''Electrically Possessed'' is a
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
by the English-French band
Stereolab
Stereolab are an Anglo- French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's music combines influences from krautrock, lounge and 1960s pop music, often incorporating a repetit ...
, released on 26 February 2021 under
Duophonic Records
Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks Limited (also known as Duophonic Records or Duophonic Super 45s) is a British independent record label formed by English-French rock band Stereolab in 1991. The label has two imprints: Duophonic Ultra High Fr ...
and
Warp Records
Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, A ...
. It collects the band's rarities, and is the fourth of their "Switched-On" compilation series.
The track "Dimension M2" was released following the compilation's announcement, followed by "Household Names", taken from the mini album ''
The First of the Microbe Hunters''.
Summary
The compilation begins with the
EP, ''
The First of the Microbe Hunters'', described as having a "busy" and "jazz-based sound".
This is followed by the next track "Solar Throw-Away
riginal Verson, which was unreleased. A different version of the track appeared in a
7" tour single, released on 10 April 2006, also containing "Jump Drive Shut-Out".
The track "Pandora's Box of Worms" is an unreleased out-take from the ''
Dots and Loops
''Dots and Loops'' is the fifth studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab. It was released on 22 September 1997 and was issued by Duophonic Records and Elektra Records. The band co-produced the album with John McEntire and Andi Toma, an ...
'' (1997) recording sessions.
"Explosante Fixe" and "L'exostime Intérieur" were part of a 7" tour single released in September 2008.
''The Underground is Coming'' was released as a 7", 33rpm tour single in 1999, containing the tracks "The Super-it", "Fried Monkey Eggs
nstrumental, "Fried Monkey Eggs
ocal Ocal or OCAL may refer to:
* Öcal, Turkish surname
* Öçal, Turkish surname
* Open Clip Art Library
Openclipart, also called Open Clip Art Library, is an online media repository of free-content vector clip art. The project hosts over 160,000 ...
and "Monkey Jelly". "Monkey Jelly
eats was unreleased.
"B.U.A" was written in collaboration with artist Charles Long for his 1998 artwork titled "B.U.A
urnt Under AssemblyAn Entanglement of Wholes" and was previously unreleased.
"Free Witch and No Bra Queen" and "Speck Voice" were part of a 7" inch tour single released on 31 August 2001.
"Heavy Denim Loop pt 2" is an unreleased out-take from the ''
Mars Audiac Quintet
''Mars Audiac Quintet'' is the third studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab. It was released on 2 August 1994 and was issued by Duophonic Records and Elektra Records.
Recording
Stereolab recorded ''Mars Audiac Quartet'' in March an ...
'' (1994) recording sessions.
"Variation One" was part of a soundtrack and compilation CD for the 2004 documentary ''
Moog''.
"Dimension M2" was part a compilation CD title ''Disko Cabine'', released in June 2005.
"Calimero" was written in collaboration with
Brigitte Fontaine
Brigitte Fontaine, (born 24 June 1939) is a singer of avant-garde music. She has employed numerous unusual musical styles, melding rock and roll, folk, jazz, electronica, spoken word poetry, and world. She has collaborated with Stereolab, Mich ...
, released in July 1999 as a 7" single under
Duophonic Super 45s
Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks Limited (also known as Duophonic Records or Duophonic Super 45s) is a British independent record label formed by English-French rock band Stereolab in 1991. The label has two imprints: Duophonic Ultra High F ...
.
Reception
''Electrically Possessed'' was met with universal acclaim from
music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
score of 83, based on 6 reviews.
While critics considered it a weaker volume in the "Switched-On" series, critics have seen ''Electrically Possessed'' as an example of the band releasing consistent material.
Robert Ham of ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' called the compilation "a bounty of highlights from a rich period when
Tim Gane
Timothy John Gane (born 12 July 1964) is an English songwriter and guitarist who co-founded Stereolab with his then-partner Lætitia Sadier.Gregory, Andy (ed.) (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music, 2002'', Europa Publications Limite ...
was writing pop songs with multi-layered, almost-proggy arrangements to better support frontwoman
Lætitia Sadier
Lætitia Sadier (born 6 May 1968, sometimes known as Seaya Sadier) is a French musician, best known as a founding member of the London-based avant-pop band Stereolab. In 1996, while Stereolab was still active, she formed the side project Monade. ...
’s dense sociopolitical lyrics."
Regarding the compilation "cover
ing
Ing, ING or ing may refer to:
Art and media
* '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film
* i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group
* The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes''
* "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...
nearly half of
tereolabs career ", Heather Phares wrote that "by contrast, the original ''
Switched On
''Switched On'' (also known as ''Switched On Stereolab'' or ''Switched On Volume 1'') is a compilation of Stereolab's first three releases, and was originally released in 1992. The album's name is in tribute to ''Switched-On Bach'' and other si ...
'' gathered just six months' worth of music -- but like the other volumes in the series, it captures the flavor of its era just as completely as Stereolab's full-lengths."
Other reviewers of the compilation gave retrospective reappraisals to the band's post-''Dots and Loops'' material in this period, which initially received lukewarm to negative reviews.
Ham said that after the first seven tracks of the EP ''The First of the Microbe Hunters'', the compilation "naturally doesn’t move along the same deliberate course as a proper album... The material compiled here isn’t sequenced chronologically, so the mood and sound jumps from track to track and there are a small number of nonessential inclusions, like
Pandora's Box of Worms'.
Daniel Sylvester of ''
Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'' wrote that while ''Electrically Possessed'' "offers no real throwaways", he said that the EP ''The First of the Microbe Hunters'', "hasn't exactly improved with age aside from the rubbery, melodic standout 'Household Names'", and felt that tracks such as "Explosante Fixe" and "Monkey Jelly" were "uninspired".
Track listing
Charts
References
{{stereolab
2021 compilation albums
Stereolab compilation albums