**1/2 Bran Van 3000

GLEE

(Capitol)

The best Canadian rock -- Neil Young, for instance -- fits right into North America's finest pop traditions. Other times -- say, the Barenaked Ladies -- Canadian music sounds as if it could just as easily be the latest rage from Poland's hit parade. Led by filmmaker James Di Salvio, Bran Van 3000 are a Montreal-based musical collective whose '97 debut album, Glee, fluctuates between those two extremes.

Di Salvio's mix of innocence and contrivance, knowing indulgence and dumb charm, makes Glee (recently released in the US with three additional tracks) come off as a soundtrack to a very hip afterschool special. The selling point is lighthearted eclecticism: Bran Van have their way with hip-hop and reggae, metal and pop and soul, and -- perhaps most self-consciously -- country and techno (try the drum 'n' bass country song "Willard," or the trip-hop 'n' western "Supermodel"). The disc nods to '80s artists as disparate as Quiet Riot and The The, referring to the glorious slacker-ific days of Beck's "Loser" with the rapping and sampling of "Couch Surfer," an ode to being a penniless moocher, and "Drinking in L.A.," about wasting time in Southern California. Indeed, with no fewer than 32 different players featured here, it can be difficult to discern a consistent voice or vision.

-- Roni Sarig