Phantascope [Import]

Anubian Lights started out with a sort of concept album about Egyptology and dimensional travel, before moving to jazzy-loungey electronica with a Middle-East twist. "Phantascope" takes that sound a bit further. Actually, it takes it up -- into space. Sure, some of these new paths were better off unexplored, but it's fun more often than not.

This album also breaks from their past work in another way: writer/director/musician Adele Bertai joined the group. And she adds an extra eerie note to the former two-guy band, with some truly wicked keyboard and equally stunning lead vocals. She sounds a bit like a punk torch singer.

"Bhajan" keeps a touch of their old sound in the music, with samples of Middle-Eastern music that fade in and out. But they have traded in exuberance for sly experimentation, and it shows best in songs like the mockingly sugary "Ultraviolet" and the heated, sultry beats of "Andromeda Girl."

Most memorable is "Good Morning Space Girl," a slick tune with a load of double-entendres: "To a Fahrenheit/hold tight/you ignite/new alchemy..." On the other hand, "Sargasso Sea" is a little too sunnily poppy. And the closing number, "Lady Berlin," seems way too colorless after the sizzle of the songs before it. Even Bertai sounds bored as she sings above the muted guitar.

But Tommy Grenas and Len Del Rio can't be faulted for any of their work, mixing their loops and programming with more organic instruments like organ, 12 strings and drums. Having Bertai on keyboards and Acetone organ adds an extra dimension to the music -- more keyboards, more layers.

The ever-evolving Anubian Lights change their sound -- along with their lineup -- in the wild headtrip that is "Phantoscope." Maybe going up into space isn't such a bad idea.

I bought Jackel and Nine EP sometime ago and saw this new Anubian Lights cd and thought great, I must have it because the other one was sooo good. But I was soon disappointed as it bore little or no resemblance to the earlier space rock with a middle eastern influence. This cd is some sort of weird pop which goes a couple of time into tunes with grooves like Sly and Family Stone. Without Nik Turner and the others this band almost falls into mediocrity and this new stuff does not hold a candle to the older stuff.

"Phantascope," the first release in over four years by electropop band Anubian Nights, is a poly-genre tour-de-force full of offbeat pop hooks, curious lyrics and oddball instrumentals that comes together to create an original sound. With the addition of punk/dance veteran Adele Bertei as lead singer, the group has planted its feet on new ground and marked a new chapter in its extensive history.

Starting off with the disgruntled "Wild Winter," featuring creaky production that continuously builds up, Bertei's shrieking voice frantically molds the sound of the song with its abstract lyrics that set the stage for the rest of the disc:

"You can talk about it `til you flip and fold/But I'm a lost Venusian when I'm losing hold/This is not a compact or a circus ride/Honey's in the mirror training compound eyes On You."

Futuristic production on "Shine" brings a feeling of weightlessness, while the instrumental "New Wildlife", featuring ritualistic low-voiced chants by a male voice, exemplifies the rich, rhythmic sound of New York's underground music scene.

Meanwhile, "Andromeda Skin," which has Bertei going from a soft, sexy coo to a loud-pitched funky delivery in a matter of seconds, gets under the skin.

The disc also has a great deal of more accessible material, with the melody-driven "Sargasso Sea," the spunky "Black Line Station" and the rhythmic "Way Gone Man," which has an irresistible hook:

"You shoot/Flammable/Ricochet your crooked crown/It's not/Theoretical/Gonna burn your big house down/Your response is so deliberate/Dirty lies and promises/I ache/Metaphysical/Time bomb/Everybody watch that sound."

The groovy "Good Morning Special" is just as catchy with its abstract lyrics and unceasing beat:

"Good morning space girl/Eyes of radium blue/Perforated girl/Holy in your world/Where the light shines through/Bathe me with your love rays/Wash me in your alien sea/I'm twisting like a firefly/When you gonna rescue me?"

A rewarding listen for its entirety, "Phantascope" proves that Anubian Lights, while not the most easy band to pigeonhole, is certainly worthy of a great deal of praise for its creative endeavors and originality.