Already the creators of the theme songs for The Oblongs and Higglytown Heroes, They Might Be Giants are back with a new CD for the minivan-crumb-snatcher set. This coming Tuesday, Disney Town Records releases the infectious, numerically themed Here Come the 123s, and who'd have thought that so much wisdom could be found in 24 songs about numbers? I mean, who can argue with the Zen attitude in "One Everything" and "Zeroes"? Other highlights include disco snap of "High Five," which could have slipped off the Thank God It's Friday soundtrack, the funky shrug of "Seven" (in collaboration with the Dust Brothers), and the easy I-can-do-it groove of "Infinity." A variety of animators created a bonus DVD of videos for each song, hosted by the double-John duo's puppet doppelgängers.

Mason Proper's debut album, There Is a Moth in Your Chest, is utterly scattershot. It's a 12-course meal for which there appears to have been little thought put into the progression or the entirety.

It is in that way a mess. What's striking is that almost all the tracks, separately, feel close to perfect.

Like many noted directors of opera, Bill Fabris has a résumé that boasts a number of heavyweight titles, among them Bizet's Carmen, Puccini's Tosca, Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, and Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto, which Fabris stage-directs - with Ron May music-directing - for Opera Quad Cities on January 18 and 20.

Unlike many noted directors of opera, though, the New York-based Fabris' résumé boasts an even greater number of productions that are not only considerably more lighthearted than Rigoletto, but as far removed from tragic opera as is conceivable, including My Fair Lady, The Wizard of Oz, and Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

If your modern-day boogie leans deep into the heart-pumping grooves of Justice, LCD Soundsystem, Electric Six, The Rapture, The Teddybears, or Hot Hot Heat, take a little time-traveling trip next week and discover the roots on Strut Records' fantastic new-wave compilation Disco Not Disco. Opening with Vivien Goldman's classic "Launderette," the dub rumble is a perfect moment in time, built on a bass line by George Oban of Aswad with guest alchemists Robert Wyatt, On-U-Sound's Adrian Sherwood, and Steve Beresford of the Flying Lizards. Crazy about that roller-coaster bass shimmy? Long before riot-grrrl made its mark, the girlfriends of the up-and-coming Mekons pulled together to form the seminal Delta 5, represented here with the wickedly anti-posh "Mind Your Own Business," utilizing two bass guitars and plenty of mad moxie. And it just keeps getting better, flowing into a 12-inch edit of Shriekback's "My Spine Is the Bassline" from 1982, a sweaty club favorite featuring XTC's Barry Andrews and Gang of Four bassist Dave Allen. America is represented in a handful of nice picks: "Sharevari" from A Number of Names, "Contort Yourself" from New York City's no-wave saxophone prince James Chance & The Blacks, and Bill Laswell's Material collective and its "dance version" of "Lose Control," featuring Chic drummer Tony Thompson. The 14-track CD features extensive liner notes by historian Bill Brewster, author of the terrific book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life.