Essex-born Tim Gane, chief musical alchemist in Stereolab, is a man notoriously in love with the vagaries of sound, recording techniques and music itself. Lataetia Sadier, Stereolab’s French co-founder, lyricist and vocalist (and Gane’s ex-partner) once commented, tellingly, “I’ve never met anyone as passionate and as obsessed with music as Tim.” This passion has driven Gane’s work in Stereolab for 18 years, from the band’s beginnings as a krautrock-powered experimental pop act through to their immersion in jazz and prog circa the early ‘00s, and now to their current revitalised form. Stereolab Mark 3 perhaps, although some might argue for double-digits on that classification, given the band’s prolific nature.

Beyond sound, Gane also has a long-term interest in the format and collectibility of music. A vinyl enthusiast’s dream, Stereolab have released a host of 7-inches, 10-inches, split singles … even flexidiscs, displaying an ongoing appreciation of analogue formats that goes beyond mere nostalgia. Recalling that my first Stereolab purchase was 1992 album Peng! on cassette (it came in a clear case replete with tiny booklet the size of a scaled down vinyl sleeve), I ask Gane what he thinks of the now thoroughly obsolete stepping stone between vinyl and compact disc.

“I remember our cassettes,” he laughs. “I think Emperor Tomato Ketchup was the last cassette that we did.” 

Sensing that Gane doesn’t have quite the nostalgia for tapes that he does for records, I tell him of Dave McCormack’s recent Cassingle EP, which in a packaging move worthy of Stereolab came with a cut out cassette cover on the CD sleeve.

“I mean, cassingle,” he erupts, mildly. “I’m sure that’s the worst invention of all time. I grew up using cassettes and I hate them now. 20 years of using cassettes, I got so fed up with them… I really don’t regret that they’ve gone.”

Outmoded or not, some aspects of cassettes aren’t as consigned to the past as they should be, as Gane acknowledges.

“But now we have the digital equivalent of the C120 cassette with the MP3,” he laments. “They have a similar level of sound quality most of the time I find.”

Which leads me to a point of curiosity with Stereolab’s defiantly record-nerdish approach until now – how are the band (or Gane at least) facing the increasingly digital and unpackaged nature of music? Gane responds by detailing the minutiae of album marketing initiated by their current label, 4AD (Stereolab were unceremoniously and unexpectedly shunted from long-term imprint Too Pure to 4AD when Beggars Group recently consolidated)… 

“Everything’s obviously going towards the downloads, and I think the way this album is being promoted by them is much much much different to any of the ones before,” he tells, the avowed leftist allowing only a mild distaste for marketing to enter his voice. “They released a track for free download about six weeks ago, and there is another track coming out just before the album. And that’s available on their website and MySpace and to any other people [ie, bloggers] who want to use it. And then there’s a series of remixes done one a week before release, and then there’s two promo films, and they also filmed a little gig we did in a London pub and that’s available online ... So they are changing their attack a bit in the way they promote things.”

He pauses, taking a more optimistic tone.

“In some strange way it’s more like how we use to release records anyway. Loads more singles … loads more tracks coming out in different places. Kind of less focusing on an album and more buzzing around with different tracks all around it. And I don’t mind that. I quite like it.”

Chemical Chords, Stereolab’s ninth full-length album (alongside seven compilations) almost sounds like a singles collection. 13 tracks of compact rhythmic pop music, it was written by Gane immediately after finishing the soundtrack for French film La Vie D’Artiste with frequent and vital collaborator Sean O’Hagan of The High Llamas (almost an unofficial Stereolab member), who also contributes string and brass arrangements to the latest album.

“He just comes in sometimes and he sits and he goes ‘oh that sounds good – I hear this little movement happening’,” says Gane. “And he’ll play something and that will be on the record ... I know he has a very good ear for what’s necessary in songs. And this comes from knowing the guy for many years and trusting his judgement and imagination. He’s a very good person to have around when you’re recording because he’s always jumping up and down, coming up with something...”

The writing for Chemical Chords took place in a swift two weeks, with Gane managing to lay the groundwork for over 30 songs, the non-album ones still being refined by the notorious perfectionist. Of the selection process Gane is cheerfully matter-of-fact - bring it back to simple maths.

“When we got to mixing we realised we had two and a half weeks to mix about a song a day, so we knew we only had about 16. We knew we had to make some quick decisions – ‘that one’s all right, that one’s all right…’

“I couldn’t remember what all the tracks were sounding like,” he says with a laugh. “So after we did the initial 16 we listened to the other 16 and then we decided. I think we swapped like two or one, and pretty much on the spur of the moment picked the right ones. Lataetia preferred some of the ones on the second one, but basically I wanted the tracks that were up-tempo and featured more of Sean’s arrangements. So we tended to go for those ones, and left the ones that were a bit unfinished.

Our songs kind of develop a bit like fungus, always growing, and by the end of it you have to look at it again and say, ‘ok, I need to snip that’. It’s just to make the whole thing work as an album.”

With another 16 tracks up their sleeve, it’s likely we’ll hear more new Stereolab in the coming months, be it as limited edition 7-inches or exclusive downloads, but in the meanwhile they’ll be touring extensively in the home of their biggest fanbase, the US. Chemical Chords may bring them to Australia, but after their last almost-tour on the back of the ill-fated Funhouse Festival (“I remember doing about 20 interviews and then all of a sudden it was cancelled and we didn’t go,” says Gane, still clearly a little annoyed), it might be a while coming. Given that late member Mary Hansen was from Queensland, lost tragically to a road accident in 2002, there’s a special local link to the ‘lab. Hopefully they make it down under once again.

“I love going to Australia and the two times we went before were both fantastic,” says Gane with enthusiasm, before tempering it with reality. “I’m very happy to go, but it’s not in my control. I don’t just click my fingers and say ‘I want to go to Australia now’. It’s expensive – expensive for us and expensive for everyone to put the gigs on. But if the situation arises for us to go we’d love to, we wouldn’t say no.”

CHEMICAL CHORDS is out now through 4AD/Remote Control.

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