**1/2 Praga Khan

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY SKIN

(Antler Subway)

Here one of the core members of Belgian techno originals Lords of Acid takes the mike on his own again, backed by several LOA people, to smooth his way through 12 tracks that could pass for Eurodance pop. In fact, Khan sings almost like a romantic. Although his backing music makes use of some techno cool -- electronic melody, metallic but purring -- that makes LOA fly, the pervy presentation (by Nikki Van Lierop) that renders LOA songs so chilling is entirely missing. From "Breakfast in Vegas" and "Visions and Imaginations" to the probably definitive "Lonely" and "What's Wrong with Me," most of Khan's songs are sexy, light to the touch, dreamy; his singing almost croons. In "Far Beyond the Sun," his music and singing feel almost as wordless as music by the Orb. In "Isolation" and "Adult Entertainment," he toughens the beat and adopts some of the ironic sluttiness of an LOA song, but he never sounds as spiteful or disillusioned as Van Lierop. He just seems to be joshing -- the first move a lonely boy makes when he feels wrong with himself.

-- Michael Freedberg