Alpinestars, "Hotel Parallel," White Noise.

Alpinestars, "Hotel Parallel," White Noise (Astralwerks)

Oh, how I loved Kraftwerk and its disciples, Art of Noise, Gary Numan, and later OMD, New Order, and Depeche Mode, synth bands winking out compelling, if robotic, rock, making grand use of instrumentation that defied the "two guitars/bass/drums" convention. Even though the synth bands were dissed big time by the elitist rock press, they were fun to listen to and even more fun to dance to. After all, all those drum machines and keening Korgs and DX7s could lay down a solid, unwavering groove and stick by it for hours. Alpinestars is Manchester (England) duo Glyn Thomas and Richie Woolgar, who describe their inspirations obliquely. For instance, "New Ice Age" is derived from "a blue-grey slice of Arctic Circle heartache, twinkling desolation on a quietly grand folktronic scale. It is Bonnie Prince Billy meets the Moomins". Not much one can add to that.

In a sense, this modern made-over version of vintage techno is as much New Age as Ice Age, over which Thomas and Woolgar have woven a unique sound, entrancing and energizing. On occasion, as with the decelerated "Lovecraft," the drone turns soporific, but that's why CD players are also programmable. The unusual textures of "Hotel Parallel" stood out on RP, a sort of "Tomorrow Never Knows" meets Flaming Lips. Even in context that one cut is fun, and the balance of the album novel and interesting.