Mars Audiac Quintet [3LP Vinyl]

3LP Fold-out poster insert with lyrics and sleevenotes from Laetitia Sadier and Tim Gane. May 3, 2019 sees the start of Stereolab's seven album reissue campaign when 1993's 'Transient Random Noise-Bursts With Announcements' and 1994's 'Mars Audiac Quintet' are reissued, via Warp Records and Duophonic UHF Disks, as expanded and re-mastered editions on vinyl and compact disc. Each album has been re-mastered from the original 1/2" tapes by Bo Kondren at Calyx Mastering and overseen by Tim Gane. Bonus material will include alternate takes, 4 track demos and unreleased mixes.

On the basis of the insidiously catchy single "Ping-Pong" (regularly featured on MTV), Stereolab's fourth full-length album helped turn the Franco-British group from cult heroes into college radio and alternative-chart darlings. In 1994, the "lounge" revival was just barely getting underway, but much of MARS AUDIAC QUINTET incorporated loungy elements, from the Peter Gunn twang of Sean O'Hagan's guitar in "Ping-Pong" to the exotic Martin Denny-Arthur Lyman feel of the closing marimba-and-vibes instrumental "Fiery Yellow" and the lyrical salute to exotica queen Lucia Pamela in "International Colouring Contest."
Otherwise, the album further refines Stereolab's talent for obsessive one-chord drones mated with krautrock-style rhythms, Astrud Gilberto-inspired vocals, Marxist themes and analogue synthesizers. The synthesis of these elements is best exemplified by the overwhelming "Nihilist Assault Group" and the lovely "Des Etoiles Electroniques." In large part because of the poppier elements, this album is an excellent introduction into Stereolab's unique and wonderful aesthetic.