I love it when my fave bands compile their singles, so I can get 'em all in one package and throw out all those ugly, nasty, poorly-aging CD5s that I bought over the years...and it doesn't hurt when a band like Stereolab throws in a bonus music video compilation DVD and eight big ol' stickers!



(sorry the numbering's all wonky - that's how it's listed at the stereolab site. )

it comes with STICKERS?

I am SOOO there!

seriously, I'm a SUCKER for stickers



ps- I'm surprised it took you so long to make this thread

endorphin74 said:

i'm at work and i'm not near anything that i can play this on and be able to give it a decent listen...i'm sitting here with a stereolab box set, the reissue of the cure's "faith" and the new new order album, and i'm freakin' salivating!!!

oh - yeah, it comes with eight stickers. a sticker of the cover of each of the singles in the box set. and they're big, too - old skool car/footlocker stickers.

SWEEET!

I'm gonna take me a trip to the Fetus this weekend. Friday is my first payday since my raise, I deserve some goodies!

I'll probably buy this if it's priced reasonably. I was just listening to Golden Ball (Builds to a fairly amazing climax, that song does...).

I see that some of the songs listed are from albums - do you know if any (or most, or all) of these are remixes or alternate takes? If they're different from the lp versions I'd be more inclined to take the plunge on this.

damosuzuki said:

i got my copy for 19.99 at virgin megastore, which as we all know, will not price anything reasonably unless it has no other choice.

three CDs compiling eight non-US CD singles (all their singles always have two or three non-LP b-sides), plus a DVD with their videos and a couple of live TV show performances, plus eight stickers, for twenny bucks? not too bad.

and the LP songs appear to be different versions, but i haven't had a chance to listen to the CDs yet...but the track listing on the back of the box has little asterisks by the LP songs and "* alternate version" at the bottom of the list. so...

endorphin74 said:

get it while it's still on sale with the new releases! they're selling it for cheep right now!

endorphin74 said:

Same here. My closet doors and my file cabinets are covered with them.
[Edited 4/26/05 21:06pm]

Anxiety said:

Did you happen to notice if Best Buy got it and how much it was?

GangstaFam said:

no. i only had time to pop into virgin....VIRGIN MEGASTORE, that is...and if it's 19.99 at virgin, you KNOW it's gonna be cheaper at beast buy.

Anxiety said:

That's really cheap as it is. Wish I wasn't broke.

i watched the DVD part of the box set last night, and maybe it was just because my back's been messed up this week and the muscle relaxers my doctor gave me were kicking in (that was an awfully self-indulgent start to this sentence, wasn't it? as is this paranthetical!), but i was once again neither over- or underwhelmed by what i watched. just kinda whelmed.

there's a reason you probably haven't seen a stereolab video. they're not that great. it's obvious laetitia and the gang aren't really into the whole video thing, and that's all fine and well. their visuals are in the music, and i've always thought of their music as the sound equivalent to a really sharp pattern of wallpaper or fabric. something that isn't necessarily narrative or symbolic, but stands on its own as something you can get lost in. so maybe videos are a little beside the point where stereolab are concerned. there are a couple of fun videos - 'the free design' and 'cybele's reverie' are pretty cool, and 'the noise of carpet' is nice, though it's really just an extention of the 'cybele' video - but that's the problem with their clips...they repeat the same idea over multiple songs from their albums, which perhaps is supposed to suggest some kind of unity, but comes off looking cheap - to me, anyway.

the live TV performances aren't great, either. the first live clip is serviceable, but the songs they perform from my favorite stereolab album - 'emperor tomato catsup' - are awkward. laetitia looks like a deer in the headlights and her vocals are horribly flat, and poor mary hansen, rest her soul, is holding her own but looking as if she wishes laetitia would snap out of it...very uncomfortable stuff for me to watch, given how breezy and slightly aloof they sound in their studio recordings.

i should point out, too, that when i saw them perform live in 1999, they were fabulous. and when i saw sometimes-stereolab member sean o'hagan's band high llamas perform a couple of years ago, they were sublime. so i'm not trying to suggest that they suck live. they don't. still, i kinda wonder why these live clips were included, unless they just wanted to be painfully archival, for better or for worse. in which case...well...okay.

i'm loading the discs of music in my mp3 player now, haven't listened to any of it. too preoccupied with the cure's 'faith' reissue and the new order album to break free at the moment. i'm sure it'll all be very enjoyable. their studio work is never problematic to me.

i see this box set kinda like an attempt to echo bjork's 'live box' from a couple of years back. something cheap and fairly frills-free to offer fans for cheep as an attempt to fill out their stereolab collection. the packaging is even pretty similar. cardboard clamshell box (though 'hinged') and all the discs are in cardboard sleeves. the package design is scrumptious - i could look at it all day.

depending on how you look at it, it's either a box of treasures or ya kinda get what you pay for...i'm certainly glad i got it, but then again, i'm a bit of a rabid stereolab fan.

Anxiety said:

Oh no! I hope you're okay for next week's show!

How do you like the new album by the way?

GangstaFam said:

i will definitely be okay for next week's show. i'm feeling quite a bit better as it is, so by tuesday i'm sure i'll be able to dance like a fool again. otherwise, franklin has promised to slow dance with me at the concert if i feel a groove coming on.

Anxiety said:

Aww. Such cuteness!

fab review of this box set on pitchfork media:

http://www.pitchforkmedia...-sun.shtml