Stereolab

This 1996 album effectively marked the second phase of Stereolab's career. A long way from the noisy, motorik-style assaults of their past, this album crystallized their polyrhythmic, distinct pop sound. Effortlessly listenable -- but complex -- the tracks here drone, lock into grooves, and swing to perfection. "Motoroller Scalatron" is one of their finest moments.

So it isn't just silly punk songs--yet other people want to fill the world with silly Marxist songs, and what's wrong with that? Academia being the main place Marxism remains a cultural fact in Anglo-American culture, I say watered-down théorie is as valid as the watered-down surrealism we've always made allowances for. I also say the band's ideological tastes commit it to a measure of musical realism, preventing their postdance from doodling off into the ether. So although the obvious tunes, playful sound effects, pretty counterpoints, and mysterioso textures may--no, do--add up to pop, what they don't add up to, despite the vaunted Tortoise connection, is anything fools can pigeonhole as postrock. Songful hence no longer cool, this band will finally repay your undivided attention. (Grade - A-)