DOTS AND LOOPS

The metamorphosis and maturation of Stereolab is complete! The vocal weaves! The acoustic guitar strums! The drumming and sophisticated rhythm constructs! The flamboyant bass play! The horns! The Motown rhythm guitar play! And they've even constructed two epic length songs! And, of course, the ever-present Farfisa and social-political messages of Lætitia Sadler.

1. "Brakhage" (5:13) a clear demonstration of the maturization that has occured within the band's compositions, production, and levels of instrumental mastery. (9/10)

2. "Miss Modular" (4:29) it's like four or five songs going on in one--all at the same time: quirky keyboard offerings, funky groove from the rhythm section, catchy acoustic guitar strum-fest, funky-futuristc horn arrangement, and then two separate vocal lines! Amazing! (10/10)

3. "The Flower Called Nowhere" (4:55) the spacey opening turns full-French soundtrack before strumming acoustic guitars and Farfisa keys bounce together with the drums and gorgeous, sophisticated multi-layered vocals permeate this masterpiece. (10/10)

4. "Diagonals" (5:15) a bit of a trip hoppy, acid jazz sound and beat open this one as horns and xylophone add to the rhythm track. The bass almost feels on its own!--until the rhythm guitars/Farfisa come in. Lætitia enters, singing in French, before Mary's multivoiced background vocals work into the weave with their own lyrics accenting and off- setting those of Ms. Sadler. Brilliant construct if lacking a bit of accessibility due to the sophistication of the weave, low-engaging melodies, and lyrics in a foreign language. (8.75/10)

5. "Prisoner of Mars" (4:03) Tom-tom play, percussives, sustained organ chords, and wonderful bass line provide the foundation for Lætitia to sing two of the most gorgeous melody lines in the Stereolab repertoire--the first in English, the second in French. Amazing! Brilliant! (10/10)

6. "Rainbo Conversation" (4:46) probably the most accessible, catchiest earworm of a song on this album full of catchy, brain-haunting melodies and rhythms. Even has a section for impassioned instrumentals and some amazing drumming! (10/10) As proggy of a song as you can get ? until ?

7. "Refractions in the Plastic Pulse" (17:32) like a slow stroll through an endless French park: Versailles, Bois de Bologne, Fontainbleau, Chambord, Les Vosges--take your pick--it's gorgeous, peaceful, soul-recharging. The first shift occurs at 3:28 when everything tightens up and is slowly squeezed down a drain until it comes out the other side at 4:35 as an upbeat trip-hoppy jaunt--perhaps on a horse or in an ATV. The lyric remains the same, just speeded up and embellished with other layers differently. In the eighth minute a radio-telegraph-sounding high trail of sound enters while the other tracks fade away, leaving a very spacey display of heavily effected synth burbble-waves to provide the new foundation for Lætitia and Mary's wonderful weaves--now clear, front and center from the former and murky-background from the latter (still in French. Gorgeous!). The synth play is very Pink Floyd/Richard Wright-ish. At the end of the twelfth minute we enter another transitional passage in which some very electro-computer-pop percussive noises are generated and sequenced for the new foundation. Berlin School (TD, Klause Schulze)-like down to the synth sounds chosen to carry the new chord sequence. At 14:15, full bass n drums rhythm section enters and violin-like synth in the lead while Farfisa bounces slowly from measure to measure, chord to chord, while L & M rejoin, returning to their original lyric in a slowed down, violin- mirrored, medium-paced fashion to the song's end. This final section is my favorite. (31/35)

8. "Parsec" (5:34) a straight on TripHop jam that sounds like it came straight off of EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL's Walking Wounded. Awesome! (9.25/10)

9. "Ticker-Tape of the Unconscious" (4:46) a very cool, very French soundtrack sounding groove in which the lyrics of the lead vocal are tucked within the music by a muting effect--this while the supporting "background vocal" track is clear, open, and in the fore! Ingenious! (9.5/10)

10. "Contronatura" (9:04) another Frenchified acid jazz sounding construct over which both Mary and Lætitia sing their separate tracks in dreamy/sexy voices. Great bass play that must have been an inspiration for Norwegian duo KOOP. From 4:00 to 5:40 the rhythm tracks drop away leaving only the squirts and spurts from the computer keyboard, but then the song recommences with a totally pop-rock groove and smoothed out paired vocal track--all the while the computer keyboard continues to spit out all kinds of sounds in line with the "this is the future" lyric the girls are singing. Brilliant! (18/20)

The key difference from the previous year's excellent Emperor Tomato Ketchup and this offering is the band's mastery of disciplined multi-layering--both in vocals and in their foundational instrumental/sound weaves.

A/five stars; a masterpiece of progressive rock music and one of the most refined pop-oriented Math Rock albums with vocals ever made. In my humble opinion, this is one of the all-time great albums of music; it sits at #4 on my own personal list of 600 Favorite Albums of All-time having stood firm within the Top 5 since it came into my life around Y2K.