*** Prolapse

GHOSTS OF DEAD AEROPLANES

(Jetset)

Like their former Scottish labelmates Mogwai, England's Prolapse have a penchant for strange, sublime trips to sonic realms unknown -- which means all their confounding chatter about TV eyes (no, it's not the Iggy tune), bent-back spoons, and being "accosted by angels at an early age" on songs with stilted titles like "Cylinders V12 Beats Cylinders 8" and "Planned Obsolescence" is really beside the point. Although the Leicester-based band's third album finds them reining in their otherworldly aspirations somewhat, Ghosts' shimmering ambient instrumental textures remain thrilling, startling, and yet weirdly soothing -- much in the same way that the blissed-out noise of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless or the rippling guitar terrorism of Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation could be soothing under the right circumstances and time of day (or night). Equal parts ethereal (thanks to singer Linda Steelyard's Stereolab-ish cooing) and earthbound (thanks to speaker Mick Derrick's running commentary about, well, damned if I know), Prolapse make beautifully fractured panoramic noise that begs not to be analyzed but to be felt and absorbed.

-- Jonathan Perry