While the title of "The Free Design" pays homage to the cult-favorite harmony-pop outfit of the late '60s, the similarities end there.
This percussive, Brazilian-influenced confection from the otherwise disappointing Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night is one of Stereolab's busiest, most densely layered tracks, complete with a thoughtful Laetitia Sadier vocal that perfectly complements her profoundly metaphysical lyrics.
The remainder of this four-song EP fails to measure up, however.
"Les Aimes des Memes" continues the Brazilian infatuation of "The Free Design" with diminishing results, "With Friends Like These" effortlessly evokes the string-sweetened arrangements of Burt Bacharach's solo LPs, and the electro-burble of "Escape Pod (From the World of Medical Observations)" suffers from the same been-there-done-that malaise that afflicts so much of Cobra and Phases.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Free DesignTim Gane, Laetitia Sadier | Stereolab | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Escape Pod (From the World of Medical Observations)Tim Gane, Laetitia Sadier | Stereolab | Play | 03:57 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | With Friends Like TheseTim Gane, Laetitia Sadier | Stereolab | Play | 05:49 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 13 mins | 31 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Bassey | Brass |
| 2 | Tim Gane | Composer, Group Member |
| 3 | Rob Mazurek | Cornet |
| 4 | John McEntire | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 5 | Jim O'Rourke | Producer |
| 6 | Andy Robinson | Brass |
| 7 | Laetitia Sadier | Composer |
| 8 | Stereolab | Primary Artist |
| 9 | Steve Waterman | Brass |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |