With an album title like International Pop Modulations, it's pretty much impossible for Micromars to sidestep the inevitable Stereolab comparisons. Not that it's necessarily bad to be compared to Stereolab. If you like Stereolab, there's a very, very good chance that you're going to like Micromars.

There are also distinct differences between the groups. Because Micromars is one man -- Norwegian musician Christer André Jensen -- his songs aren't quite as intricate and demanding as recent 'lab work. Melodies are more economical, and therefore more immediate and pleasing -- this is clearly pop music, rather than an excuse to create massive walls of ultra-detailed analog keyboard drone. Christer also has a firmer grasp of the three minute pop song concept, and never loses his ideas under an avalanche of five minute-long pseudo-prog solo wankery.

Central to International Pop Modulations are three tracks from last year's 7" EP on Japan's Motorway Records -- "Fast Five", the cheery "Alpha Beta" and the sublime lead track "Cheesynova". To those favorites, add the mildly abrasive, guitar-driven "New Pop Sound," the swoon-inducing, Kevin Shields-y "Smile Decoy" and the short-but-sweet sixties romp "French Fi." As you drift lazily through the gauzy dreamworld of "Microgravity," please take some time to reflect upon how nicely Mr. Jensen has refined his chosen genre.