Dismissed by rock chauvinists as a trendy haven for fops, wimps, geeks, and cyborgs and beloved by fops, wimps, geeks, and cyborgs as a computer-world improvement on punk, disco, and soul, synth pop has endured and mutated for more than two decades. Though largely a singles format in its '80s heyday, it's also produced some pretty brilliant albums
GARY NUMAN THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE (Atco, 1979) Numan gave us "Cars," a Beach Boys song idling on Kraftwerk's Autobahn, and the rest of his debut is a study in droll futurism. "Metal," "Airlane," "Engineers," and "Complex" all deadpan the same routine-a bored machine hums rudely over a parodic, sterile groove until you just give up and admit it's kinda funky. Basement Jaxx thought so-they sampled "M.E." on "Where's Your Head At."
