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Stereolab speaks, mobilizing Moogs on U.S. tour

"This woman spoke to me for five minutes and asked me really boring questions like if I'd ever been to America and what I thought about the States. I couldn't believe it," sighed Morgane Lhote, keyboardist for the premier socialist drone-rock band Stereolab. Though her melodious French accent covered up most of her irritation, it's clear that Lhote doesn't have time for the tedious or the mundane.

That's why she's well-suited to play Farfisa organ for Stereolab, a group so unique in sound and viewpoint that it prompted one rock critic to call it "always the same, and always different." On their latest album, "Emperor Tomato Ketchup," Stereolab continues to create keyboard-heavy, droning music with a deep groove and leftist lyrics. Yet, as usual, the band expands its sound into something new, this time incorporating delicate string arrangements on songs like "Cybele's Reverie" and funk rhythms and guitars on "Metronomic Underground."

Lhote put it simply: "I enjoy being in a band that's original, that's doing something different than what most other bands are doing now."

Though she has only been in the group for a year, Lhote blends in beautifully with the core members of "the groop," guitarist Tim Gane, singer and lyricist Laetitia Sadier, and guitarist Mary Hansen, on the new record, and adds an extra keyboard dimension to Stereolab's live shows.

Lhote explained how she joined the band: "I'm from Paris, and Laetitia is originally from Paris, and we knew each other there. When I moved to London I saw her again and she mentioned that the group needed a keyboard player, so I joined then. I played in little bands in Paris, playing guitar, but I wasn't doing anything serious with it. There's been lots to learn and it's been tiring at times, but I've really enjoyed being in Stereolab, it's been lots of fun."

For Lhote, recording "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" was part of the fun of being in Stereolab.

"This is the first time that the group has recorded anything outside of London," she said. "It was very enjoyable working in Chicago with John McEntire of Tortoise - he had a lot of old-fashioned keyboards and equipment that made recording the new album very interesting, that gave it a different sound."

On "Emperor Tomato Ketchup," the band's musical evolution continues. "This new album is more jazzy or funky, in general. I also think the arrangements and the rhythms are getting more complex - early Stereolab songs only had one or two chords, where there's more now," Lhote explained. The album varies from bouncy numbers like the title track, to lush space-age bachelor-pad music like "Slow Fast Hazel" to the melancholy ballad "Monstre Sacre," proof of the group's growing diversity and musical prowess.

The funky feel on songs like "Metronomic Underground" and "Spark Plug" recalls classic '70s soul - played by the Cantina band from "Star Wars" and fronted by a dulcet-voiced chanteuse. Lhote explained how this new facet of Stereolab's sound emerged. "When Tim is writing an album, he gets inspired by what he's listening to at the time. When he was writing the new album he was listening to a lot of old jazz like Don Cherry and Sun Ra, and that really influenced him."

Stereolab itself has been cited as influential for a crop of new bands from the Rentals to the Cardigans - a phenomenon that Lhote said she is baffled by: "It's weird. I hear all the time that there are these new bands that are being compared to us, like the Cardigans or Lush, and I just don't understand the comparison at all. I don't think they sound anything like us. I think it's ridiculous. Any time there's two women singing, or if there's an organ, the group is compared to us. This guy from Chicago told me that there's a lot of bands in the area that are influenced by Stereolab, but I just don't see it."

Something beyond comparison is Stereolab's live show - an understated, harmonious performance that builds into a deep, trance-inducing groove. Lhote said, "I like to play 'Lo Boob

Oscillator' live; we have a sort of extended, droning sound live that's really enjoyable to play with."

Though the group's newly dense and elaborate sound could pose problems for a lesser band on tour, Stereolab uses its usual ingenuity to recreate its studio sound: "Mary could sing one of the instrumental parts that was an organ on the record, or play it on the guitar," Lhote explained. "We kind of have to play the songs with the instruments we have on stage at the time - the keyboards, guitars and voices that we have live. It's more streamlined."

As for the band's plans, touring looms large in the group's future. "We're going to the finish the tour at the end of May, and then we're going back to London to play some festivals over the summer. I think we're going

back to the States in August for some more touring - it's going to be touring for most of the year. We may rest a bit before doing the festivals, but it's mostly touring," Lhote said.

Even with all the touring, Lhote said she doesn't feel mainstream success is imminent for the band. "We've been playing much bigger venues already on this tour, and the audiences are pretty diverse, so I guess we're more popular than we've ever been. But I don't feel like we're going to be huge," she said.

Still, with a band as unique as Stereolab, everything is out of the ordinary and nothing is out of the question.