Whereas trance imagines a brave new world without basslines and beats free of friction, Cocadisco evokes a dystopia where technology is sinister and has a plan of its own. A sampled voice on "(Searching for a) Cybernetic Lover" declares, "We aren't dealing with ordinary machines here . . . in some cases they've been designed by other computers. We don't know exactly how they work." The Parallax Corporation distrusts the latest desktop-driven music programs, too, opting instead for archaic synthesizers and drum machines to get brooding tones and chunky drum sounds. Freaky, very Euro-sounding vocals give an eerie, James Bond-era, Shirley Bassey-on-coke feeling to "Lift Off" and "Crocodiles in the Sky." A number of tracks feature hand percussion, which also lends a throwback quality. But this isn't just a study in re-creating the lost sounds of electronic music's brackish backwaters. The production aesthetics and arrangements are distinctly forward-looking. Here's hoping for a widespread Parallax corporate takeover.