Editing Stereolab (section)

===1990–1993: Formation===
[[File:Stereolabcliff.svg|left|thumb|upright=0.65|The band's "Cliff" logo appeared in early releases. It was taken from the 1970 comic strip "Der Tödliche Finger" by Anton Holtz Portmann.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dale|first=John|date=2016-02-17|title=The complete guide to Stereolab|url=https://www.factmag.com/2016/02/17/stereolab-guide-best-albums-songs/|access-date=2021-01-16|website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]|language=en-US}}</ref>]]
In 1985, Tim Gane formed [[McCarthy (band)|McCarthy]], a band from [[Essex]], England, known for their left-wing politics.<ref name="sutton">{{cite web | last=Sutton, Michael | url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p203494|pure_url=yes}} | website=[[AllMusic]] | title=Biography (McCarthy) | access-date=30 May 2007}}</ref> Gane met Lætitia Sadier, born in France,<ref name="Arundel (1991)">{{cite news | last=Arundel, Jim | url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article_with_login.html?ArticleID=610 | work=Melody Maker | title=Stereolab | date=26 October 1991 | access-date=26 May 2007 | archive-date=28 September 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040332/http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article_with_login.html?ArticleID=610 | url-status=live }}</ref> at a 1988 McCarthy concert in Paris and the two quickly fell in love. Sadier was disillusioned with the rock scene in France and soon moved to London to be with Gane and to pursue a music career.<ref name="McLean (2019)" /><ref name="Arundel (1991)" /> In 1990, after three albums, McCarthy broke up and Gane immediately formed Stereolab with Sadier (who had also contributed vocals to McCarthy's final album), ex-[[The Chills|Chills]] bassist [[Martin Kean]] and Gina Morris on backing vocals.<ref name="sutton" /><ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)">{{cite web | last=Phares, Heather | url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/stereolab-mn0000026520/biography | website=AllMusic | title=Biography (Stereolab) | access-date=25 May 2007 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114046/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/stereolab-mn0000026520/biography | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Dale |first=Jon |title=Stereolab - Switched on Volumes 1-3 |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/stereolab-switched-refried-ectoplasm-switched-volume-2-aluminum-tunes-switched-volume-3 |website=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]] |date=9 November 2018 |access-date=13 February 2019 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114051/https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/stereolab-switched-refried-ectoplasm-switched-volume-2-aluminum-tunes-switched-volume-3-108173/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Stereolab's name was taken from a division of [[Vanguard Records]] demonstrating [[hi-fi]] effects.<ref name="perrone">{{cite news|last=Perrone, Pierre |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20021213/ai_n12656122 |work=[[The Independent]] |title=Obituary: Mary Hansen |date=13 December 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016152930/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20021213/ai_n12656122 |archive-date=16 October 2007 }}</ref><ref name="Harvey (2017)">{{cite web|last=Harvey, Eric|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/stereolab-dots-and-loops/|title=Stereolab: Dots and Loops Album Review|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|access-date=19 March 2018|date=23 July 2017|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114118/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/stereolab-dots-and-loops/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Grunebaum (2007)">{{cite news |last=Grunebaum, Dan |title=In Person: Don't call us retro |url=http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/415/interview.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061119153819/http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/415/interview.asp |archive-date=19 November 2006 |access-date=29 May 2007 |publisher=[[Metropolis (English magazine in Japan)|Metropolis]]}}</ref>

Gane and Sadier, along with future band manager Martin Pike, set up a record label called [[Duophonic Super 45s]] which, along with later offshoot Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks, would become commonly known as "Duophonic".<ref name="H2O (Chunklet: Tim Gane)">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.chunklet.com/index.cfm?section=article&IssueID=8&ID=53 |magazine=[[Chunklet (magazine)|Chunklet]], Issue 14 |publisher=Chunklet |title=Tim Gane (Duophonic/UHF Disks) |author=((H2O)) |access-date=26 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123215624/http://chunklet.com/index.cfm?section=article&IssueID=8&ID=53 |archive-date=23 November 2010 }}</ref> Gane said that their "original plan" was to distribute multiple 7 and 10-inch records "–to just do one a month and keep doing them in small editions".<ref name="McGonical">{{cite journal |last=McGonical |first=Mike |title=Stereolab / Serene Velocity |journal=(compilation Album Booklet) R2 79533|date=August 2006}}</ref> The 10&nbsp;inch vinyl [[Extended play|EP]] ''[[Super 45]]'', released in May 1991, was the first release for both Stereolab and the label, and was sold through mail order and through the [[Rough Trade Shop]] in London. ''Super 45''{{'}}s band-designed album art and packaging was the first of many customised and limited-edition Duophonic records. In a 1996 interview in ''[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]'', Gane calls the "do-it-yourself" aesthetic behind Duophonic "empowering", and said that by releasing one's own music "you learn; it creates more music, more ideas".<ref name="Shapiro (1996)">{{cite news|last=Shapiro, Peter |author-link=Peter Shapiro (journalist) |url=http://www.thewire.co.uk/archive/interviews/stereolab.html |work=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]] |title=Laboratory Secrets—Stereolab |date=July 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630172144/http://www.thewire.co.uk/archive/interviews/stereolab.html |archive-date=30 June 2007 }}</ref>

Stereolab released the EP ''[[Super-Electric]]'' in September 1991, and a single, titled "Stunning Debut Album" (which was neither debut nor album), followed in November 1991. The early material was rock and guitar-oriented; of ''Super-Electric'' Jason Ankeny wrote in [[AllMusic]] that "Droning guitars, skeletal rhythms, and pop hooks—not vintage synths and pointillist melodies—were their calling cards&nbsp;..."<ref>{{cite web | last=Ankeny, Jason | url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r804005|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Super-Electric) | access-date=30 May 2007}}</ref> Under the independent label [[Too Pure]], the group's first full-length album, ''[[Peng!]]'', was released in May 1992. A compilation titled ''[[Switched On]]'' was released in October 1992 and would be part of a series of compilations that anthologise the band's more obscure material.<ref name="Phares (AMG: Fab Four Suture)">{{cite web | last=Phares, Heather | url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r821199|pure_url=yes}} | website=AllMusic | title=Review (Fab Four Suture) | access-date=25 May 2007}}</ref>

Around this time, the line-up consisted of Gane and Sadier plus vocalist and guitarist [[Mary Hansen]], drummer Andy Ramsay, bassist Duncan Brown, and keyboardist Katharine Gifford. Hansen, born in Australia, had been in touch with Gane since his McCarthy days. After joining, she and Sadier developed a style of vocal counterpoint that distinguished Stereolab's sound.<ref name="Erlewine (AMG: Stereolab)" /><ref name="perrone" /><ref>{{cite news | last=DeRogatis, Jim | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1504869.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103034444/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1504869.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]| publisher=Sun-Times News Group  | title=Great Chemistry // Stereolab Concocts a Unique Mix of Sounds | date=14 October 1993}}</ref> [[Sean O'Hagan]] of [[the High Llamas]] joined as a quick replacement for their touring keyboardist, but was invited for their next record and "was allowed to make suggestions".<ref name="ps5">{{cite web|author1=Popshifter|title=Painters Paint: The Definitive Career-Spanning Interview (to date) With The High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan (Snowbug and Buzzle Bee)|url=http://popshifter.com/2011-01-30/painters-paint-interview-with-the-high-llamas-sean-ohagan/5/|website=Popshifter|date=30 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225145009/http://popshifter.com/2011-01-30/painters-paint-interview-with-the-high-llamas-sean-ohagan/5/|archive-date=25 December 2017}}</ref>