Friday, March 17, 2006

STEREOLAB"Fab Four Suture"Too PureSAM PREKOP"Who's Your New Professor"Thrill Jockey

AMONG BANDS of its stature, Stereolab continues to show the greatest dedication to that early-'90s indie-pop fad, the 7-inch single. But then the 7-inch has been very, very good to Stereolab. The Anglo-French retro-electro ensemble made its debut with a series of 1991-92 singles, and now the group has returned to the format to reinvigorate itself after its disappointing album "Margarine Eclipse." Although most listeners will hear the new "Fab Four Suture" in digitized form, the album is officially a compilation of three limited-edition vinyl singles released last year and three more issued the day of the CD's release.

As its name suggests, Stereolab is something of a science experiment, grafting 1950s easy-listening music with '70s Teuton-beat and all sorts of electronica. In recent years, the formula has shifted to favor languid lounge, so the brisk movement of such new songs as "Kyberneticka Babicka, Pt. 1" and the aptly named "Interlock" is a welcome development. "Fab Four Suture" doesn't return to the ecstatic thrust of the band's earliest material, and the band isn't fixated entirely on locomotion. Horns, synths and vocoder effects evoke '70s funk, and there's a pretty passage at the end of "Whisper Pitch" in which a multi-tracked Laetitia Sadier addresses the listener in uncharacteristically direct and human terms: "I can connect with the world," she sings. Still, Stereolab's principal way of connecting is by taking everybody for a ride.

While Stereolab picks up the tempo, plenty of post-rock types are still hanging out in the lounge. One of them is Chicago's Sam Prekop, a member of the Sea and Cake, whose John McEntire is a frequent Stereolab collaborator.

Prekop's second solo album, "Who's Your New Professor" is fuller than his first, but it is not significantly more assertive. The music is keyed to the guitarist-pianist's voice, which is limited but pleasant. The guitars, played by Prekop and Sea and Cake member Archer Prewitt, growl a bit, notably on "Dot Eye," but the overall vibe is jazzy and relaxed. Indeed, Josh Abrams's standup bass is one of the album's most prominent voices, accompanying Prekop as he takes such modest yet thoroughly charming tunes as "Two Dedications" for a stroll.

-- Mark Jenkins

Appearing Tuesday at the 9:30 club.