The Lab Report

26-04-2019

Hi everyone,
Welcome to the latest Lab Report. This time we'll be focusing on *Mars Audiac Quintet*.

Elektra didn't drop us after the release of *Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements* and we continued to release our disks in the UK via Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks.

The band returned to Blackwing Studios, recording the album across March and April 1994, with mastering taking place towards the end of May at Abbey Road.

I think that Tim came up with the sleeve design – I rented the biggest synth that I could fit in my car, and our friend Peter Morris took the photos that would become the cover art.

Further art inspiration came from an amp that Tim and Laetitia had bought:

Having narrowly scraped the UK Top 75 with *French Disko* and *Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements*, we went all out for chart domination with *Mars Audiac Quintet* and the accompanying singles – *Ping Pong* and *Wow and Flutter*.

*Ping Pong* was released on 7" black, pink, and green vinyl, 10" EP, and CD.

*Wow and Flutter* was released as a limited handmade 7" sleeve with stickers, as well as 10" EP and CD versions.

*Mars Audiac Quintet* went top 20, reaching #16 in the UK album charts.

*Mars Audiac Quintet (Expanded Edition)* is available on 3 May via the Duophonic Store and Indie Retailers. Stereolab 2019 live dates can be found here.

Cheerio,
Stereolab