Stereolab

Stereolab’s fondness for Moog synths and vintage Vox and Farfisa organs blur the band’s lineage. This could be fifties post-jazz or nineties post-rock; the only thing that’s clear is that they are French. They are also hazy, moody, sexy, offhandedly cool, and dislocated from pop culture, which is to say that Stereolab’s music is more about atmosphere than message. Core members Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier have entertained a revolving cast of musicians, each of whom have dropped a little something-something into the Stereolab sound, but we still mourn Mary Hansen, the singer whose voice wove itself so silkily around Sadier’s on the band’s 1996 album Emperor Tomato Ketchup. Hansen was killed in a bicycling accident in 2002. The band is finally starting to sound like it’s finding its way without her. 612-332-1775; www.first-avenue.com