Stereolab were an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane (guitar/keyboards) and Lætitia Sadier (vocals/keyboards/guitar), both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes. Other long-time members include Andy Ramsay (drums) and Mary Hansen (backing vocals/keyboards/guitar). Called "one of the most fiercely independent and original groups of the Nineties", Stereolab were one of the first bands to be termed "post-rock". Their primary musical influence was 1970s krautrock, which they combined with lounge, 1960s pop, and experimental pop music. They were noted for their heavy use of vintage electronic keyboards, and their sound often overlays a repetitive "motorik" beat with female vocals sung in English or French. Stereolab often incorporated socio-political themes into their lyrics. Some critics say the group's lyrics carry a strong Marxist message, and Gane and Sadier admit to being influenced by the Surrealist and Situationist cultural and political movements. The band were released from their recording contract with Warner Bros. Records when Warner's imprint Elektra Records folded. On 2 April 2009 Stereolab manager Martin Pike posted a message on the band's website, announcing that after 19 years the band would go into hiatus as "there are no plans to record new tracks".
Read the rest of this article: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereolab> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1600: Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, best-known as a proponent of heliocentrism and the infinity of the universe, was burned at the stake as a heretic by the Roman Inquisition. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno> 1801: The U.S. House of Representatives elected Thomas Jefferson as President and Aaron Burr as Vice President, resolving an electoral tie in the 1800 U.S. presidential election. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election%2C_1800> 1859: Colonization of Cochinchina: The French Navy captured the Citadel of Saigon, a fortress that was manned by 1,000 Vietnamese soldiers, en route to conquering Saigon and other regions of southern Vietnam. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel_of_Saigon> 1904: Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly premiered at La Scala in Milan, generating negative reviews that forced him to rewrite the opera. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madama_Butterfly> 2003: The London congestion charge, a fee that is levied on motorists travelling within designated parts of London, came into operation. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge> 2006: A massive landslide in the Philippine province of Southern Leyte killed over 1,000 people. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Southern_Leyte_mudslide> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: Ishikawa diagram (n): A diagram used in quality management to display a detailed list of causes and effects of a problem and thus to decipher the root cause of a problem <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ishikawa_diagram> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: All things are in the Universe, and the universe is in all things: we in it, and it in us; in this way everything concurs in a perfect unity. --Giordano Bruno <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/daily-article-l Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
