If Austrian ambient egghead Christian Fennesz had neglected to give Jagger and Richards credit for the version of "Paint It Black" that appears here, neither of the Glimmer Twins would have batted a wrinkled eyelash. The piece is four buzzing minutes of foreign sonic abstraction, with bits of plucked guitar popping up here and there to tease those looking for some remnant of "rock."

The b-side of this two-song single, the Beach Boys' "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)," receives the same scrambled treatment. The machine-like pulses sound like nothing Brian Wilson could have ever imagined, even in his most drug-addled, agoraphobic hour. It's a joke, we're left to imagine, and Fennesz is laughing all the way to the gallery opening.

So, there's not even a shred of the original songs here except... well, maybe I'm looking too hard, but one thing the two covers on Plays do remain faithful to is the overall mood of the originals. "Paint It Black" is dark computer electricity shaped into something sinister, while "Don't Talk" is more wistful, sad and reflective.

In any case, the logic of a two-song single of computer ambience is questionable. Fennesz has got the technique pioneered by Oval's Markus Popp down pat (with more raw texture than Popp seems interested in), and snippets of "real" instruments intercut to keep things interesting. But while this is compelling music, only the most frantic Type-A's would limit chill-out sessions to nine short minutes.

-Mark Richard-San