For more than two decades, the US magazine Musician covered a broader range of music and genres than any other publication of the time. While Rolling Stone was […]
Watch: A drone-heavy Stereolab set from 1994
72-minutes of Stereolab live in Danbury, Connecticut.
In 1994, Stereolab was hitting a creative peak. They’d just released “Mars Audiac Quintet,” their heavy-duty Krautrock-inspired fourth album, and five years of playing live had solidified the band’s drone-driven sound.
Alongside kindred spirits on the essential label Too Pure including PJ Harvey, Laika and Moonshake, the band stormed the States with a sound that was far removed from the post-grunge sounds then making a dent. With backing from major label Elektra, Stereolab played more than 50 gigs in 1994, and found the band locked in grooves that combined the riff-heavy intensity of “Sister Ray”-style Velvet Underground and with the motorik groove of Krautrock bands Neu!, Kraftwerk and Harmonia.
Below, watch a full set, caught on a three-camera set-up and with pretty good sound, from Stereolab’s Sept. 21, 1994 at Tuxedo Junction in Danbury, Conn.
Set list:
- 1. Stomach Worm
- 2. Wow and Flutter
- 3. Ping Pong
- 4. French Disko
- 5. Des Etoiles Electroniques
- 6. Nihilist Assault Group
- 7. Lo Boob Oscilator
- 8. Transona Five
- 9. Three Longers Later
- 10. Crest
- 11. International Colouring Contest
- 12. Super-Electric
- 13. Anamorphose
- 14. The Seeming and the Meaning