By By Samantha Nwaoshai
The old adage "change is good" has been used and re-used by writers and grandmother's alike. While in most cases this is true, there are often exceptions in music. When artists change their sound it can be a great thing, but it just so often wrecks their career.
Stereolab's fourth full-length album is an example of the former. Mars Audiac Quintet signifies the beginning of a new sound for the UK-based group. Before this album, Stereolab sounded like what would happen if McCarthy (the band, not the ex-Beatle), The Organ and Broadcast met at a bar, drank until they couldn't stand, and decided to make music together. This time around, Stereolab ditched McCarthy altogether.
The album's opener, "Three Dee Melodie," features blaring organs paired with heavenly vocals, and the result is irresistible. Much of the album is constructed similarly. That does not mean, however, that all the tracks are the same. The album has its standouts.
One that is highly recommended for any playlist is "International Colouring Contest." Perhaps the most poppy song on the album, it opens with a hearty laugh by the song's subject, Lucia Pamela.
From there it moves to '60s bossa-nova inspired synths and Laetitia Sadier's singing "into outer space with Lucia Pamela". The song is especially hypnotic with its intermittent "ba-da-da-ba."
This is not all fluff, however. The song is homage to Lucia Pamela, an Italian eccentric circa the '60's. The title comes from a seemingly ever-lasting contest in which Pamela started asking for entries depicting interstellar travels and claimed that she actually recorded on the moon. The song's lyrics muse at this fact "before Armstrong took his steps / she'd been there with friends / they took all instruments and / recorded on the moon / gathered variety of sound / from where the air is different."
Overall, Mars Audiac Quintet is more "listener-friendly" than Stereolab's past albums, the band having since glossed over their experimental edge. While the album is good, there still was room for improvement. By their next album, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, the group had grown into their new sound. Mars Audiac Quintet is definitely an example that change is very good.