Oui

1	Afternoon Speaker 4:18
2	All the Photos 3:19
3	You Beautiful Bastard 5:54
4	The Colony Room 4:10
5	The Leaf 4:24
6	Everyday 3:01
7	Two Dolphins 3:45
8	Midtown 2:56
9	Seemingly 4:46
10	I Missed the Glance 4:01

Barnes & Noble

There's a reason the Sea and Cake get tagged with the unlikely description "the Steely Dan of indie-rock." The Chicago quartet place less emphasis on songwriting than on crafting exquisite grooves, on developing an overall sound where the vocals might rise and fall to give way to a stuttering rhythm or a fluid guitar run. On their fifth full-length album, Oui, singer-guitarist Sam Prekop, guitarist Archer Prewitt, drummer John McEntire, and bassist Eric Claridge hit their stride; it's a collection of intricate, often sparkling compositions that could induce unexpected bliss. As a vocalist, Prekop has evolved from an unsure, sensitive-boy singer to a confident crooner, and his brilliant performance on the standout "Everyday" is a new benchmark for this accomplished band. McEntire's work with Tortoise, Stereolab, and others has begun to leak through to the Sea and Cake, his most active and long-running project, with vibraphones and marimba bowing gently into the mix. In the end, though, it's simply another Sea and Cake album, with a steady flow of expertly constructed songs that incorporate elements of jazz (both American and Brazilian), rock, and even funk. And, of course, it all goes down smoothly. Richard A. Martin

All Music Guide

In the three-plus years following the release of 1997's The Fawn, the Sea and Cake's ever-busy membership dabbled in solo albums, touring with side projects, and various other responsibilities that come with the territory in the Chicago indie rock scene. But as effortlessly as an April breeze, the quartet reconvened to turn in Oui, quite possibly the finest of the group's five albums to date. Oui brightens up the electroacoustic hybrids first heard on The Fawn with guidance from frontman Sam Prekop's Brazilian-influenced 1999 solo debut and drummer John McEntire's production work on two Stereolab albums. While the looping synths often bogged down the mediocre material on The Fawn, the electronics serve as much better complements here. Prekop turns in some of his catchiest melodies to date, while the band follows suit on the sparkling, funky pop of "All the Photos" and the wobbly, mallet-laden "The Leaf," which makes good on the soothing ballad style introduced on "Window Lights," TSAC's contribution to the 1999 McEntire-scored Reach the Rock soundtrack. A sophisticated pop pleasure from start to finish, Oui is the aural equivalent of a perpetual Indian summer. Jonathan Cohen