Dots and Loops


Dots and Loops is the fifth studio album by English-French rock band Stereolab. It was released on 22 September 1997 in the United Kingdom by Duophonic Records and on 23 September 1997 in the United States by Elektra Records. The album was co-produced by Stereolab with John McEntire and Andi Toma.

Recording

Seven of the ten tracks on Dots and Loops were recorded by Stereolab in March 1997 at the Chicago studio Idful Music Corp. with John McEntire, who co-produced, engineered and mixed the tracks. The remaining three tracks – "The Flower Called Nowhere", "Prisoner of Mars" and "Contronatura" – were recorded the following month at Academy of St. Martin in the Street in Düsseldorf, this time with co-production, engineering and mixing duties overseen by Andi Toma. Additional engineering was undertaken by Max Stamm and Toma's Mouse on Mars bandmate Jan St. Werner.

Release and reception

Dots and Loops peaked at number 19 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the band's second top 20 album on the chart. In the United States, it was the band's first entry on the Billboard 200 chart, where it peaked at number 111; by August 1999, it had sold over 75,000 copies in the country. The song "Parsec" was used for the launch of the Volkswagen New Beetle.
AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine identifies Dots and Loops as being primarily influenced by bossa nova and 1960s pop music. Erlewine writes that while Stereolab had focused on experimenting with dance rhythms on Emperor Tomato Ketchup, they instead "concentrated on layered compositions" on Dots and Loops; he describes the band's compositional approach on the album as edging "closer to jazz than rock, exploring all of the possibilities of any melodic phrase". Pitchforks Eric Harvey says that Dots and Loops exemplified "recombinant pop", a "sample-driven and style-copping" branch of late 1990s alternative music produced by artists who incorporated a broad range of retro sounds into their work while also utilising contemporary digital production techniques inspired by electronic and hip hop music. Barney Hoskyns of Rolling Stone found that the album continued Stereolab's progression towards a lighter sound that he termed "avant-easy listening". Treble writer Jeff Terich characterises Dots and Loops as "mostly gorgeously orchestrated, stunningly layered and innovative art-pop", highlighting its "bigger, brighter, more lush and luxurious" production.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for Dots and Loops adapted from album liner notes.
Stereolab
Additional musicians
Production