Switched On Volumes 1 - 3 - Stereolab

Audio Remasterer: . For any Stereolab fans who need a reminder that their singles were just as vital to their evolution and body of work as their albums, Switched On, Vols. 1-3 provides ample evidence. This remastered reissue of their '90s singles and rarities collections features some of their definitive songs and spans their earliest droning Velvet Underground homages to the more eclectic and sophisticated experimental pop they purveyed by the decade's end. On songs such as "Super-Electric" and "Au Grand Jour," 1992's Switched On reaffirms that Stereolab's essential sound -- Motorik lock-grooves, bubbling analog synths, fuzzed-out guitars, and angelic vocals -- arrived fully formed. "Doubt" and "Brittle" are among the group's most vibrant pop songs, while the eight-minute "Contact" is a warm-up for the epics the band soon mastered. "The Light That Will Cease to Fail" is another standout, with Laetitia Sadier and Gina Morris' entwining voices foreshadowing the beautiful vocal interpla