Stereolab "Oscillons From the Anti-Sun" (Too Pure)
By Trey Perkins
Wednesday. Jun 15, 1:45 AM
Warning: nerdling boxset ramblings ahead!

Long, ago, I was a huge Star Wars nerd. Okay, it wasn’t that long ago, and I still am. Aside from aiding me in not having a date for both my Junior and Senior High School proms, my fandom for Star Wars helped me set the bar for what I expected out of a good boxed set. As a Christmas present one year, my parents gave me the Star Wars Trilogy Soundtrack boxed set. Why did this present help me set my expectations for the so-called boxed set? Because, in between counting all the sacks of money he made from merchandising off of the first three films, George Lucas released a boxed set that not only gave the consumer nice digital remasterings of the original film scores, but a fourth disc with alternate takes and rarities that weren’t released when 20th Century Fox released the said scores. Now I could rest easy at night, knowing I had four separate takes of the Cantina band track to listen to.

But what, you may ask, does my boner for Star Wars have to do with Stereolab’s recent three-disc-plus-a-DVD compilation? Like the Star Wars Trilogy Soundtrack, Oscillons From the Anti-Sun not only contains choice cuts from the band’s expansive catalogue, it also contains a smattering of unreleased singles, alternate takes (which are just as good as the takes that ended up on the album), live tracks, and hard to find releases that were, until this time, available only through expensive LP imports. Unlike so many other bands that vomit out boxed sets and compilations that only serve as a $60 greatest hits collection, Stereolab cram in nearly two-thirds worth of rare material. Diehard fans like myself will find this collection pleasant, while newcomers will get a fine buffet to choose from. Not only do they get the classics like “Ms. Modular,” “The Free Design,” or “Ping Pong,” but they’ll get a slice of the band at their most experimental, with songs like “Les Yper Yper Sound.” Now the Noobies can strike back (sneaky and blatant Star Wars reference) to the diehards who claim to have some über-secret-secret Stereolab EP smuggled out to the general public by a cunning recording engineer. No need to resort to shifty go-betweens when you have Oscillons From the Anti-Sun: it’s all here kids.

There’s a nice constellation of material here. “Moogie Wonderland” doesn’t pull any punches or try to be anything it’s not: the title says it all. “Les Yper Yper Sound” ought to be spot welded to Emperor Tomato Ketchup’s “Les Yper Sound,” because it takes the basic form of the latter and expands on it. “Escape Pod” demonstrates one of the most groove-centered bass lines, evoking scenes of go-go dancing, mo-peds, and pill popping. “Soop Groove #1” makes me want to dig up Charles Bronson’s dead ass, re-animate him, and have him find and kill the ad-wizard who decided to only release part I without giving us a taste of part II. Seriously, no damn reach around from these people.
www.stereolab.co.uk
www.toopure.com

Trey Perkins

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