Stereolab - Margerine Eclipse (2LP)

Stereolab's first full-length recording without guitarist / vocalist Mary Hansen, who died in a tragic accident in december of 2002, Margerine Eclipse finds the band soldiering on in admirable fashion. Essentially picking up where they left off on 2001's Sound-Dust, the group continues to employ their trademark blend of vintage keyboards, airy french / english vocals, and frothy lounge-meets-electronica pop sensibilities. That's not to say that there absolutely no new developments; one can hear the occasional dash of hip-hop rhythm (La Demeure), Autechre-like laptop glitch-pop (Vonal Declosion), and even a bit of disco (at the end of album-closer Dear Marge) amid the familiarly odd time signatures, quirky socio-political lyrical observations, and postmodern retro-futurism. Most importantly, though, Stereolab's finely tuned knack for interesting arrangements, arresting timbres, and modestly elegant melodies remains unsullied.