Lots of us likely came to Stereolab thanks to the first Switched On singles compilation, released here on these shores by Slumberland Records. And with each subsequent compilation in the series, we've discovered another lost gem (or a dozen) from the band that we'd not heard before. The newest set, Electrically Possessed [Switched On Volume 4], is out now via Duophonic and Warp, and it is just as much of a delight.
All of 2000's The First of the Microbe Hunters is here, from the peppy "Household Names" to the elegantly exhilirating "I Feel the Air (Or Another Planet)". These cuts still thrill, even two decades on, while rarity "L'exotisme Interieur" has the vibe of things that ended up on Chemical Chords around the same time. The previously-unreleased "B.U.A.", a collaboration with Charles Long, is space-y, and a throwback to the sounds of this band in the mid-Nineties, while 2001's "Speck Voice", a limited edition tour single from 2001, is reminiscent of Dots and Loops-era material.
While Electrically Possessed [Switched On Volume 4] is the fourth compilation from the band, some of the material here reaches back decades, to the time when those other comps came out. "Heavy Denim Loop Pt. 2", the oldest track here, dates back to the Mars Audiac Quintet sessions, while "Calimero", a collaboration with Brigitte Fontaine from 1999, reminds just how wonderfully this band transitioned their sound as the Nineties gave way to a new century. So much of this set is spacious, expansive, and vaguely risk-taking, that it's refreshing to encounter a fairly straightforward gem like "Dimension M2" amid the tracks. This one is likely to please those of us waiting for another "Pinball"-style number, while the rest of this superb set reaffirms our faith in this band's ability to evolve, change, and blossom into something wonderfully new and faintly familiar with each passing release.
Electrically Possessed [Switched On Volume 4] is out now via Duophonic and Warp.
[Photo: Stereolab / Warp]