I'm pretty sure I was coerced into liking Stereolab, sometime in the mid '90s. Yeah, it was definitely one of those cute shop girls clerking at Repo Records in Rosemont, PA. You know how it is:
Me: Yeah, um, what's this playing now?
Repo chick: (glaring) Uhhh, hello... it's the new Stereolab...
Me: Oh... Cool.
Repo chick: Totally.
Me: ...
Repo chick: You should get it.
Me: I think I will.
Repo chick: Cool.
You see that? How she bullied me into buying Emperor Tomato Ketchup? Practically twisted my arm right there. It was totally worth it.
Anyway; the funniest thing I ever read about Stereolab said something to the effect that "this is what both Can and the Velvet Underground would have sounded like if they weren't so self-serious, had a half decent lead singer and their lead guitarists didn't totally suck." Ouch, buddy. I love both of those bands, but to be totally honest, you kind of got a point there...
