Stereolab Switched On Volume 4 - Electrically Possessed

Coming in hot on the heels of their expansive 2019 reissue project, legendary avant pop group led by Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, Stereolab return with the long-awaited fourth instalment of their Switched On series. Having duly covered their years on the rise with the first three Switched On releases, volume four — fittingly titled Electrically Possessed — offers a comprehensive compendium of hard-to-find, out-of-print, compilation-only and unreleased cuts lifted from the group’s imperial phase between 1999 and 2008 remastered from the original tapes.

Having had their appetite for lounge jazz flavours fully whetted by 1997’s Dots and Loops, Electrically Possessed begins in the same spirit with the marimba, vibraphone and organ stomp of 9-minute opener ‘Outer Bongolia’, which neatly segues into the exotica pop of ‘Intervals’ — a tune bearing a passing resemblance to their wistful classic ‘The Flower Called Nowhere’ — and further into the funk territories of ‘Household Names’ and ‘L’exotisme Interieur’. The enormity of the collection takes us many places otherwise, most exceptionally of all to the bizarro disco world of ‘Dimension M2’, which upends Giorgio Moroder’s electronic dancefloor ethos with crushed bitrate chops and changes.

Another fine addition to the Switched On series that has historically showcased Stereolab’s adventurous sonic endeavours.