Mouse On Mars Instrumentals CD

Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner, the men behind Mouse On Mars, have a rare talent for accessible eccentricity. Their playful electronic concoctions, full of bulbous noises and weirdly wired rhythms, slap a broad, beaming grin on the occasionally dour face of digital music. Perhaps no other outfit frolics as nimbly between dance music, pop, and pure experimentation.

Originally a vinyl-only release, INSTRUMENTALS tips the balance toward experimentation. These seven tracks, while less immediate than much of the Mouse On Mars canon, are among the duo's finest productions. Abstract opener "Auto Orchestra" offers a galactic vision painted with radiation. "Owai" and "Chromantic" are doses of deep digi-disco dub in the vibrant mold of the band's classic IAORA TAHITI. The subdued electro of "Pegel Gesetzi" unravels like a topological conundrum. "Rompatroullie" is the duo's delightful jitter-pop tribute to "Space Patrol" soundmeister Peter Thomas's futuristic TV scores. "1001" and "Subnubus," culled from compilations dedicated to Gilles Deleuze, unfold a thousand onion-like layers of rhizoid sound and melody in a fantastically nonlinear fashion. Only Toma and St. Werner could have turned the French philosopher's heady de-territorialization theories into such nifty, knotty anti-techno anthems.

Recorded between 1995 and 1997.

Unknown Contributor Role: Andi Toma.

Mouse On Mars: Jan St. Werner, Andi Toma.

Alternative Press (3/01, pp.86-7) - 4 out of 5 - "...MOM make uniquely strange and otherworldly sounds unquestionably catchy and fresh. It's a wonder, in fact, just how they do it."
The Wire (12/00, p.56) - "...[They] give you a big, sloppy wet kiss and prance around in their thong-th-thoong-thong-thongs on the shore of the Sea Of Tranquility."
Melody Maker (12/12/00, p.53) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...A cornerstone of sonic invention, like it or not. Cherish it....it's good..."
Mojo (Publisher) (2/01, p.96) - "...Their process thus far has been part construction and part whittling away; both can be heard on this still-simmering archive piece..."