Rhino / Wea
2006
Serene Velocity: Stereolab Anthology
About This Album
Whittling Stereolab's impressive (in terms of both size and quality) discography down to a single-disc retrospective is a daunting task, but Rhino's collection handles it well enough that only the fussiest completists could complain. Granted, Serene Velocity -- a title so apt it feels like it was borrowed from some long-lost, limited-run 'Lab 7" -- gets a head start by concentrating on the band's output during their time with Elektra, but that's still 13 years, seven albums, and several EPs worth of material to choose from. Nevertheless, the collection hones in on each release's definitive tracks with lock-groove accuracy: "Jenny Ondioline" and "Crest" capture Transient Random Noise-Bursts with Announcements' bracing, droning sound, while "Ping Pong" and "Wow and Flutter" reflect the more overtly pop direction of Mars Audiac Quintet. Emperor Tomato Ketchup is the only album to have three tracks culled from it ("Cybele's Reverie," "Metronomic Underground," and "Percolator"), all of which show how the group incorporated jazz, funk, hip-hop, and chamber pop into what many consider their masterpiece.
Track List (try tracks 3,12,13 and 14)

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