Continental Café

Continental Café is the sweet melancholy of a rainy Tuesday afternoon, the sense of finality accompanying the burnt-orange dusk of a summer evening. It's a state of mind that evokes a gossamer gathering of breathy vocals, sugar-sweet melodies, honeyed harmonies, maybe a bossa nova shuffle and elegant electronics. Relax: you're about to be swept under the spell of the soundtrack of sophistication.

Continental Café might be influenced by the pristine pop of the '60s, but the sing-song vocals and skittering beat of Stereolab's "Parsec", the cascading guitar lines of Komeda's "Cul de Sac" are beyond time, lost somewhere in a gorgeous daydream. Why stop now when Broadcast, Morcheeba, and the Aluminum Group await?

Only one problem with well-known songs defining a mood: lesser-known songs get lost in the process. What would Continental Café be without the cool breeze that is the ironically named Legendary Jim Ruiz Group's "Katerine" or minus Debbie Diamond's come-hither whisper on the decadent "Chocolate and Strawberries"? Remember, the deeper the groove, the sweeter the sigh.

True, Continental Café pulls from the ranks of indie-, ambient-, and sophisticated-pop. But this evocatively named batch of songs isn't so much a genre as a mood — an exquisite wistfulness mirrored in sophisticated productions caressing seductive vocals, lighter-than-air melodies, and sun-dappled electronics. Think about it: what do '60s blue-eyed-soul songstress Dusty Springfield's "The Look of Love" and millennial acid-jazz duo Koop's "Waltz for Koop" have in common? Not much, except an inexplicable ability to cast a swoon-inducing sonic spell. Prepare to be hypnotised.