Not only are English/French band Stereolab prolific but their albums are nearly always longer than the hour mark. Despite this and their somehwat limited (at least on the face of it) oeuvre they manage to produce beautiful harmonies and grooves which, whilst admittedly being influenced by jazz, 60's harmony bands and experimentalists like Can and Faust, sounds extremely modern. As usual the titles of the songs are bizarre and seemingly irrelevant but 'Italian Shoes Continuum' and 'The Spiracles' sound far better on CD than they do on paper. As usual the main problem with their recordings is their inability to avoid repetition which often causes the listener to wonder whether the hi-fi is faulty and at over 70 minutes long the album is once again too long. However, with a bit of user programming this whole affair can be turned into a rare breed; challenging easy-listening music.