Yesterday, it was announced via Stereolab's manager Martin Pike on the band's website that the group would be taking an indefinite hiatus. The band will have more music coming out soon-- Chemical Chords 2 , the follow up to their 2008 first part , and a handful of reissues--but there are no more plans to record, and the band even canceled their only two dates on the docket.

 

Here's the full text of Pike's message:

 Hiatus/Sabbatical/Pause/Intermission/Breather

Dear All,

As we recently made #51 with Emperor Tomato Ketchup in the Amazon 100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums of all Time we feel that our work is done for the moment.

We have had to cancel the last two shows that we were scheduled to play, apologies to all that had bought tickets, and there are no plans to record new tracks.

Duophonic are working on the release of Chemical Chords 2, we also have plans for a new Switched On and remastering of the back catalogue.

We are are all going to have a bit of a rest now after nearly 19 years and work on a few other projects.

The website will still be updated and disks released but there won't be any new Stereolab product for a while.

Cheerio
Pikey

The Amazon list Pike is referring to is this one . Stereolab have essentially been grinding since they formed in the late 80s, with only modest breaks in between records, so they're overdue for some time off. Whether this means the band is done completely is up in the air at this point, but the world of post-rock just got a whole lot less quirky all of a sudden. [ Pitchfork ]

Photo Credit: Margarita Gonzalez/Prefixmag.com