This album, written in collaboration with Larry Sloman, was characterized by synthesizers and drum machines and is entirely written in the pop idiom.

They fret that it's chilly and emotionally distant, even confusing, as pop idioms are juggled from (embedded) song to fragment to snippet.

The singing ranges from a polished art-music style (Christine Brewer, Marietta Simpson and others) to the unvarnished vocal forms that some of the pop idioms demand (Ms. Morris and others).

This is too bad because Mr. Yeston's score, which translates styles from Baroque opera to Kyrie eleisons into a flavorful pop idiom, is first-rate.

Vineyard Theater 108 East 15th Street Manhattan (212) 353-3874 Recommended ages: 7 and up Through Sunday At this musical, the dialogue is rap and the songs are full of pop idiom.

His singles for the label included regional hit "Family Rules", which remains a favorite of the swamp pop idiom in south Louisiana and southeast Texas.

Mr. Nehls's music is more appealing if not markedly original, a blend of pop idioms ranging from country balladry to R&B to rockabilly.

All three shared a propensity for arranging classical piano themes in a pop idiom.

Miguel del Aguila's "Sonata No. 2" is an intriguing spin on a pop idiom, giving a modernist-dissonant sheen to bumptious rhythms and gaudy melodies.

Sumi Jo's "Only Love" (Erato 8573-80241-2) is an altogether different exercise, steeped not in nostalgia but in a prevailing pop idiom, the modern musical.