Margerine Eclipse | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 27 January 2004 | |||
Recorded | 2003 | |||
Studio | Instant Zero (France) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 53:41 | |||
Label | ||||
Stereolab chronology | ||||
|
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 77/100 [4] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [5] |
Alternative Press | 4/5 [6] |
Drowned in Sound | 8/10 [7] |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [8] |
Mojo | [9] |
The Observer | [1] |
Pitchfork | 7.6/10 [10] |
Rolling Stone | [11] |
Spin | B− [12] |
Uncut | [13] |
Margerine Eclipse is the eighth studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab. It was released on 27 January 2004 in the United States by Elektra Records [14] [15] and on 2 February 2004 in the United Kingdom by Duophonic Records. [14] [16] The album is in large part a eulogy to former band member Mary Hansen, who died in 2002.
By June 2004, Margerine Eclipse had sold over 40,000 copies in the USA. [17] A remastered and expanded edition of the album was released by Duophonic and Warp on 29 November 2019. [18]
In December 2002, Stereolab member Mary Hansen was killed in a cycling accident. [19] The band subsequently dedicated Margerine Eclipse to Hansen, [20] with the lyrics of the song "Feel and Triple" making specific reference to her. [5] [16] [21] Shortly before work commenced on the album, band members Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier ended their romantic relationship. [19] [21] Their breakup is alluded to in Sadier's lyrics for the song "Hillbilly Motobike". [21]
Margerine Eclipse was mixed with full stereo separation – or as Stereolab termed it, in "dual mono". [21] For every song, the band made two recordings – each with a different arrangement – then created a final mix by synchronising both recordings together, with one on the left channel and the other on the right channel. [21] The technique was also used on the band's 2003 EP Instant 0 in the Universe .
All tracks are written by Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Vonal Declosion" | 3:34 |
2. | "Need to Be" | 4:50 |
3. | "'...Sudden Stars'" | 4:41 |
4. | "Cosmic Country Noir" | 4:47 |
5. | "La Demeure" | 4:36 |
6. | "Margerine Rock" | 2:56 |
7. | "The Man with 100 Cells" | 3:47 |
8. | "Margerine Melodie" | 6:19 |
9. | "Hillbilly Motobike" | 2:23 |
10. | "Feel and Triple" | 4:53 |
11. | "Bop Scotch" | 3:59 |
12. | "Dear Marge" | 6:56 |
Total length: | 53:41 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Vonal Declosion" | 3:34 |
2. | "Need to Be" | 4:50 |
3. | "'...Sudden Stars'" | 4:41 |
4. | "Cosmic Country Noir" | 4:47 |
5. | "La Demeure" | 4:36 |
6. | "Margerine Rock" | 2:56 |
7. | "The Man with 100 Cells" | 3:47 |
8. | "Margerine Melodie" | 6:19 |
9. | "Hillbilly Motobike" | 2:23 |
10. | "La Spirale" | 2:24 |
11. | "Feel and Triple" | 4:53 |
12. | "Bop Scotch" | 3:59 |
13. | "Dear Marge" | 6:56 |
Total length: | 56:05 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Mass Riff" | 6:30 |
2. | "Good Is Me" | 5:27 |
3. | "Microclimate" | 4:39 |
4. | "Mass Riff" (instrumental intro) | 1:13 |
5. | "Jaunty Monty and the Bubbles of Silence" | 4:30 |
6. | "Banana Monster ne répond plus" | 4:28 |
7. | "University Microfilms International" | 4:01 |
8. | "Rose, My Rocket-Brain! (Rose, le cerveau electronique de ma fusée!)" | 5:26 |
Total length: | 36:14 |
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. [23]
Stereolab
Additional musicians
Production
Chart (2004) | Peak position |
---|---|
Scottish Albums (OCC) [24] | 86 |
UK Albums (OCC) [25] | 108 |
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [26] | 11 |
US Billboard 200 [27] | 174 |
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [28] | 6 |
Stereolab are an Anglo-French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's sound features influences from krautrock and 1960s French pop music, often incorporating a repetitive motorik beat with the use of vintage electronic keyboards and female vocals sung in English and French. Their lyrics have political and philosophical themes influenced by the Surrealist and Situationist art movements. While performing, they play in a more feedback-driven and guitar-oriented style. From the mid-1990s, the band began to draw from funk, jazz and Brazilian music.
Mary Therese Hansen was an Australian-born guitarist and singer. She joined the London-based avant-pop band Stereolab in 1992. As a member, Hansen recorded six studio albums from Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements to Sound-Dust.
Dots and Loops is the fifth studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab. It was released on 22 September 1997 and was issued by Duophonic Records and Elektra Records. The band co-produced the album with John McEntire and Andi Toma, and recording took place at their respective studios in Chicago and Düsseldorf. It was their first album to be recorded straight to Digital Audio Tape and produced with Pro Tools. The album explores jazz and electronic sounds, and is influenced by bossa nova and 1960s pop music. Its lyrics address matters such as consumerism, the "spectacle", materialism, and human interaction.
Peng! is the debut studio album by English-French band Stereolab. It was released on 26 May 1992 by Too Pure in the United Kingdom. The album was issued in the United States on 13 June 1995 by Too Pure and American Recordings. A remastered edition of the album was released on 9 November 2018 by Too Pure and Beggars Arkive.
Timothy John Gane is an English songwriter and guitarist who co-founded Stereolab with his then-partner Lætitia Sadier.
Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks Limited is a British independent record label formed by English-French rock band Stereolab in 1991. The label has two imprints: Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks for UK Stereolab releases licensed to various labels worldwide, and Duophonic Super 45s for releases of other artists and certain Stereolab UK-only releases. Duophonic's first release was Stereolab's debut EP Super 45 (1991), limited to 880 copies; of these, forty copies had handmade covers that were produced by Martin Pike in his father's garage.
Lætitia Sadier, sometimes known as Seaya Sadier, is a French musician best known as a founding member of the London-based avant-pop band Stereolab. She was born in the east of Paris and spent time in the US as a child. In 1996, while Stereolab was still active, she formed the side project Monade. In 2009 – the same year Stereolab became inactive – she ended the Monade project and began to perform solo work under her own name; her current band is known as the Lætitia Sadier Source Ensemble. She has frequently performed guest vocals and collaborations with other artists.
Mars Audiac Quintet is the third studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab. It was released on 2 August 1994 and was issued by Duophonic Records and Elektra Records.
Emperor Tomato Ketchup is the fourth studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab. It was released on 18 March 1996 and was issued by Duophonic Records and Elektra Records.
Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night is the sixth studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab. It was released on 21 September 1999 and was issued by Duophonic Records and Elektra Records. The album was largely co-produced by Stereolab, John McEntire, and Jim O'Rourke.
Sound-Dust is the seventh studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab. It was released on 28 August 2001 in North America by Elektra Records and on 3 September 2001 internationally by Duophonic Records. The album was produced by John McEntire and Jim O'Rourke and recorded at McEntire's Chicago studio Soma. It was Stereolab's last album to feature singer and guitarist Mary Hansen, who died in a biking accident the following year.
The First of the Microbe Hunters is the fifth EP by English-French rock band Stereolab. It was released on 16 May 2000 in the United Kingdom by Duophonic Records and in the United States by Elektra Records. Its title makes reference to the book Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif, in which the first chapter is dedicated to Dutch scientist Anton van Leeuwenhoek, named "the first of the microbe hunters". Its tracks were re-released in the band's 2021 compilation Electrically Possessed.
Monade were a French post-rock band which was initially a side project of Lætitia Sadier, a founding member of Stereolab. In 2009, Sadier retired the project name and began performing under her own name.
Crumb Duck is the first collaboration between Anglo-French indie band Stereolab and cult avant-garde unit Nurse With Wound, first released on 10" vinyl on the Clawfist label in 1993.
Cybele's Reverie is an EP by English-French rock band Stereolab, released on 19 February 1996 by Duophonic Records. Its title track serves as the lead single from their fourth studio album Emperor Tomato Ketchup. The four-track EP is the only one by Stereolab on which none of the songs are in English: the title track, "Brigitte", and "Young Lungs" are in French, and "Les Yper-Yper Sound" is an instrumental.
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Not Music is the tenth studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab, released on 16 November 2010 by Drag City and Duophonic Records. The album is a collection of unreleased material recorded at the same time as their previous album, Chemical Chords (2008).
Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements is the second studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab, released on 10 August 1993 and was issued by Duophonic Records and Elektra Records. It was recorded with an expanded line-up, and is generally considered to be the band's noisiest release due to its emphasis on distorted guitars and keyboard sounds.
Electrically Possessed is a compilation album by the English-French band Stereolab, released on 26 February 2021 under Duophonic Records and Warp Records. It collects the band's rarities, and is the fourth of their "Switched-On" compilation series. The track "Dimension M2" was released following the compilation's announcement, followed by "Household Names", taken from the mini album The First of the Microbe Hunters.
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