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Stereolab Dots And Loops (Elektra/Warner)
Poor Portishead, say their fans. They came up with a formula and everyone copied it and now they sound like everyone else sounding like them. Well, some do it better--Portishead do. And there are some minor changes here: first of all, Beth Gibbons has gone from sounding like a little warpish tweedlebug to a big cackling witch about to unload a log. And it's effective. Plus, I love that Trekkie/Goldfinger/ghost-town tumbleweed vibe. This is as good as Dummy. And will probably stick around for just as long. 8.5/10 (Mireille Silcott) The Rolling Stones Bridges To Babylon (Virgin/EMI) In 1997, the Rolling Stones come off like an interactive CD-ROM history book of rock. Want to know what the greatest rock 'n' roll band of 1972 would sound like today? Imagine they co-wrote a song with k.d. lang, plug in producers du jour the Dust Brothers, and you might get a virtual song called "Anybody Seen My Baby?" A fun game, but nothing you'd want to burn into a CD and save. 6/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
Last year certain cynics were tossing around the notion that techno is to become the new prog-rock. Not sure about that, but along with LFO's Mark Bell, Björk has done something to liken one to the other: huge orchestration (via the Icelandic String Octet). But it works a treat. And Mrs. Gudmunsdottir loses her I'm-just-a-wittle-smurfy-baby voice for her I'm-a-crazy-yelper voice more often than not. So she's less annoying. And this cynic says YES (or King Crimson, take yer pick). 8/10 (Mireille Silcott)
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If the Clash were once the only band that mattered, and R.E.M. the only band that muttered, then Stereolab are the only band that matters, mutters and consistently wows and flutters at the late-'90s intersection of post-rock, electronica and easy-listening.
On album #8, or 9, the influence of their Tortoise cohorts (including co-producer John McEntire) is finally felt in the vibe(s), especially on a multi-part piece like the 17-minute "Refractions in the Plastic Pulse." There's a little tasteful, plastic dalliance with the drum & bass beat of the day. And honorary "groop" member Sean O'Hagan arranges more brass than strings, recalling new rock hero Burt Bacharach and making for a quieter, warmer 'Lab. Post-rock pop with a human face. 9/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
Portishead self-titled (Go Beat/London)
Björk Homogenic (Elektra/Warner)