''Simple Headphone Mind'' is the second collaboration between

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 ...

and Nurse With Wound. As with their first release, '' Crumb Duck'', Stereolab recorded the basic track and then handed it over to

Steven Stapleton Steven Peter Stapleton (born 3 February 1957) is an English musician who is best known as the only constant member of experimental improv outfit Nurse with Wound. He is often seen as one of the pioneers of the British industrial music scene, a ...

to do with as he pleased. Unlike with ''Crumb Duck'', listeners can hear the original Stereolab recording, as it was issued under the title ''The Long Hair Of Death'' on a split single with

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McNew ...

; this version was also featured on Stereolab's ''

Aluminum Tunes ''Aluminum Tunes'' is a double album collection of EPs and rarities from Stereolab, released in 1998. It is the third compilation in a series of rarities collections following '' Switched On'' and ''Refried Ectoplasm'', and was stickered with th ...

'' compilation album. Again, as with ''Crumb Duck'', the release was a limited edition. There were between 800 and 1000 compact discs (the NWW and Stereolab websites disagree on numbers) and 4000 vinyl records, around 1000 of which were on yellow vinyl. All copies came in a sealed metallic sleeve. "Simple Headphone Mind" was named after the song by

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

group

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...

from the albu
Vampire State Building
"Trippin' With The Birds" was named in reference to a song by

group

Exmagma Exmagma are a three-piece German experimental jazz-rock and krautrock band who released two albums in the early 1970s. They were formed in Stuttgart by Thomas Balluff, Andy Goldner, and Fred Braceful, who was a former member of jazz group Et Ceter ...

. Both bands also appear on the Nurse With Wound list.

Track listing

# "Simple Headphone Mind" - 10:36 # "Trippin' with the Birds" - 21:04 (Despite having completely different titles, both tracks are based around the same Stereolab recording.)

References

* * * * * {{Authority control Nurse with Wound albums 1997 EPs Stereolab EPs