Few bands have come to single-handedly rule a genre as well as Stereolab. The only question remaining is which genre. The band's machine-funky grooves, oddball synthetic washes, and disturbingly flat vocals suggest a futur... more »istic disco where the survivors of nuclear war have settled for alienation anthems that recall the "space-age bachelor pad" music of the distant innocent past. But this is all conjecture. No one knows what the music of the future will sound like. (Heck, we once thought by the year 2000 we'd all be walking around in Lost in Space outfits.) Stereolab, however, are certainly what we think of. Microbe Hunters is both compact and expansive: only seven cuts but taken over 40 minutes. It begins with the lengthy Can-inspired instrumental "Outer Bongolia," which uses a circular rhythm and hook to layer the special effects. "Intervals" is the ballad form delivered in icy female tones to rob it of all sentiment. "Retrograde Mirror Form" ends things with a trippy tape loop. Beginners should start with Emperor Tomato Ketchup as Microbe Hunters works best as an addition to the Stereolab catalog and not as an introduction. --Rob O'Connor« less
Few bands have come to single-handedly rule a genre as well as Stereolab. The only question remaining is which genre. The band's machine-funky grooves, oddball synthetic washes, and disturbingly flat vocals suggest a futuristic disco where the survivors of nuclear war have settled for alienation anthems that recall the "space-age bachelor pad" music of the distant innocent past. But this is all conjecture. No one knows what the music of the future will sound like. (Heck, we once thought by the year 2000 we'd all be walking around in Lost in Space outfits.) Stereolab, however, are certainly what we think of. Microbe Hunters is both compact and expansive: only seven cuts but taken over 40 minutes. It begins with the lengthy Can-inspired instrumental "Outer Bongolia," which uses a circular rhythm and hook to layer the special effects. "Intervals" is the ballad form delivered in icy female tones to rob it of all sentiment. "Retrograde Mirror Form" ends things with a trippy tape loop. Beginners should start with Emperor Tomato Ketchup as Microbe Hunters works best as an addition to the Stereolab catalog and not as an introduction. --Rob O'Connor
"the songs on this disc are a lot like "cobra phases" but without so much production or a horn section. the disc is comprised of 6 new songs recorded with sean o'hagan (high llamas) and produced by fulton dingley (who helped with one of the songs on cobra) and a seventh track resurrected from 1997 and produced by john mcintyre. the songs on this album are more groove oriented (outer bongolia, i feel the air) in the keyboard-heavy vein of "metronomic underground" and "brakhage" but also feature a healthy amount of tim gane and mary hansen's guitars. they continue in the jazzy vein opened up by "cobra" but also harken back to earlier albums like "transient random-noise bursts." as always, the interplay of laetitia sadier and mary hansen's vocals complement the complex instrumentations fully.stereolab is the sort of band that inspires rabid fandom or indifference... if you are among the former, "microbe hunters" is worth picking up. if you are among the latter, i agree with amazon's reviewer, pick up "emperor tomato ketchup," "dots and loops," or "cobra phases" before this disc to fully appreciate the band.my only quibble is that 40 minutes now seems short for a stereolab release.p.s. go see this band live. i was lucky enough to see them perform some of the songs at the first show of their current us tour before i got the disc, and seeing the songs played so well live only made me enjoy the disc more."
Blah blah blah...
A. F. GILLITT | 08/27/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"i read above somewhere that this is more of an addition to a stereolab collection rather than an introduction. i, however, stumbled upon this album with no previous knowledge of stereolab and fell in love. but i guess everyone is entitled..."
Surprisingly fresh
Neven Mrgan | Clearwater, FL USA | 05/24/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"soem ppl said that this is simply continuing where Cobra ended - no way. track no1 is probably the liveliest thing since Reverie, no3 rocks, and so on... really, surprisingly refreshing just when 'lab started repeating themselves... i hate to say this, but the lack of mr O'Rourke here (as much as i adore his solo efforts) is actually helping... and hm, Laetitia -could- try to catch up with the instrumentation now that its reaching Tortoise-style perfection... but anyway, i dont have any major complaints. Cobra and Dots go out for a ride in a brand new Jaguar."
A Nice Little EP.
M. Williams | Texas, USA | 11/03/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A nice EP from Stereolab to keep us pacified till Sound Dust. I like how it begins with a nice cocktail instrumental. The EP is a nice collection of songs, granted it's not their best work, but it is far from their worst.If you loved "Emperor Tomato Ketcup," then you will certainly like this fourty minute EP from Stereolab. It's a really atmospheric release."