(FORTUNE Magazine) – Stereolab Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night (Elektra)

There's something sort of sad about the silk-clad self-parody that Hugh Hefner has become in these waning hours of the millennium. But there was a gloriously giddy time back in the day of the Apollo missions when Playboy's swank grand Pooh-Bah was so hip he could tell readers how to create their own Space Age bachelor pads. Naturally that world of seductive possibility wasn't complete without, say, a little shag carpeting, a wet bar with snifters of Harvey's, and a pricey "high-fidelity" system on which to play your Sergio Mendes LPs.

If you're looking to recapture that vibe of retro-futuristic leisure, the latest CD from London's Stereolab is mandatory. Even if you've had it up to here with lounge-Muzak preciousness, it's a blast of fresh air. Stereolab doesn't so much write "songs" as create confectionary soundscapes that feel like lighter-than-helium electronic lullabies. With its exotic arsenal of old-school Moogs, organs, and vibraphones, Cobra manages to be lyrical, strange, and blissfully soothing. And floating over it all is singer Laetitia Sadier's sing-songy French monotone. Sure, the lyrics make about as much sense as you'd expect from a band that titles one of its songs "Italian Shoes Continuum," but words seem beside the point when you're busy creating the soundtrack for a brave new world.

--Chris Nashawaty

JEFF GORDINIER and CHRIS NASHAWATY are senior writers at Entertainment Weekly.