And so the story continues. Although the only expectations one has regarding Crossover's debut appearing on International DeeJay Gigolo, is that the label embodies great music - any great music. A couple of years ago 'Fantasmo' would have been released on Grand Royal; these days playful New Yorkers with too many modern ideas in their beautiful little heads come to Munich to join DJ Hell's disco empire. Crossover are a delightful proposition in that they keep things unpredictable. Describing them as retro-electro would be criminally lazy, for this group very cleverly presents something that, to my ears, sounds like real 21st-century pop muzik. These playful songs all possess a delightful sense of humor, be it the way Desmond, aka Spaced Out Kid Humanoid, sings about "day-glo tacos" and "refried jeans" on the driving opener 'Lucida Obscura, ' or the almost stream-of-consciousness fantasy narratives of 'The Great Katanza' and 'Phantom Hero.' On 'Phostographt,' Verona (aka Darling Starchild), over an Eric B. & Rakim drum rhythm, brilliantly sings fake German lyrics, a neat sign that in dance music we all want to become German. Musically, the sense of fun doesn't interfere with some grand gestures: for instance, the way 'Kobe' echoes prime Mr. Fingers, or 'Phantom Hero' sounds like a Model 500 astro-ballad. Best of them all is 'Lady Dragon Slayer,' a strange, cosmic, role-playing fantasy that sounds truly spaced out... the beats, almost forgotten far in the background, echoes overflowing, and just occasionally, a simple melody that fills all this strange, sexy vastness. The first true new sound of 2002 has arrived.