Adventures in Stereo

The sampling project Adventures in Stereo formed from the ashes of the short-lived 4AD label band Spirea X, which included vocalist Judith Boyle and former Primal Scream member Jim Beattie. The duo formed Adventures in Stereo in the mid-'90s with Simon Dine, who created the group's music — girl group-inspired miniatures reminiscent of the work of Stereolab or Broadcast — solely on an Akai sampler, constructing songs from obscure and unrecognizable loops. After Adventures in Stereo issued two acclaimed EPs, the band's history became convoluted: Dine split from the group, but both parties kept working under the AIS name. In 1997, early recordings and unreleased material were released on a self-titled LP on Scotland's Creeping Bent label, while a similarly packaged collection of Dine's subsequent work was issued a short time later, also under the title Adventures in Stereo and on the Underground Sounds imprint. The Boyle/Beattie unit returned in 1998 with Alternative Stereo Sounds. Their second U.S. release, Monomania, followed two years later.