A lot of techno music is made up of cyclic sonic repetition with an accompanying beat -- but not Eat Static. Their music crackles with power and drive, employing complex rhythms and intricate melodies.

After recording several outstanding techno albums during the '90s, Eat Static established the Mesmobeat label in 1999 to release their own music. Along with their latest new album, the band put out a few collections of early material which had never seen compact disc release.

In 1990, Eat Static's released a cassette tape called "Prepare Your Spirit". This millennial CD reissues that classic rarity, featuring 117 minutes of superior hyper-techno (28 minutes of which are bonus tracks not on the original release).

Cosmic keyboard sweeps and insistently complex E-perc rhythms dominate this music, with frequent outbursts of electronic weirdness complimenting the intense melodies. Add some hiphop vocals (well-placed and not omnipresent) and sampled dialog snippets, and you begin to grasp the nature of Eat Static's origins.

Truth be told, "Prepare Your Spirit" is house music with slight funk overtones. Taking this urban electrosound, Hinton and Pepler transpose that urban sentiment to distant worlds, immersing the rapid-fire rhythms in alien dimensions, and bending time with the extreme velocity of their E-perc.

These E-perc hurricanes and relentless electronics are harnessed in the most appealing melodies. Crowded with clever hooks and wily sonic turns, the tuneage demands dancing with subconscious command.

This CD collects together three rare twelve-inch vinyl EPs from the early '90s, gathering 59 minutes of superior techno electronic music. Not just formative, but slick and as impressive as if they had been recorded tomorrow and transmitted back through time.

This music is alive with electronic weirdness and complex alien E-perc. These unearthly sounds conspire to produce some ultimately catchy electro-dance tunes, with twitchy keyboard riffs and snickering synthesizers. The sheer versatility of synthetic noise utilized in these recordings is breathtaking. The songs bristle with individuality -- of sound and melody.

Omnipresent are the compelling synthetic rhythms, pummeling the listener with extraterrestrial beats of an insidiously hypnotic nature. Watch out, or the percussives will get you before the aliens can!

Hiding in the mix are some vocal snippets, or brief galactic chants, adding a celebratory touch to the relentless pace of the music.

Although the non-lyrical emphasis is clearly on the "aliens," an eastern sound can be found lurking behind the intergalactic beats, bestowing a subtle spiritual quality to the technological mood.

This music is a definitive testament to what is capable with a complete fusion of brain and hardware. Snappy tuneage, and entertaining too.

This 66-minute CD is a collection of rare and unreleased outtakes and live classics ranging from 1989 to 1999. If you're expecting raw splices that were scavenged from the editing room floor, you're going to be rather disappointed with the vibrantly energetic techno tuneage here.

Take the strangest sound you can imagine and Eat Static will twist and warp it even further before applying it to a frantic rhythm that conveys an air of otherworldly charm. Eat Static seem to never be at a loss for clever rhythms and electronic hooks, traits exemplified to the extreme with the nine tracks on this collection.

The thick swarms of E-perc frolic with unearthly abandon, setting tempos suitable to abolish any spinal stiffness. The mirthful electronics chitter and snigger with syncopated frenzy, swirling the listener into orbit with great ease. On the way to the stratosphere, the music will churn and bluster, pummeling BPMs with mirth and sparkle.

It is this mirth that sets Eat Static's outage apart from other techno bands, giving the sparkle of their music a teasing flair that manages to amuse the listener with lyricless humor. In fact, the general absence of the band's use of sampled vocal snippets (an absence that is broken only for the CD's last three tracks) is barely noticeable, so lush and overflowing are the instrumental songs.

This one is the band's all-new album (time coordinate 2000), featuring 59 minutes of transcendental techno music. Now, Eat Static is Merv Pepler, Joie Hinton and Steve Everitt.

Ah, but there are even more surprises in store. For, with this release, the band has ventured from their space station rave to investigate other styles of Earthly music. From the island moods of Jamaican steel drum to the sultriness of lounge lizards, to a big band swing, to the arid romance of the Arabian desert, Eat Static inject a techno rave sensibility into these more traditional types of music with the smirking passion of their complex sonic expressions.

Truly, "complex" is an understatement when dealing with this music. Eat Static has a proclivity for crowding the mix with machine-gun volleys of synthetic percussives, each cavorting in Mandelbrot patterns of ever-increasing intricacy.

The same can be said of the sonic war-wall of surging electronics. Chords and riffs are belted out in FTL fashion, possessing dynamic keyboard attributes but straining for a dimension where the mysterious is revealed.

This 19-minute CD EP features a radio edit of "Mondo A Go-Go!" and two tracks not contained on the "Crash and Burn" album.

"Mondo A Go-Go!" is a fluid fusion of modern techno and classic beach party fare. With quasi-traditional percussives and haunting electronics, the vocals are plucked from the surf and flung into orbit for a righteous space party.

"Bondo Mondage" is a megamix reconstruction of the CD EP's title track, featuring supercharged electronics and sharp E-perc, all wobbling with surging intent.

"Wall Banger" is another "Mondo" remix. This time the pace is immersed in molasses and subjected to the funk-devoted decks and scratches of Will White. Expect retro-organ passages and heavy hip-hop influences oozing from every sonic crevasse.