together and was nice to have on in the background while working.

Enn í Amsterdam. Seinna

Keep wanting to like it but song after song came up short for me. Didn't hate it just ended up being a one and done.

музыка интересная, надо ещё послушать

I like it

Better than I was expecting. Got a little repetitive towards the end, but all around a decent listen

Stereolab are fine in spits and spurts but a whole album never quite gets off the ground.

Fine

Interesting in some parts, long-winded in others. Worth a re-listen.

krautrock-obsessed are these cool frenchy londoners more to come from them

Pleasant enough. They passed me by at the time. It's a little bit dinner party music for immersion but I didn't not like it.

Quite a gentle and listenable spot of 90s rock

Weird album yet easy to listen to

Busy day, cried in therapy more than a bit, ask that question, busy rest of day but unproductive, Queen’s English, annoyed at social vibes (even though good), food good, walk home, good chill, just be a yes man

This is the fourth album by English-French rock band Stereolab and it is an experimental pop album. It is one of their most successful albums. The band toyed around with looping sounds together to create their songs instead of using their common drone sounds. This change was well received by critics and I liked the album as well.

Better than I expected, still a bit weird

Not bad. Would not add to my playlist, but overall I like the sound of it.

Nice ambient background music with soothing vocals. Very calming and nice to listen to. Not overly interesting though. The songs "The Noise of Carpet" and "Slow Fast Hazel" really stand out

Really interesting indie sound that makes for good background music, but does stretch out too long in many songs. Hard to analyze lyrics in a different language but vocals were well made and well mixed. Nothing too earth shattering but an enjoyable listen overall.

Catchy, simple songs with a bit of quirkiness. Enjoyable experience.

An 80s feel from the 90s

Top 3 Songs: 1 - The Noise of Carpet (7) 2 - Cybele's Reverie (2) 3 - Anonymous Collective (13)

Quite like it - will listen again and to other albums by them

Not that good, not that bad.

Enjoyed a previous album - the one with the magnificent Ping Pong - so was pleased to hear a similar sound, but more attention to more succinct conventional indie songs. An interesting mid 90s sound against the prevalent Brit pop, trip hop, grunge and angsty rock of the era. Not quite a 4, but good.

A pleasant listen. Nothing bad on it. One of my favorite songs, The Noise of Carpet, is here.

Stereolab has always just felt like bland, watered down krautrock to me. It's not bad per se, it just lacks the adventurous spirit of krautrock - rather than going on a journey, you're going on a theme park replica of that journey.

A mix of indie, pop, techno sounds. Some of the songs are in French. A very interesting & different listening experience, enjoyed most of the ride.

Another band heard of but never knew what they were about. Turns out partly French.

The music is quite good, singing style reminds me a bit of the Coraline soundtrack. But....it's not really memorable

It was something. Not too bad, actually quite relaxing as I dozed off in my chair while listening. Definitely not something I would go out of my way to listen too.

Its pretty much similar to all Stereolab but it trundles along quite nicely

je suis un fromage frais. le petit pois sont dans la banque. ooh ah cantonaaaaa! Je donne des coups de pied aux oiseaux i enjoyed singing along to these.

I once bumped into into a pregnant prostitute who accused me of trying to touch her unborn baby. I remember Stereolab was blaring out in the background. I was questioned by the police, who eventually realised there was no case to answer, but fuck me, it was a stressful afternoon. The funny thing is though, I did actually have a grope.

Stereolab is a new band for me, and all of the music on Emperor Tomato Ketchup was new too. There is also something familiar about this album. I'm not sure what music I was being reminded of. I thought that the album was good enough for a single listen. There were a couple of tracks that were 80% good, but the other 20% of the track was noisy end chaotic enough that I was ready for the track to be over. "Metronomic Underground", "Les Yper-Sound", and "Anonymous Collective" were thetracks that got my highest rating individually.

On first listen, I thought it was pretty boring and insignificant. But, as the day went on and I heard it more, I started really enjoying it. It isn't anything fantastic or amazing, but it is like the music version of comfort food. 3/5

What an entirely unique confluence of musical and production elements. I can't say I'll be coming back to this album over and over again, but it was fun to be introduced to.

Interesting without being great

I don't have any strong feelings about this album one way or another. It was easy to listen to and enjoy. I would listen to it again.

Un disc inspirador. Es poden escoltar els ressons que vindrien anys després amb bandes com Au Revoir Simone. També hi ha guitarres, i una producció de mèrit interposant capes i capes per acabar donant vida a un treball interessant i en moments com els de 'Olv 26' o 'Cybelles Reverie', captivador

Great techno feel.

In the first song, I thought that it will be another annoying electronic music album with the same song for 1 hour. However, after this annoying introduction, all the other songs are pretty good. Some indie pop mixed with rock and hip-hop which is very nice to listen to. Not quintessential for me, but nice to listen during the morning!

On the paper, I can get that many people find this Stereolab album charming. On the paper, that is. Because as adventurous as this record can be in its best moments, I however can't help feeling that the overall listening experience it has to offer is just a little too disjointed and pointless to this particular set of ears. Bleeps and bloops are always fun. But you need more than those sorts of playful sonic asides to build an album that goes beyond the usual "exercice de style". "Metronomic Underground" is a nice opener, for instance. But essentially, it is only Can's "You Doo Right" with scratches and a few tweaks here and there, instead of a true build-up to ecstasy. When does a piece of music end up being a smart hommage to the past and when does it start becoming a quite stale reproduction of it instead? It's a tricky question. Besides, many tracks in this collection seem a little too *nice* and innocuous to me anyway. I sometimes wonder if being French plays a part in this partial reluctance of mine here. It's not that Laetitia Sadier's lyrics in that language are bad (they're at least not worse than the ones in English). But it's as if understanding those words right away somehow kills a bit of the mystery some non-native French speakers see in them. Or at least that's the way I'm trying to explain the rave reviews for *Emperor Ketchup Tomato* in the English press at the time. Make no mistake, the subtly grinding motorik rythms of "Les Yper Sound" are somehow addictive, the lush layers of "OLV 26" are weaving a quite evocative soundscape, and the way "Tomorrow Is Already Here"'s guitars are bouncing and complementing each other from one headphone to the next is just fascinating and hypnotic (not to mention those marimbas !). Same with the voices in "Cybele's Reverie". Or the mesmerizing (and darker) qualities of closer "Anonymous Collective" (ending all too soon, unfortunately). But as successful as those oneiric forays are, other cuts clearly overstay their initial welcome, like the *Time Out* 5-beats trope--overplayed to death--in "Percolator". Or the mock-garage-indie-whateverness of "The Noise Of Carpet". Or the endless circles of the electro loops in the title track, leading to nowhere in particular. Not to mention quite a few others here and there... The thing is, when it comes to tongue-in-cheek pop experimentation fronted by a female yéyé mock-ingénue singing over a soundtrack filled with retro-future winks to the sixties, I think I'll always have a soft spot for Broadcast instead of Stereolab. Maybe in comparison the latter are just missing out on the necessary tension and/or melancholy to make the whole thing emotionally rewarding. But maybe that's just me and how I like my ketchup: with more acidic pickles, bittersweet ginger, and a far more *obvious* and substantial slice of spleen, right in the middle of my dish. Sugar ain't enough sometimes, even when sprinkled over a big juicy sonic tomato. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 917 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 43 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 23 (including this one) Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 19

Funky songs. Again nothing stood out but I’d listen again while reading or relaxing.

I wanted to like it more but found it a bit bland after the first few tracks.

I can’t say that I think I will ever revisit this thing after the review but there are some really interesting bits: Just before I start the track by track I have to say this artwork is dreadful! The album starts off with metronomic underground is alright but at 7 mins it takes quite a while to get going and by the end I never wanna hear anyone say “crazy sturdy a torpedo” again. Like literally! There’s only 4 lines in that aren’t “crazy sturdy a torpedo” or some kinda variation in the first song. Cybele’s reverie is definitely the best song just a fun sounding french pop song with pretty cool strings, and while repetitive a good bridge! Percolator sounds like some weird spy theme in my head It’s alright. Les yper-Sound I don’t like the singing on this one ( but luckily there’s not much) this bands french song’s are just better. I know i’am contradicting myself here but spark plug is actually quite good for an English sung track it’s probably more annoying instrumentally. Olv 26 takes a bit long to start but the song itself is alright even though the razor like sounds at the end are a bit odd. The noise of the carpet is more my kinda song very rock but I must say the English singing is still a bit annoying. Tomorrow is already here is repetitive and the singing is a annoying but musically it’s a favourite. Emperor tomato ketchup is alright not really a stand out for me the intro drags a little bit longer then i hoped as well. Monstre sacre is haunting sounds like some weird chant to me it’s hard to hear the lyrics which I don’t mind. Motoroller Scalatron would be good without the singing or the laser-y sounds still it’s alright ( it’s also very repetitive). So many of these songs have good lyrics but the way her voice sounds i’am just not a fan especially on slow fast hazel but it’s still one of the better songs I really like the chorus and the instrumental bit. Anonymous collective is so repetitive but it makes a good ending to the album. Overall it’s a very entertaining listen that I would recommend for someone to try at least once, but it feels way too long, the singing is a bit annoying and lyrics are repetitive.

Fun to listen to!

Mélange de son intéressant mais je suis pas sûr de vraiment avoir trippé.

Eclectic. Interesting. I don't know if I liked it. There were some tracks I would come back to, but as a whole? Maybe I'll try that again sometime in the distant future. Maybe.

3.5

A slice of 90s psychedelic indie, doesn't really have any standout bangers that grab you, but I'd happily put it on again while I'm working or cooking or something.

Great background music

It was alright. Inoffensive. Bit like a more dancy Belle and Sebastian. Good music for working to

There’s room for this in the rotation. Also I think Percolator influenced Radiohead’s 15 Step.

Interesting. Background music that draws you in. Turns out it's very likeable.

Fun album to listen to as background music while working. I'm not a fan of indie/eletronic/french music, but this surprised me. Favorite tracks: * Percolator * The Noise of Carpet * Metronomic Underground is also good, although too long and repetitive

This was good for background noise while I was working on some stuff today. Lots of looping/repetition but that made it good "working" music.

Really liked the first few songs, but felt like it fell off in the second half. Very weird album…. Yet surprisingly enjoyable? I added “metronomic underground”, “OLB 27”, and “Motoroller Scalatron” to my headphones playlist.

Groooovy. Better than expected, but nothing too much jumped out. *Old Lungs

Sort of like a mix between Metric and Flaming Lips, half in French. Tracks vary in how interesting they are, but worth a listen.

The best of this album IMO: - Percolator - The Noise of Carpet Unique sound. Goes on the weird side. It's entertaining and interesting. Main voice melodies are a bit basic, not very creative. French fits well with the style, alors c'est bien. Music can unfortunately be repetitive despite its uniqueness. 3.1/5

Some of these songs reminded me of Megan Draper singing Zoobie Zoobie Zoo in that one episode of Mad Men. Most of them were pretty good though. 3 stars.

Eclectic. The first song on the album, and the most played, is definitely the worst. If you can make it through that one, the album gets quite a bit better. Probably gets better again if you're tripping on some kind of substance - but I wouldn't know. It's fine. Average. 3 stars.

Stereolab shoot a course for the sun and get at least half the way there by way of trial-and-error, sustained jamming (ignoring the dodgy album art circa Windows 95). Musically, all of the songs are built upon sketches- a couple of bars looped, a drum beat, a bassline- specially selected, extended out, and dressed up with layers of experiments woven in and out. This approach works to Sterolab’s credit for much of the album. “Metronomic Underground” is a hypnotic opener in its simplicity. Two overlapping bass parts and a recurring three word lyric (“crazy- sturdy- torpedo”) take the lead as the song builds in intensity to a dramatic climax. However, the jams were also a weakness as I found myself longing for a tighter focus, less meandering. The organ and guitar combo in “Tomorrow Is Already Here” is used to limited effect in an irritating staccato refrain that never really resolves anywhere. “Monstre Sacre” is some repetitive noir-noodling that didn’t seem to sit right in the pacing of the album. For all the “futuristic” appeal this seemingly had at the time, there are a lot of retro electronics even by 1996 standards. The band celebrate future sounds from the past, making use of analogue sounds like strings, organ, assorted percussion. Even the more electronic based songs tend to call back as much as forward: in “Olv 26”, the drum machine and fuzz bass recalls Suicide’s self-titled album from 20 years earlier, while “Les Yper Sound”‘s motorik beat, stuttering rhythm and waves of synth visits the Krautrock of Neu or Can. Not all the instrumentation worked for me- “Spark Plug”’s jangly rhythm guitar stuck out of place as generic indie rock material- but on the whole it seemed to strike a good balance between futuristic and nostalgic. As far as the other highlights here, there’s some fun with time signatures in some of the grooviest tracks: “Percolator”‘s insistent bass line is a bubbling of quavers over 5:4, and “Motoroller Scalatron” is propelled forward by a seven beat organ refrain. I also want to single out “The Noise of Carpet”, a chaotic desert storm. It utilises all parts to dazzling effect- more live instrumentation, and more passion and urgency applied to the vocal than across the rest of the songs. All in all, there are lots of highlights here but the ones I haven’t mentioned were fairly forgettable on first listen, and served to just add atmospherics rather than stand out as quality compositions or highlights in their own right. I can’t decide if the album is best played driving down an open road under a looming storm, or to add ambience while cooking up a stew. So I’ll suggest both at once for the best effect.

stereoo

Some of the tracks were interesting to me and kept my attention. This album is at times hypnotic, e.g., 'Tomorrow Is Already Here,' 'Monster Sacre,' and 'Anonymous Collective.' And although I can speak only a dozen words or so, if that, I do love the sound of the French language, so as pure aural pleasure I loved it when she sang or spoke in French. If someone described this album to me, I don't think I would listen to it. Kudos again to this project.

3.2

This was a really weird one in a neither particularly good nor particularly bad way. I guess it was an interesting experience to hear this really strange genre mashup. But I feel the execution could have been a lot better.

Cool. Liked it then; like it now. Ground breaking? Nah.

Decent album. It felt a little experimental, like it couldn't decide if it was going to be trance or pop or new punk. At the end of all that, it was slightly too messy for me. Still a 3 star album.

Not bad. Not quite for me either but they have a cool sound. I liked the combination of pulsing guitar and other instruments on OLV 26 and Anonymous Collective. I guess that's kind of their thing but I thought it worked really well on those tracks. That overlay motif was okay on Metronomic Underground but what I liked more about that track was its funk sound (which they get back to in a so-so way on Spark Plug). They mix up their styles quite a bit (first 3 tracks differ widely), which shows some chops but also makes the album less seamless. Sadier has a voice that is sometimes sweet and fits their style and is sometimes grating. I found it off-putting on the Noise of Carpet and Tomorrow is Already Here. It worked well on Les Yper Sound. The title track and Motoroller Scalatron are fun. I'd say a cool, uneven album. It did get better with each listen.

This was a fun album but nothing that blew my mind. I wasn't crazy about the vocals the first time listening but they grew on me the second time around. Not really much more to say about this. Average.

Svårt. Rätt goa bitar men lite för konstigt emellanåt och lite för långt album.

Canciones suaves y tranquilas, muy con estilo indie. Se deja escuchar aunque tiene un poso de que le falta algo de energía. Mediocre, sin más.

Great name, music didn't do so much for me

Very French sounding. Ahead of it's time I guess.

Can't say I've really heard anything like this. It's a little hard to get into, but I appreciate how unique/innovative it is.

Really liked the bass lines and instrumentation. Repetitive and surprised by the French vocals

Pseee, muy espacial para mi gusto

"Cybele's Reverie is an excellent song with French lyrics. The other experimental pop is not that bad either.

French ass Broken Social Scene.

Overall solid but not captivating. I was familiar with the first track and like it. The rest was of a similar vein but more fully explored their unique sound, in both good and bad directions.

Meh, I like the electronica, but this didn't impress me.

Enjoyed. Fun vibe and like the French influence.

Nooit van gehoord, maar leuk bandje! Net geen 4 sterren waard.

Wel aardig, maar ook wel erg dromerig en daarom wat slaapverwekken.d

Thought I wasn’t gonna enjoy it. But I did. Will listen again, when trying to look a bit fancy around some muso’s.

Great fun.

Bit samey, didn't love anything in particular. Nice beats

Starts off great. Really decent poppy indie dance. Will give them the benefit of the doubt and presume they are french and not just pretentious. Tails off a little at the beginning of the second half then comes back strong with the title track, then goes a little electronic for my taste. Not an unpleasant listen but probably not something I'd seek out again. 3/5

Quite nice and pleasant. Enjoy the french language singing. A bit like Saint Etienne. Doesn't sound particularly exciting or innovative today. Enjoyable overall.

It definitely grew on me. Or maybe the first song was just trash. The songs felt very internally repetitive, but there was variety between the songs. Seriously considered giving it a 4

Creo que no digeo este disco. O sea está chido el eclecticismo pop-bossanovaish-rocky altenativo, etc. Pero sentí que escuché una hora de la misma canción. Mood: cuando das muchas vueltas de niño para marearte.

I thought I knew this outfit but I was getting them mixed up with Stereo MCs. Very Low Fi, I like the move back n' forth from English to French. Definitely grows on you. Some good tracks - a Velvet Underground influence, not too crazy about the Nico-sounding vocals on some. I'm sure I'd give it a higher score next year.

Motorik beats, squelchy sounds, a kind of Francophone cool pervades - it's studied, chic and quite fun in small doses, but after a while washes over you somewhat. Not bad, not brilliant.

If Krautrock and fringe rock had a baby it would be Stereolab. Most of the hipster indie groups today were influenced by Stereolab in some form, whether they realize it or not. Love the pulsating beat of Les Yper sound, tres chic

Algo repetitivo, aunque las voces estuvieron genialess

Avant Garde pop..I enjoyed it. Original and probably part of that early 90s movement towards the indie sounds prevalent today. A little too long of an album but I liked it!

This was a fun record. Not really sure what it was though! Interesting cross-genre vibes from the mid-90s.

Interesting. I’ve never listened to this band, but recently learned David Pajo from Slint played with them at one point, so they were on the To Do list. Really like the 2nd track and some of the other French tunes, but this thing is kind of all over the place and ends with a fizzle. I do not like their graphic design. I do not like the title. The whole presentation here is hard to pin down. But not terrible! I’d listen to more.

More fun in the beginning than the end.

It's good background music, but not something I’d sit and listen to specifically for the listening experience.

Spark Plug

Hard to rate this one. Really unsure if I like it or not. Interesting stuff nonetheless.

Nice to listen to while working

Cool tracks. Good use of electronics with instruments. Nothing bad but nothing amazing either

Like it alot

Pretty good. Pretty raw at times but that';s not a terrible thing.Will need more listens for a true rating.

Weird name but not a weird album. Surprisingly decent as some background music. The perfect example of a 3 star album

En sjov sammenblanding af genre. Lidt funket, lidt elektronisk, lidt pop og underlige tekster. Et specielt album, som har nogle fængende numre men kræver nok noget mere seriøs lytning 3.5

Post-rock

it was interesting not a huge fan of it

Nej, detta var tråkigt. Inget som direkt stod ut. Lite kul att det sjöngs på franska då och då men det var väl det. Inget jag kommer att lyssna på igen.

Very Avant Garde - A few songs are good, many are experimental for the purpose of being experimental

Funky electronica - wasn't bad

I dig looped soundscapes, and I was all in on the first track, but the rest of this album couldn't seem to keep that soundscape propulsion going and by track 5 and 6 the album had really begun to drag. I was hopeful that this was just a reprieve, but it never made it back. While the production and engineer skill levels are clearly high enough to produce magic, there does not, in fact, appear to be much magic on this album. In this genre, and in this decade, Yello's ZEBRA (1994) was far more interesting to me. Most bearable: "Metronomic Underground" To me this wasn't one of the interesting albums from 1996. More interesting albums in 1996 that are not on this list include: Tori Amos's BOYS FOR PELE TOOL's AENIMA Primitive Radio Gods ROCKET Rush's TEST FOR ECHO THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS Soundtrack album Prong RUDE AWAKENING Gravity Kills GRAVITY KILLS.

A fun listen. But likely to never come up on my rotation again. And without this most, never would have.

644/1001 2026.06.25

Bad background music

Nothing special.

80s quirk chungus ass music

Tomorrow Is Already Here

nao é ruim mas não é minha vibe

Bit chaotic opening. Songs are way too repetitive (same lyrics over and over again), but some are catchy.

No no no

Why do people make stuff like this

2.5

it was okay

Unique but irritating. Vocals feel flat. Mostly. Some of it is kinda hypnotic.

hm, ne nicht so mein Fall

Nicht meine Tasse Tee

(3/7) some of it sounded like French

Would I listen again: no The French are on thin fucking ice. superrr repetitive and boring

Kicking off with a 7min song that is incredibly repetitive is a bold choice. Not for me. That light airy voice is not something I can listen to for a long time.

I didn't really like this. It's weird and unusual, which is fine. But too often the same phrase or riff was just repeated for far too long and it got annoying. The vocals were not my cup of tea either

Electro buena onda

meh

Didn't care for it

sort of clownish

Not for me. I just didn’t get it, I guess.

kinda boring. i feel like it doesnt really go anywhere. fine music to study to though.

quite interesting, i c the concept n the vision n i like the sounds n melodies BUT they were way 2 repetititititititive. sum of them (like monstre sacre n emperor tomato ketchup) were less repetitive than others, but enuf were repetitive enuf 4 me 2 not rly enjoy it that much. maybe if the songs were alot shorter, or maybe 2 songs mixed in2 1 so it wouldnt b as repetitititive.

Too many noises. They hurt my ears

(2.75)

As an electronica fan, this album disappointed me. It wasn't bad, but I didn't enjoy it well enough to cement any desire to play it again.

Points for the album name, obviously. Unfortunately I also need to subtract points for the vocals that are actively annoying. The music is...well, it was fine for a while, but then it wore on me after a while. What I'm saying is that the album name might be the only good thing about this album. In the band's defense: I'm not in a great mood today, so that's probably affecting how I feel about the album...but this is just striking me as more annoying the longer it goes on. 2.0 (I'd be tempted to give it a 1 if it were named "Noises" or "Stereolab" or something, but "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" is simply fantastic)

This was irritating. It started ok, fair, but not too interesting. Then it became tedious.

went for a bit long but it had its moments

I just listened to this and already I’ve forgotten what it sounds like

It felt like an entire album when different beats, rhythms and synth were being played behind the same lyrics.

I think this genre is just not for me. It was fine, I guess? I got pretty sick of the mumbled lyrics and repetitive music.

Colorful but not for me. Recommend listening to it outdoors in the sun. I listened indoors after sundown.

When the first song was already repetitive 3 minutes in, I checked, and there were 5 minutes left, I knew this would be a rough one. This was...weird. I don't think I enjoyed the style, and I was ready for it to be done.

The singer's voice really grated on me. The music wasn't any better.