Dots and Loops
- Scores: Noise 1, Unease 1, Complexity 1 (each 1 to 5)
- Genre: Rock, Electronic, Krautrock
- Mood: groovy, airy, hypnotic
- Sound: Pro Tools loops, vocoder, bossa nova rhythms, brass and strings, hypnotic grooves
Stereolab recorded this in March 1997 at Idful Music Corporation in Chicago and in April at a studio in Düsseldorf, co-produced with John McEntire and Andi Toma. It was their first album made with a digital audio workstation (Pro Tools), with drums recorded to tape and the playback digitally recorded and looped, and Tim Gane used an EMS Vocoder on many instruments. Sean O'Hagan arranged the brass and strings. The sound moved away from krautrock and drone towards jazz, bossa nova and 1960s pop, and the title references Norman McLaren's animated shorts Dots and Loops.
Track list
- Brakhage (5:30)
- Miss Modular (4:29)
- The Flower Called Nowhere (4:55)
- Diagonals (5:15)
- Prisoner of Mars (4:03)
- Rainbo Conversation (4:46)
- Refractions in the Plastic Pulse (17:32)
- Parsec (5:34)
- Ticker-Tape of the Unconscious (4:45)
- Contronatura (9:03)