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Underground > Radio & Music >

Stereolab's Mary Hansen dead at 36

  
 
Matthew Fluxington
13:16 / 11.12.02
This is very tragic and sad - Stereolab guitarist/vocalist Mary Hansen has died at age 36, she was hit by a car while riding her bicycle in London. I was just listening to Stereolab for the first time in a long while on the day that she died, thinking about how great her dynamic and chemistry with Laetitia Sadier was, she will definitely be missed. More information is available here and here.
 
 
Saveloy
13:53 / 11.12.02
Man, that's awful. Strangely enough I too was listening to Stereolab recently (Sunday) for the first time in about a year, reminding myself what a fantastic album 'Transient Random...' is.
 
 
A
13:59 / 11.12.02
That is a hell of a shame. She's origanally from around these parts (Brisbane), so I'm sure that a lot of people around here will be extremely sad.
 
 
rizla mission
14:05 / 11.12.02
fucking hell, that's terrible.. what a rotten thing to happen..
 
 
Murray Hamhandler
14:26 / 11.12.02
Just saw it on Pitchfork. That is awful. And...I too was listening to Stereolab for the first time in a long time the other day...
 
 
Gypsy Lantern
15:03 / 11.12.02
That's awful. I liked Stereolab a lot, and 'Random transient..' does indeed have some amazing songs on it. I will go out and buy some Stereolab albums that I don't already own.
 
 
Rage
23:10 / 11.12.02
...
 
 
The Falcon
23:15 / 11.12.02
I used to really like Stereolab, circa 'Emperor Tomato Ketchup'. This is very sad.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
23:18 / 11.12.02
If you didn't own Emperor Tomato Ketchup or Switched On vol 2: Refried Ectoplasm, you've got to put them on the top of your list...

I love Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements a lot, but Emperor Tomato Ketchup is the Stereolab album nearest to my heart.

The newly released ABC Music is fantastic too, and a great place to start - it contains many of the band's best songs in Peel sessions since the early 90s.
 
 
dubpulse
00:41 / 12.12.02
after getting home from a rather rotten day, the first thing I heard from my sister was this piece of news.

and I also was having some strange Stereolab synchronicities of late.

Indeed, very very sad.
 
 
Brigade du jour
22:24 / 16.12.02
Why do shit pop stars never die young? Is it so that they have a chance to become shit? Should this be another thread?

Sorry, too many questions.
 
 
Our Lady of The Two Towers
09:44 / 17.12.02
'Refried Ectoplasm' is great, just a bit more dynamic than some of their other stuff which has gone in to my head without disturbing what ever those things are in your ears that actually allow you to hear.
 
 
deja_vroom
10:18 / 17.12.02
And I just discovered Stereolab. In fact, I'm listening to their collaboration with Nurse With Wound right now... sad sad sad...
 
 
Our Lady of The Two Towers
12:04 / 18.12.02
In their little obit NME calls Stereolab 'one of the most influential bands of the last decade'. Now, I know it's customary not to put something nasty about a band in this kind of situation but this is surely a little bit OTT?
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
12:27 / 18.12.02
No. I don't think it's over the top at all - Stereolab has influenced a lot of bands, and more importantly, tends to act as a "gateway drug" - normally, people find out about the avant garde and obscure influences of the band by listening to Stereolab first. The song titles "Avant Garde MOR" and "John Cage Bubblegum" are very appropriate in that respect. I know that I'd personally consider Stereolab a musical influence.
 
 
rizla mission
12:55 / 18.12.02
Yeah, what Flux said. I'm not actually the biggest Stereolab fan in the world, but they do make music that sounds pretty much nothing like anything that came before it (in terms of pop music at least), but that numerous groups have taken on board since. And I think that's a pretty good definition of 'influential'.
 
 
.
10:12 / 19.12.02
Very sad indeed.

I hate to say it, but I too was listening to Stereolab last week for the first time in ages (two years in fact)...
 
  
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