As Rhino continues to repackage the entire WEA catalog as fast as it can (hello, what happened to the expanded B-52’s titles? I want a bigger, better Mesopotamia, and I want it now!), August 22 sees the release of a new Stereolab “best of,” Serene Velocity. A single disc hardly seems sufficient for even a beginner’s guide to Stereolab, but what I’m excited about are the liner notes, penned by former Seattle denizen, occasional Stranger contributor, and YETI editor-in-chief Mike McGonigal! Whoo-hoo! While you’re at it, pre-order a copy of Mike’s forthcoming literary homage to Loveless by My Bloody Valentine (part of the Continuum Books 33 1/3 series, and one allegedly held up by as many setbacks as anything else affiliated with Kevin Shields), in stores Sept. 15, 2006. Also due later this year, In Love With Those Times, an anthology of selections from Mike’s previous fanzine, the notorious Chemical Imbalance.

Press release and track listing for the Stereolab comp is below the cut:

RHINO ACHIEVES SERENE VELOCITY

A Stereolab Anthology Features a Decade of Noise-Pop Perfection
Taken From the Influential English Band's Seven Studio Albums with Elektra

Available August 22 From Rhino Records

LOS ANGELES - Stereolab exposed a generation of listeners to an experimental musical formula that synthesized sophisticated pop melodies and seditious lyricism with vintage electronic noise and blissed-out grooves to create an infectious strain of space-age lounge-pop. Rhino Records spreads the beautiful disease with a retrospective of the English group's decade with Elektra. Released as a CD, vinyl album, and digital download, SERENE VELOCITY - A STEREOLAB ANTHOLOGY is available August 22 from regular/digital retail outlets and www.rhino.com for a suggested list price of $18.98 for the CD, $19.98 for vinyl, and $13.99 for the digital release.

Featuring 16 tracks, SERENE VELOCITY includes a pair of songs released as 7" singles in addition to selections recorded between 1993 and 2004 that appeared originally on Stereolab's seven groundbreaking Elektra studio
albums. Stereolab's Tim Gane remastered all the tracks at Abbey Road Studios. The digital version comes with a special exclusive bonus: an interview with Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier about the album.

Arranged chronologically, the anthology begins with "Crest," "French Disko" and the 7" version of "Jenny Ondioline Part 1"-three songs recorded in 1993, the year of Stereolab's major label debut, Transient Random-Noise
Bursts With Announcements. SERENE VELOCITY follows the evolution of the band's sound with "Ping Pong" and the 7" version of "Wow And Flutter"-songs from 1994's Mars Audiac Quintet, which included the addition of horn and string sections by the High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan.

A trio of songs-"Cybele's Reverie," "Percolator," and "Metronomic Underground"-are featured from Stereolab's critically acclaimed 1996 album Emperor Tomato Ketchup, plus "Brakhage" and "Miss Modular" from 1997's Dots
And Loops.

SERENE VELOCITY includes "Infinity Girl" and "Come And Play In The Milky Night" from Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night, the band's 1999 release, which was co-produced by Chicago avant-garde noise
mavens-John McEntire of Tortoise and Jim O'Rourke. The compilation closes with four tracks from Stereolab's last two Elektra albums-2001's Sound-Dust and 2004's Margerine Eclipse-including "Sudden Stars." In the album's liner
notes, Mike McGonigal suggests, "It might be best to make sure you're sitting down before listening," to "...Sudden Stars." That's good advice for the entire album.

Stereolab formed in 1991 when former McCarthy frontman Tim Gane (guitar, keyboards) began writing songs with his partner, Laetitia Sadier (vocals, trombone, keyboards, guitar). After lineups that included members of the Chills and Faith Healers, the membership had solidified by the mid-'90s with Mary Hansen (keyboards, vocals), Morgane Lhote (organ, guitar, keyboards), and Andrew Ramsay (drums).

SERENE VELOCITY - A STEREOLAB ANTHOLOGY
Track Listing

1. "Jenny Ondioline (Part 1)" - 7" version
2. "Crest"
3. "French Disko"
4. "Ping Pong"
5. "Wow And Flutter" - 7" version
6. "Cybele's Reverie"
7. "Metronomic Underground"
8. "Percolator"
9. "Brakhage"
10. "Miss Modular"
11. "Infinity Girl"
12. "Come And Play In The Milky Night"
13. "Space Moth"
14. "Double Rocker"
15. "Vonal Declosion"
16. "...Sudden Stars"