Space-Age Lounge

In Spring of 1968, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, France's first spacecraft cast off the shackles of the earth's gravitational field. The ship was packed to the brim with mood lighting, martini shakers and, of course, all of the latest Serge Gainesbourg LPs. Scientifically, the mission was largely considered an utter failure, all of the records of the trip stashed away in a vault next to the only known copy of the Jerry Lewis Holocaust melodrama, The Day the Clown Cried.

Artistically, however, the seeds for space-age lounge were planted, to be reborn in the early '90s as Stereolab. Manned by the London-based duo Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier, the nebulous collective of musicians have been issuing their unique brand of coffee shop and tiki lounge-friendly downtempo electronic music for the past decade and a half, issuing their 11th full-length, Fab Four Sutre, last week. The album, the group's second full-length since the 2002 death of the group's longtime backing vocalist, Mary Hansen, is a compilation of sorts: A pieced together collection of tracks previously released on a series of six limited edition 7"s.

The result, not surprisingly, is a diverse trip, much like the band itself, and is widely being hailed as one of the group's strongest efforts in years. The group will be flying solo for two nights at Town Hall-for those who need a break from string quartet tributes to the Gershwins.

March 17-18. Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd St. (betw. Broadway & 6th Ave.), 212-840-2824; 8, $25.