Stereolab- Emperor Tomato Ketchup

By either coincidence or fate, I've had two conversations with two different people over the past three days about Stereolab. I'm taking it as a sign that it's time for me to write something about this band because, well, I've always meant to get around to it and I end up putting it off for something else. They're interesting to talk about and listen to, always a plus for critics who usually only get one or the other. But I haven't written about them because I find them hard to pontificate on due to the fact that I think of them on a song by song basis more than anything. Which brings me to my main point: Stereolab are a band that have never released a 100% great album.

In one of the conversations I had about Stereolab in the past few days, it occurred to me that while I liked the band a lot, I mostly listened to their stuff on shuffle. Part of the blame for this--if, indeed, blame needs to factor into the equation--can be laid at the feet of the band, who revel in their huge, convoluted back catalogue, full of obscure singles, EPs, and rare compilation tracks that are occasionally collected on CDs months or years after the fact. However, most of the blame is probably mine, since I only own a few vertical slices of their discography and can't knowledgeably tell you that Emperor Tomato Ketchup is the very best. Still, I've always felt that their music benefited from the shuffle approach. The band probably intend to record albums as singular works, self contained and such, but I don't think they're terribly successful at it. Stereolab are a band who release overly long albums every time they release one and it dulls the impact somewhat. At this point I really wish they would just bite the bullet and either trim one down by 15 minutes or go for a double album.

However, Emperor Tomato Ketchup is as close as we're likely get to a 100% great album from Stereolab. It's kind of sad that the last wholly excellent release from a band is 13 years old, but hey: it's better than nothing. This brings me to my next point: if you want to get into Stereolab, you should either just own this album or try to own every single thing possible by them. They're definitely a collector's band--all those singles, EPs, compilation tracks, boxsets, etc. are a pretty good earmark for that--but if all you want is the short story version of the Stereolab 12 novel epic, Emperor Tomato Ketchup is your best bet. It's got everything that makes Stereolab Stereolab: healthy helpings of French lyrics, Marxist lyrical undertones, krautrock beats, 70s keyboard/synthesizer worship and extensive use thereof, sweet female vocals, 60s pop/psychedelic/experimental sonics, and a paradoxical helping of retro-futurist aesthetics. Stereolab's sound is so distinctive that basically any of their songs is instantly recognizable even though their music is surprisingly diverse. One need only take a three day vacation into the Oscillons From The Anti-Sun boxset to know that.

Every time I come back to this album I always come away with the impression that Emperor Tomato Ketchup is just a half step away from true greatness. Yet I think it's more a factor of how/why I listen to this band than it is the inherent quality of the release. Everyone else--even those who don't follow the band--regards this album as the group's masterpiece, so take my ramblings as one man's graffiti on the wall of greatness. After returning to the album yet again on the commute to and from work today, I can see it their way at last. Every one of these 13 songs is great and has its own feel while still fitting into the greater whole--'Noise Of Carpet' is a fast, punk-with-keyboards rocker, 'Tomorrow Is Already Here' starts from very simple guitar and drums but keeps adding complexity in a glorious slowburn, 'Spark Plug' rides a funky groove for 2:30 (which is either just long enough or ten minutes too short, depending on who you ask). Song by song, it's as flawless a slab of sound as the band has ever made. But there's just something about it that makes me hesitate to give it too glowing a review. Again, maybe the way I love this band is just on a song by song, shuffle play basis. Maybe I'm not programmed to enjoy this kind of music on an album basis. But I've always been the "albums are a cohesive work of art!!" guy, so this leads me to believe it's something else. Maybe this album is just lacking that X factor that separates the above average from the truly great. Maybe Stereolab are just the sort of band who are fantastic song by song but because of their aesthetic or their approach to creating art, they haven't made/aren't capable of making a grand statement.

I still like Emperor Tomato Ketchup a lot. But in my book, it's no masterpiece. The true masterpiece is the grand continuum of Stereolab's oeuvre. Well, maybe this is a case where I'm out of step with the majority and I need to accept that.