Stereolab is a rare enigma in modern pop music. The band is so startlingly original, so simultaneously timeless and timely, and so far removed from any other pop artists, that you can't help but wonder how the London unit continually and compellingly evolves and grows with each of its subsequent releases. Fusing shards of Krautrock, '60s go-go, French pop and dreamy symphonics, Stereolab's latest effort, Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night, subscribes to the same atmospheric pop precision for which the ensemble is famous. But estimable producers John McEntire and Jim O'Rourke help the group reach even higher levels of experimental ingenuity. Jazz instrumentation begins to make its way into the band's music -- live brass and odd time signatures take the act's quirkier tendencies to endearing extremes, while the familiar bubbly electronic melodies, droney undercurrents and soothing vocal harmonies -- uttered in a variety of tongues, including French, English and ooh-ooh-aah-aah -- continue to woo your ears. The record is another magnificent part of Stereolab's magical and mysterious master plan to hypnotize you while you hum along.

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