Our contestants this month stand side by side in a lot of record collections and as this actually makes sense (Human League vs. Hüsker Dü and Joy Division vs. Judas Priest didn't quite make the cut) the two great forces of sophisticated obtuseness and intellectual ear candy in the history of pop are pitted against each other.

Background: Walter Becker and Donald Fagen started out as two earnest music school grads who got their start with Jay and the Americans (!) in the late 60s and eventually used the cream of the crop of LA sessioneers on their increasingly jazzy and meticulous albums. Stereolab started out as the project of Tim Gane (formerly of C-86 popsters Red Sleeping Beauty) and French singer Laetitia Sadier who single-voicedly embodied every cool, distant female singer of the past 40 years (e.g. Astrud Gilberto, Nico, Francoise Hardy). The hallmark of both bands is sophistication: even on Stereolab's early records where two-chord drones were the order of the day the Groop (as they sometimes call themselves) displayed an incredible amount of melody and economy. Both bands are well known for using session players to fill out the band (Steely Dan rarely played live yet the session players were included in the band photos) or took on players that amounted to session musicians because they work with them sporadically (the High Llamas' Sean O'Hagen, Tortoise's John McEntire) or not for very long (original drummer Joe Dilworth).

Name: Steely Dan are named (obliquely enough as their work is not overtly [auto] erotic) after the dildo in William Burroughs' Naked Lunch. Stereolab are named after a trade mark used in the early '60s for stereo demonstration and music discs.

Influences: Both bands are as unique as they are because of the synthesis of musical styles that they championed. Steely Dan combined LA session-man ethos, jazzy chords, bubblegum melodies, Latin rhythms and (later on) Michael McDonald's (later of Doobie Brothers fame) over-the-top white soul vocals to create a sound like no other. Stereolab started out as being marketed as another pretender to the My Bloody Valentine throne but in truth combined the Velvet Underground, Gallic pop, '70s funk and John Cage's abstract 20th-century classical music in their drones.

Common Ancestor: Juan Garcia Esquivel -- Fagen and Becker said that the Mexican bandleader's innovative arrangements were an inspiration for Gaucho. Stereolab used the phrase "space-age bachelor pad music" for the title of an early release which was the description used for Esquivel's fantastically intricate and happy-go-lucky sound.

Keyboards: With both bands the keyboard is king -- Steely Dan were fond of the Fender Rhodes whilst Stereolab probably single-handedly raised the profile (and price) of old Farfisa and Vox organs. The Dan were fond of flashy, jazzy solos whereas the Groop loves a nice warm drone. (Not to be outdone, the guitar does play an important role -- note the tremendous solo on Steely Dan's "Reelin' in the Years" and the fact that Tim Gane has the steadiest right arm in the world.)

Lyrics: The lyrics on their records tend to be vague, but for different reasons. Steely Dan's lyrics appeared to be secret messages to persons unknown but were forward in the mix and came with an accompanying lyric sheet. Very early on Stereolab perfected My Bloody Valentine's technique of "burying" the voice even though it was audible and had no echo or effects on it. The lyrics tend towards surreal politics of the Situationist stripe.

Smokey Highly Recommends: (Note: other fans of these bands might have a completely different list!) Steely Dan: Can't Buy a Thrill (1972), Countdown to Ecstasy (1973), Aja (1977). Stereolab: Transient Random Noise Outbursts with Announcements (1993), Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996), Dots and Loops (1998).