New Order: Technique (Qwest)

TECHNIQUE IS not something most listeners associate with New Order. Sure, the band has made significant strides over the years, developing a sound far more sophisticated than the post-punk primitivism of its Joy Division days. And, as the heavily-synthesized gloss of recent dance singles like 'True Faith' and 'Blue Monday 1988' shows, New Order really knows its way around the studio. Then again, technique isn't just about the ostentatious finger-twiddling of guitar heroes and other fretboard athletes; it's also the art of achieving ends with the least apparent effort.