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**1/2 Alpha Stone

SOULWEED

(Bomp!)

Most electronica sounds as if its makers were jacked up on crank; this album's a tasty little barbiturate, full of fuzzy edges and vocals that drone on in their own little netherworld. Headtripping is the ambition of British partners Pete Bassman and Pete Prince, who hit their mark using a combination of programmed sounds and manually tweaked organica including six- and 12-string and steel guitars, theremin, bass, and drums. The mix puts the colors of their sonic palette in orbit: circling with a sense of relaxed cosmic dignity, creeping from side to side, swirling like galaxies through a telescope lens. The beats are slower, more heartlike, than the usual dance-floor hyperventilations of the genre. Think of This Mortal Coil with rhythm. But damned if it's clear what any of the songs with lyrics are about -- unless you accept the whole CD as an invitation to let your brain ooze to another plane.

-- Ted Drozdowski