Improvisers – Microstoria

At first, the idea of a Microstoria live album seems ridiculous. Oval's Markus Popp and Jan St. Werner of Mouse on Mars are serious and committed studio dwellers, and their Microstoria project is strictly machine music, field recordings from the guts of a mainframe. The fact that Improvisers opens with a smattering of applause from no more than ten spectators does little to increase the drama. Despite the absurdity of this group working in a live context, Improvisers turns out to be a worthy record that comes close to the pair's best studio work. The material is drawn from _snd and Model 3, Step 2, avoiding the slightly inferior Init Ding. There is no way to know if the title of the album is an accurate representation of the process involved, but the tracks do vary slightly from their studio counterparts. Of course, the typical Microstoria track never sounds the same twice, so that could be a moot point. Still, hearing a warmer, glitchier version of "Endless Summer NAMM" is sure to please dedicated Microstoria followers, and that's precisely who this record was made for. ~ Mark Richardson, All Music Guide