Stereolab - Dots And Loops

Dots and Loops is the record where Stereolab traded drone for daydream. Released in September 1997, the band's fifth studio album was co-produced with Tortoise's John McEntire and Mouse on Mars' Andi Toma, recorded between Chicago and Düsseldorf, and built for the first time inside Pro Tools, with drums and instrumental parts arranged as loops.

The result sets aside much of the krautrock buzz of earlier records in favor of jazz, bossa nova, electronics and sixties lounge pop. "Brakhage" and "Miss Modular" glide on vibraphone, brass and gently swinging grooves, while Lætitia Sadier sings in English and French about consumerism and the spectacle of modern life with characteristic calm. The side-long "Refractions In The Plastic Pulse" drifts through shifting movements like a suite, and closers "Parsec" and "Contronatura" show just how far the band had pushed its sound.

It became Stereolab's biggest commercial success, reaching number 19 in the UK and giving the band its first Billboard 200 entry, while "Miss Modular" made the UK singles chart. Critics landed on it again and again in 1997 year-end lists, and it is still widely regarded as one of the group's finest works and its best-selling album.

This remastered reissue from Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks and Warp Records presents the original ten-track album across two LPs and four sides of vinyl.