Not since Bomb the Bass's "Clear" has a British production team re-interpreted aging African American tropes so persuasively.

"Ghost" marks the welcome debut of a more body-oriented brand of user-friendly experimentation - crisp and cool, yet dionysian at the same time.

In the year between its European and its and U.S. releases, "Movement" lost four tracks and gained four others, but these dubious "improvements" turned the disc from a decent dance-pop LP to a blatant, though scattered, crossover bid.

This disc may lack its predecessor's immediacy, but rarely has sophomore slump sounded like such success.

The very qualities that annoyed me about it at first - the "proper" musicality, the lack of rough edges - are what draws me to it now.

This sort of thing may be n steps removed from the dancefloor, but it's also thrillingly physical, even while it tantalizes the mind.

Much of the music's electronic undertow has receded, leaving Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen's airy melodies and counter-melodies stranded in gassy lounge-pop compositions that sound merely retro instead of retro-futuristic.

It's as if there's an optimal number of musical ideas per song, and the album falls apart when the number spikes too high - or dips too low.

What once sounded like a compelling dance-pop concept now seems genial, verging on retro.

The first album from The Sixths was a dirge-like affair, but the new one's delightful.... The maturity of Merritt's songwriting lends emphasis to the singers' voices and interpretive powers; more often than not, they avail themselves capably.

First Album is proof that embracing a cliche with style can be just as powerful as running away from it.

If refining one's vision rather than foraging for new sounds is the mark of emerging artistic maturity, then it appears that techno's jester genius has finally decided to grown up.

An LP full of nothing but compromises and dried-up creativity.

The LP comes off like a gently melodious but ultimately odorless fart. That is to say, it's practically invisible and it's easy to forget about once the moment has, ahem, passed.

Detroit techno artists Juan Atkins and Carl Craig rub shoulders with back-to-basics rappers The Roots and electro-folkie Beth Orton (on the Watt-produced "Stars All Seem to Weep"), creating a distinctive chillout vibe out of disparate genres.

That The Aluminum Group is an acquired taste becomes more true with every album, but each outing provides at least a few tracks like these ("Satellite", "Tom of Finland") that truly captivate.

Unfortunately, the melodic acumen Merritt displayed on last year's Magnetic Fields opus, "69 Love Songs," is largely AWOL on "I'm Lonely and I Love It."