NEW YORK -- Alex Gifford was exuberant. One-half of the British electronica duo Propellerheads, Gifford stood at the window in the penthouse of the posh Soho Grand Hotel and admired the view.

"Absolutely amazing!" he said, peering out the window.

As much as he was enjoying the scenery, Gifford, 34, was in the Big Apple on a mission. He and his 25-year-old bandmate Will White -- who are both from Bath, England -- want an apartment in New York to prepare for their next recording project. With White remaining in Bath, it was up to Gifford to find a home away from home for the rising stars.

Certainly, they are already a big deal back in England. The Propellerheads single "History Repeating" was a top-10 hit on the English charts, illustrating the U.K. popularity of their big-beat sound. Their first American album for the DreamWorks label, Decksanddrumsandrockandroll, brightened up the sometimes dark genre of electronica with infectious up-tempo rhythms, funky basslines and melodic nods to the swank, retro style of the James Bond film soundtracks that, like the martini, never seem to go out of fashion.

Although sales of Decksanddrumsandrockandroll are approaching the 100,000 mark in the U.S., Gifford and White are still just an underground phenomenon over here. They hope a move to New York can help them gain more of an American audience.

According to Gifford, Propellerheads would like an American base of operations so they can record with a broader range of musicians than those available in the U.K. scene. "When you have to start flying people in, or working conceptually, you never get around to trying [new] ideas," Gifford said. "I want to get back to writing music and including more vocals on our stuff. [Our big-beat sound] is fairly defined and established. It's time to look at different things."

The Propellerheads' infatuation with spy-movie music was sparked by the pair watching secret-agent movies and television shows as youngsters in Bath. "I like those old television shows with heavy psychedelia, spirals, color-heavy symbolism," Gifford said. " 'The Avengers,' [the James Bond film] 'Dr. No' ... I'm down with the classics."

One only needs to look at the artwork for Decksanddrumsandrockandroll to note the spy-genre influence: Photos show Gifford and White with their shiny '60s-era suits and haircuts, walking coolly away from a fiery explosion.

In fact, their contribution to the recent Shaken and Stirred album -- a tribute to the music of the James Bond films -- helped put Propellerheads in the spotlight. While that compilation album was not met with overwhelmingly positive reviews, Propellerheads' raucous rendition of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" garnered attention as a hit single in England.

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" found an equally appropriate home on Decksanddrumsandrockandroll, where the Bond connection is strong. The album also features the growling vocals of Shirley Bassey on "History Repeating." Bassey is famous for singing the theme to the Bond movie "Goldfinger."

Other guests on Decksanddrumsandrockandroll were from the realm of rap -- the Jungle Brothers, who added some serious rhymes to "You Want It Back," and De La Soul, whose smooth hip-hop chants loop through the funky bass and drums on "360 Degrees" (RealAudio excerpt).

Working with De La Soul was a fantasy, Gifford said. When he and White mentioned the idea to executives at DreamWorks, the pair was only half-serious, not expecting that the label would go out and recruit the rappers. "The next thing we knew, De La Soul were recording for us," Gifford said. "The whole thing, from when we first mentioned it to having them, took a week."

The oddest guest vocal on the album belongs to President Richard Nixon. Propellerheads showed off their whimsical streak by sampling his voice for

"Take California" (RealAudio excerpt).

Part of White and Gifford's appeal comes from the fact that they play live instruments at their legendary and lengthy shows, explained electronica event producer Matt E. Silver of Silver World Wide Entertainment. "It's refreshing to see live instruments, bass and drum, played at electronica shows," Silver said.

One area that Propellerheads are approaching with caution is commercials. In an era when many a band will hand over a tune for use in an advertisement, Gifford and White turned down Coca

Cola's offer to use the song "Lethal Cut" in a commercial a few years ago. The Coke proposal came on the heels of the Adidas company snapping up Propellerheads' 1996 track "Dive!" for an ad spot.

"We were wearing Adidas -- we liked 'em," Gifford said with a laugh. "And we drink Coke, but ... we were like, 'no,' because we didn't need the money for what we were trying to do at the time. It was then we realized that having money meant the luxury of being able to say 'no.' "