#74) Stereolab - Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements (released in 1993, I got it on CD for Christmas sometime in high school)

There's nothing too intelligent I can say about this one. Aside from the 1995 compilation Refried Ectoplasm, this is the only Stereolab that consistently rocks (and, sorry, with a group this poised rocking means a lot to me). I'm a big nut for treblicious, jittery drone-rock of the "She Cracked"/"What Goes On" variety and this album is devoted to the stuff. Even when the churning grooves wind down, there's still great vocal melodies (as opposed to some belching sounds, which they HAVE resorted to). Most of the titles describe the sonic content rather than the lyrics (there's a reason). "Tone Burst," "Crest," "Our Trinitone Blast," and "Lock-Groove Lullaby" definitely deliver. "Jenny Ondioline" doesn't advertise its strengths, but its the one with the most sound-washes, hooks and grooves (Supposedly they're all stolen from Neu or something but I wouldn't know since the only Kraut-rock I have is Can). Anyhow I doubt Neu has French female vocals on top that are sometimes in English if you bother to listen to the syllables closely. With the gorgeous, chiming backdrops behind the voices on this album, I rarely do.