MUSIC
In the PRF tribute group there was a Stereolab month. I was bummed that I didn’t record anything. But then there came this little song idea which started out by whistling to myself and I decided to make it full Stereolab, even though my keyboard skills are non-existent. Thanks to MIDI I could play an organ part nevertheless.
I’m very happy that @owl agreed to contribute a female voice – thank you very much.
LYRICS
I'm a passionate cyclist and advocate of car free city. In Berlin there are still so many streets that us bikes have no place because where there could be bike lanes, there are cars standing around, unused. In fact, once you understood it, you can’t see past how bad we ruined our own conditions of living by making our cities ‚car friendly‘ and hostile to humans.
What more fitting topic for a Stereolab tribute song?
Mary Hansen of Stereolab was killed when she was run over by a truck, yet it was called a 'cycling accident' everywhere. As if the bike had been the problem and not the thing that actually killed her. I saw an interview with Laetitia Sadier and I was heartbroken to see how much she still was shaken by this tragic and senseless death so many years later.
(German) Sekundärliteratur:
Diehl, Katja: Autokorrektur. Mobilität für eine lebenswerte Welt. Fischer Verlag, 2022
ZDF Magazin Royale vom 17.09.2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybTHWzmlw70
@owl: I love the arrangement and melody and was glad I could be a small part of this tune! It was the easiest kind of collab, @ampersandman did all the heavy lifting with the songwriting and instrumental. I think he nailed the Stereolab feel!
Killer Machines (Song For Mary)
I did not know
evil machines surround me
I’d never see them til the day
That they took her away
Killer machines are wreaking havoc
we brush it off as accidents
Telling us we just have to be careful
Killer machines are our friends
Killer machines are wreaking havoc
we brush it off as accidents
Telling us we just have to be careful
Killer machines are our friends
You never know
They strike at their own will
My friend Mary stood no chance
Against the monster of steel
Killer machines are wreaking havoc
we brush it off as accidents
Telling us we just have to be careful
Killer machines are our friends
Killer Machines don’t ask for reasons
Killer Machines out of control
Killer Machines long took over
Killer Machines own our soul
Killer machines control the city
Look at all that we sacrifice
Bury all life in asphalt and concrete
Killer machines control our lives
Killer machines are not your friends
Killer machines are not your friends
Killer machines are not your friends
Killer machines are not your friends
@leepat Mar 2022
love the energy of this and the infectious melody/chorus.
i have fallen from my bike a few times too because of reckless drivers, but thankfully not been killed yet :)
@halfwayhome Mar 2022
Man, this is complete package - writing, performance, production, awesome through and through....
Really in awe of the chord progressions, the switching from minor to major, and a killer melody throughout.
Really love the sound and feel, rockin' out, but with a delicate touch - works well at any volume (how's that even possible!?).
That synth solo and everything happening behind it - YES!
@balancelost Mar 2022
Yeah! This is Stereolab to 11, sweet! Great metronomic drums and churning guitars giving it that indie krautrock feel. The dark melody in the chorus is great. Excellent work everyone! Didn't know that about Mary, but it surprises me none to learn she died in London. Horrible city to drive in, let alone cycle.
@unkept Mar 2022
This is great! The colorful and vibrant soundscape mixed with the pounding message and wonderful vocal, standout song for FAWM 22.
@adforperu Feb 2022
This absolutely rocks, that chorus melody is a real earworm. In fact, the verse is too. And the instrumentation and mix is absolutely wild, great skills! The repetition of the 'killer machine' line is so good, I'm glad we get to hear it a lot
@robs Feb 2022
Great song! I've switched from car to bike a couple of years ago and I still don't regret it.
@nadine Feb 2022
Oh I missed this one! What a killer indie rock song. I didn't expect this synthesizer but it's the perfect one for owls voice. This is so catchy. Love it. Great collab!
@frenchcricket Feb 2022
Stereolab are one of my favourite bands so I opened this with trepidation. But you did a terrific job encapsulating the 'Lab feel. The guitars sound spiky and wonderful. Also a little bit Ladytron on the chorus. @owl's voice sounds so pure that the dystopic landscape you painted really suckerpunches you, especially with the use of repetition in the chorus. That bendy synth solo is also superb by the way.
@mistermann Feb 2022
This is LUSH. With that uptempo jangly guitar I got hints of the original Pipettes lineup in a way that I love, and the dystopian lyrical theme on top is a glorious contrast. Love love love it.
@mariekevinkmusic Feb 2022
Don't know what Stereolab is but I LIKE this song. A lot. The gentle vocals contrast great with the "angry" music. I really like where they sit in the mix as well. Speaking of mix, what a great mix. The synths coming in at the right time. Just lush.
@danvaillancourt Feb 2022
Love it! Great arrangement and perfect vocals for the track. Like the way the "killer machines..." lines have a staccato, almost machine-like quality to it and some like it is being doubled with keys or just a cool vocal treatment. Great synth solo. Fantastic collab.
@vomvorton Feb 2022
Ahhh that moment when the guitars kick in - you've totally nailed the Stereolab feeling there. Love the driving rhythm and that synth break in the middle is superb! Interesting idea with the lyrics, it's like a protest song or an angry tribute rather than the more traditional homage, all the better for that originality and @owl nails the vox of course!
@b3nut Feb 2022
Darkly cheerful...yet all the ghost bikes I've seen around Madison (an ostensibly bike-friendly city...I bike downtown quite a bit in the warmer months) come to mind as well. You've captured the darkness of it all under a quai-cheerful facade really well here, it works.
@stephenwordsmith Feb 2022
Can I say that I loved the driving rhythm? It seems a little colour-blind under the circumstances.
Anyway, I don't know Stereolab at all, but I enjoyed this song. It's rich in extremes and paradoxes, seeming to toe the waters of sweetness and harshness, the human and the inanimate, and captures the conflict between the fragility and tenderness of one and the unstoppable harshness of the other. Yet at the same time they both carry each other through the song, reminding us of our constant reliance on the killer machine despite their propensity for, well, that.
Very astute composition, very astute production, very happy listener here.
@kenficara Feb 2022
️ Stereolab! ️
This is perfect -- Owl, your vocals work so nicely in beauty-buried-in-the-mix mode, and the wall of guitars and keyboards with the rhythmic shifts and poppy harmonies -- I love this.
And I did not know that Mary Hansen died while cycling. How sad. It is ridiculous that they refer to those incidents as "cycling accidents" rather than "automobile homicides" -- Killer machines control our lives indeed.
This is one of my favorite FAWM songs so far.
@guatecoop Feb 2022
All right, well a collab with you two!?! Love the idea of it and it is sprinting right out of the gate! This is a great song....I mean really cool. These are sounds that we don't hear that often around here. Great progressions and the vocals over it?!?!? Wow. Everything is so good and the performances are right on. That Moog over the top is really cool....Excellent collab. I'm very glad that I heard it!
@sheamiejay Feb 2022
The national anthem of Dystopia! Well done.
@paulh1237 Feb 2022
The chorus melody is awesome here. The keys that open the song are a great scene-setter, and love the synth solo with the "Baba" backing vocals. Great work.
@datsch Feb 2022
What a blast! What a groove! Just enough grit to remind us that this is not a jolly theme depite the upbeat music, Great melodic lines from owl, and that synth is soooo Berlin ... very analoguey/PopolVuhish. I listened three times, thanks! PS decades ago I was a cycle courier in SF and London too -- so I know where you coming from. In the end (after a particularly bad crash) I gave up trying to beat the odds with my reflexes and just walk instead ...
@andrea Feb 2022
I love the vibe of the music. Really driving and powerful. It's a great fit with these lyrics with a compelling message. @owl's voice sounds awesome. I would like to hear it a little better. Super collab!
@ayehahmur Feb 2022
That's a really great synth melody, it catches your attention right from the first phrase and suit's @owl's voice perfectly. Love the drive of the guitars and drums too, and that big howling lead in the instrumental break is brutal. Brilliant.