Take a listen to the next best thing, sister Janet Jackson's "Discipline" (Island/DefJam, B+), out today. (Yeah, the Jacksons have always had great timing.)

It percolates techno-pop flavors - imposed by producer/writer stylists such as Rodney Jerkins, Jermaine Dupri and Ne-Yo - that really do suggest the sort of production sounds M.J. might concoct if he were making new music today.

Michael fans also could connect to the album's underlying sci-fi thematic thread. A female-voiced computer buddy named Keilico sets up several fantasy scenes that Janet inhabits in song, although they're a lot more explicitly sexual than any her bro would broadcast (intentionally) to the world.

Most amazingly, when Janet moves her voice into its upper register, and the studio engineers tweak the processing machinery "just so" on songs like "Feedback," she sounds amazingly like Michael. You gotta wonder, have they gone to the same throat doctor as well as the same plastic surgeon?

The warm and playful Jerkins-penned "LUV" is the PG-rated tune that should bring Ms. Jackson back to the charts. It's all about colliding with a guy, an accident of the heart. "He hit me with his luv. . . . he crushed it to my heart . . . Somebody call the cops. I should have stopped at the red light."

How cute is that?

EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE: The B-52's are masters at pulling our collective leg with their offbeat, semi-subversive dance pop. First, they grab you with a punchy beat and giddy tune (great for pumping up at the gym, too). Then, when you start singing along, you realize that you're captive in some crazy alternative universe - kinda like a science fiction B-movie from the '50s.

So what a thrill it is to have the gang back with their first record of the 21st century. "Funplex" (Astralwerks, A-) manages to keep their wits intact while tweaking the music for new ears.

Dig the twisted sexual instructions of "Ultra Violet," as our very weird tour guide Fred Schneider alerts listeners, "There's a G-spot - pull the car over!" Or try and get your tentacles around "Love in the Year 3000," spinning "in the spandex spiral vortex."

And how 'bout their twisted shopping spree at the "Funplex." Here, a revved-up Fred is frothing over a bra display. "I'm at the mall on a diet pill," he lets on, explaining all. Meanwhile vocal partners in crime Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson wander around in a crushed, girly-pop state, harmonizing that someone (clearly not Fred) "broke my heart at the Funplex."

Whattatrip.

An equally strange, nihilistic nature abounds in David Yazbeck's "Evil Monkey Man" (Ghostlight, B+). While best known lately for moving plots along as clever composer of the Broadway musicals "The Full Monty" and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," Yaz is back to spinning three-minute sagas of a darker nature on his new set.

"I did something horrible" warns the piano man in the Steely Dan-ish "Terrible Thing," without spilling exactly what that was. Elsewhere, the harsh imagery of "Monkey Baby Hanging on Chicken Wire" should get you thinking (eventually) about cruelty to lab animals.

GLOBE HOPPING: Weird how it often takes a cultural interloper, like African explorers Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel, to get us interested in an exotic world sound. The Police turned on a whole lot of people to Jamaican reggae by integrating island rhythms and political purpose into their tunes.

Now, some of the acts that benefitted are returning the favor on "Spirits in the Material World: A Reggae Tribute to the Police" (Shanachie, B), which shifts the tropical flavor of the group's songs from "accent" to main ingredient.

Produced by Inner Circle, the spirits really rise up in Toots and the Maytals' rubber-grooved "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da," Jr. Reid's "Synchronicity," Horace Andy's spiritually infused "Invisible Sun" and UB40 singer Ali Campbell's dance-hall-flavored "Every Little Thing She Does."

Electronica has become a catch-all term for cool, breezy, adult-lifestyle music infused with international flavors and a tasteful gloss of technology. For a nice introduction, check out "Euro Groove" (Putumayo, B+), a sampler tuning into compatible groups from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and England. Just the cultural embrace of the German-based Nuit Magique is amazing. Their track, "Jazzamor," blends Brazilian bossa nova, French chanson, Latin beats and American R&B. Other notables include French rapper Martial and England's Chumbawamba hipping the hymn "Jacob's Ladder."

SINGER/SONGWRITERS: The altogether yummy Tift Merritt hasn't gotten nearly the love she deserves. Hope that changes with "Another Country" (Fantasy, A-), the title reflecting the country she wishes we had, and the alt-country music she makes for people who dread the hokey stuff. I treasure her light, tender voice and dreamy, often pedal-steel-modulated originals. But Tift can also rock out ("My Heart Is Free") or do a French chanteuse thing ("Mille Tendresses") when the spirit grabs her.

Melody Gardot has a smoky, knowing jazz-cabaret demeanor that probably made some smart record company executive think, "A-ha, she could be the next Norah Jones or Madeleine Peyroux." Thank heaven, Melody's not exactly either one - the differences underscored by the spare, subtle arrangements of her songs on "Worrisome Heart" (Verve, B+).

Given the duo's past efforts, I was expecting another glam, slam, disco-styled set from Goldfrapp. But "Seventh Tree," (Mute, B) the fourth album from singer Alison Goldfrapp and musical partner Will Gregory is a sweeping, sensual dose of English pop psychedelia that'll send you tripping merrily through strawberry fields for an hour, if not forever.

GUY TALK: May I also recommend the long-overdue return of Mike Doughty (of Soul Coughing fame) with "Golden Delicious" (ATO, B+). Note the cheeky integration of "Let the Sunshine In" (from "Hair") on the lead track, "Fort Hood." The guy gives good attitude, as well as strong pop rockin' tunes.

Delaware's gift to the singer/songwriter scene, Richard Julian, should put a smile on your face with the wry themes and breezy folk-rock of "Sunday Morning in Saturday's Shoes" (Manhattan, B). He's in the pocket with dudes like Lyle Lovett, Randy Newman and Paul Simon - not a bad place to hang. *