ONE SMALL STEP

Super-Electric
Early evidence that the marginalia would not be marginal, that the effluence would not be effluvia. Released initially as a limited edition of 10 copies scraped onto the underside of a portobello mushroom, playable only by pulling the legs off a cricket.

John Cage Bubblegum
Avant pop bubblegum pop soda pop lollipop.

Revox
A trip through a page in a French rhyming dictionary, a trip through an amplifier tube...

Lo Boob Oscillator
The best Stereolab manages the trick of pulling you back into the past and nudging you into the future simultaneously, which this does in spades and dark shades. It percolates along like moon cabaret, and then turns into Neu! out of nowhere. Book your flight today.

"Music for the Amorphous Body Study Center"
This rivals Dots and Loops as the most cohesive sustained recording the group ever produced. 25 minutes without a slip.

"Fluorescences"
Another virtually flawless EP, although Soop Groove #1 does grow a bit of a skin on top.

Brigitte
A sweet tribute to a kindred spirit. Makes the word "Brigitte" sound like both a seduction and the entire plot of a children's book...

Check and Double Check
Verges on inspirational, verges on invisible, verges on impeccable. This is the true sound of a beating heart of glass...

Iron Man
Give the drummer some. Somebody should mash this with the Sabbath song of the same name.

Spinal Column
One of the flat-out prettiest things the group ever dropped hides its light under a bushel as the last track on the Miss Modular EP.

Damn, they wore me out, and I'm only up to about 1997. More tomorrow-- sorry haters!