V.Vale and Andrea Juno often infuriate with their pretensions to cultural subversion. Still, they're such tireless, eclectic, gawky enthusiasts for the bizarre that you forgive them. Their greatest hits, the two volumes of "Incredibly Strange Music," range much further afield than ultra-lounge music, which is all to the good. But they contribute their usual bits of apolitical absurdity; "One doesn't assume a stance of 'political correctness' based on personal preference. One cannot say that somebody who likes rap is more 'cutting edge' or 'cool' than someone who likes easy listening." Yeah, sure.

The "Incredibly Strange Music" collections wisely feature many lurid, psychologically revealing cover illustrations.