Margerine Eclipse

After the death of Mary Hansen, who was so fundamental to the Stereolab sound in so many ways, Stereolab eventually regrouped and recorded an album that traded in opposites — it often had a joyous cast, but there were deep undercurrents of sadness, grief and loss, understandably so. Tim Gane’s interest in a ‘dual mono’ production meant that the group recorded the album twice, in effect, with each version panned extreme left and right; it makes for quite a disorienting listen on headphones. But while these production mores are fascinating, they’re nothing without great songs, and Margerine Eclipse is full of them, with some of Laetitia Sadier’s most disarmingly emotional performances on songs like “Need to be” and “Feel & Triple.”