Stereolab

If any band has been anthologized to excess, it’s Stereolab. The group has already issued three volumes of Switched On odds-and-sods collections in its twelve-year history, but this new double-disc comp of live recordings from the BBC is excusable because it could be Stereolab’s epitaph; singer and keyboardist Mary Hansen’s death last December leaves the beloved British post-rockers’ future uncertain. ABC Music‘s 32 tracks span 1991 to 2001, giving novices a crash course in Stereolab’s avant-garde M.O.R. (Hardcore ‘lab fans will also want this release because, well, those types are obsessive-compulsive.) With foxy Frenchwoman Laetitia Sadier breezily cooing Marxist propaganda over fiery Farfisa organ drones and twittering Moogs, this is the charming soundtrack to all tomorrow’s bachelor-pad parties.