Jamie DiSalvo and Jayne Hill, one-fifteenth of Canada's Bran Van 3000, are drinking sparkling water in the coffee shop of New York's Ameritania Hotel, talking about their latest single, "Drinking in L.A." The irony seems to be lost on everyone, but maybe the Quebec film crew documenting the pair's every move will make note of it in post-production. Conversation turns to a line from the song: "I got the fever for the flavor/The payback will be later."

"I meant that more in terms of scotch or drugs or whatever," DiSalvo explains.

"Drink now, pay later," Hill adds.

A glass-is-half-full person might consider the payback now: On the eve of two anticipated shows at New York's Shine Bar and Lounge, BV3 find themselves the subject of a television documentary and the recipients of critical kudos for their audacious, multi-genre debut, Glee. "That's an interesting point," DiSalvo says, flip-flopping. "Here we are in New York sipping Pellegrinos."

"The worse you feel, the better you write," Hill says, sounding a little like she's reciting from a fortune cookie. If her interjection doesn't really drive home DiSalvo's epiphany, it sounds astute at least.

While Hill plays the role of BV3 color commentator, DiSalvo is the primary talking head behind the band's complicated muse. The twenty-eight-year-old filmmaker/video director/DJ/multi-instrumentalist was responsible for recruiting the thirty -- that's right, thirty -- musicians and vocalists who added their distinctive flava to Glee. The result is a beautiful, breezy combination of electronica, hip-hop, soul, R&B, new wave, hardcore, electronica and drum 'n' bass. The group's sonic potpourri has some believing BV3 is simply the Great White North's version of Beck.

"Sure, Beck grew up on punk and hip-hop, and I know he's a big fan of [Bob] Dylan and [Leonard] Cohen," DiSalvo says, "and if you put them together with the Pac Man generation and zap, you're gonna get a record that kinda sounds a bit like that. Naturally, you'll get more than one, ya know?"

If music were wardrobes, Beck would do his shopping in New York's musty and retro East Village while BV3 would drop ducats at the antiseptic but impressive Niketown. "I think it's more like a philosophical thing," Hill says, attempting to explain the difference. "There's so many more voices." True, as many as seven voices are heard on Glee, ranging from the reggae-stylings of Sidaffa "Dodge" Bakel to the brooding soul of Stephane Moraille to the hip-hop bravado of white guy Steve "Liquid" Hawley.

On stage, BV3 typically employ only nine members of the collective (ages ranging from twenty-three to forty), although the concert ensemble has swelled to as many as twenty.

"It was like a big living room party and became a band after," DiSalvo says. "The record company [Capitol] was expecting a DJ-based record like DJ Shadow and got an alternative record. Usually you tour these things, and I try anything once."

BLAIR R. FISCHER