Aluminum Tunes [Switched On Volume 3] album cover
Aluminum Tunes [Switched On Volume 3]

Stereolab

1998
Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks

The third entry in Stereolab’s Switched On compilation series, the double-disc Aluminum Tunes compiles material recorded between 1995 and 1997, during which time they also released two full-lengths, Dots & Loops and Emperor Tomato Ketchup, and three EPs. It’s wild to think just how much music they produced over those three years; Stereolab were so profligately creative they could throw away miniature masterpieces, like “Seeperbold” or “The Incredible He Woman,” on compilations and split singles. Aluminum Tunes might be the best way to get a sense of the sheer breadth of what Stereolab were doing in the mid-nineties, where tropicalia, jazz, electronica, library music, Krautrock, Kosmische, sixties pop, and more were all getting jumbled up in the mix. It’s frequently surprising just how much ground they covered.

Jon Dale

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