Italian Shoes

May 3, 2019 sees the start of Stereolab's seven album reissue campaign 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, demos and unreleased mixes. Stereolab have attracted one of the most loyal audiences in modern pop, with every album outselling it's predecessor. On their new Elektra album, Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, Stereolab expand upon the music explorations that have made them one of modern music's most influential bands.

Disky boils down the wild and varied career of Willy DeVille and concentrates on his legendary New York band, Mink DeVille, and their brand of no-nonsense, razor-blade Spanish stroll Jersey soul; it was a musical blend that had more in common with Phil Spector's 1960s than the CBGB '70s, but that's where it came from and it connected with the punks big time. This is roots rock with soul, swagger, and slither; it's a combination of catchy hooks, sweeping early rock crescendos, and DeVille's in-the-cut vocals that could melt the pants off a teenage girl at 50 paces – well, at least back in the day they could…

Stereolab took an unprecedented two years between 1997's Dots & Loops and 1999's Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, as they tended to personal matters. During those two years, Stereolab's brand of sophisticated, experimental post-rock didn't evolve too much, even as colleagues like Tortoise, Jim O'Rourke, and the High Llamas tried other things. Since each Stereolab album offered a significant progression from the next, it would have been fair to assume that when they returned, it would be with a leap forward, especially since Tortoise's John McEntire and O'Rourke were co-producers. Perhaps that's the reason that the album feels slightly disappointing. The group has absorbed McEntire's jazz-fusion leanings – "Fuses" kicks off the album in compelling, free-jazz style – and the music continually bears O'Rourke's attention to detail, but it winds up sounding like O'Hagan's increasing tendency of making music that's simply sound for sound's sake.