What The Critics Say
Just in case anyone thought Mouse on Mars got too poppy and danceable on Radical Connector, its follow-up, Varcharz, is nearly its polar opposite: jagged, fractured, splintered, and downright violent-sounding, it's easily the most extreme music the duo has made, and is right in line with the rest of Ipecac's output. The album's squelchy, stuttering beats have ties to Mouse on Mars' noisiest, most abstract earlier work, such as Niun Niggung's "Distroia," but Varcharz is hardly a regression or a rehash. If anything, the way Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma repeat the tracks' simple themes and tweak them until they're just about to break into a million pixels makes the album among their most experimental work. This theme carries to song titles like "Chartnok" and "Retphase," similarly chopped-up bits and pieces of almost-recognizable words and self-explanatory, onomatopoetic syllables. "Bertney" is a particularly good example of Varcharz's modus operandi: beginning with a twinkling, mischievous melody that could've been borrowed from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, it's processed and disfigured until it's completely overridden by brutal hissing, scraping, and thumping. Even the most accessible tracks have a harsh edge; "Igoegowhygowego" rides an almost stupidly simple, insistent bassline borrowed from booty funk, which is then scribbled over with grating synths. Varcharz goes deep into the blackened heart of noise with "Duul," a relentless, ice-burned track that features the snarling, smoking remains of what may have once been a guitar over a seriously malfunctioning beat, and closes with "One Day Not Today," a 13-part onslaught of glitchy heaviness that explodes like digital shrapnel and ends with tribal drums. Yet, even at its most deconstructed, Varcharz's chaos is actually quite orderly; underneath it all, its splatters and streaks of sound are nearly as organized as Radical Connector's more song-based material was. Interestingly, both albums were recorded at the same time, and they work well together as the extreme yin and yang of Mouse on Mars' aesthetic. Varcharz shows that the duo is just as adamant about -- and adept at -- exploring the wilder fringes of their sound as they are honing it into forward-thinking pop. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Anyone fortunate enough to see Mouse on Mars live -- particularly on their Idiology or Radical Connector tours -- knows that the group sheds the restraint they usually show on record for a jubilant, almost hedonistic energy that's more about dancing than chin-stroking. Compiled from various stops on the group's 2004 North American and European tours, Live04 documents that energy with Mouse on Mars' first official live album. Since these dates were recorded the same year the group released Radical Connector, it's not surprising that Live04's track listing is heavy on songs from that album. "Heavy" also describes the way these performances sound; Radical Connector was pretty dancefloor-ready to begin with, and the songs from it sound even more amped-up here. The nine-minute version of "Wipe That Sound" is downright anthemic, and "All the Old Powers"' beat sounds even more like large objects being tossed around and smashed to bits. "Mine Is in Yours" really benefits from the extra, in-concert oomph, sounding much bigger and badder than previously imagined, as well as a whole lot funkier, thanks to a huge, fuzzy synth bass that hasn't been heard since the likes of Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue." However, the rest of Live04's selections are pretty diverse, skipping from expected (but still great) performances of Idiology's mighty single "Actionist Respoke" and Autoditacker's classic "Twift," to a surprising amount of tracks from Niun Niggung (the speedy, electrifying run-through of that album's "Distroia" is one of the album's peaks) to the sparkly, majestic finale, "Frosch," which goes all the way back to Mouse on Mars' 1994 debut album, Vulvaland. Considering that these performances were culled from different shows, Live04 sounds remarkably cohesive; the album's only disappointment is that Niobe, the vocalist whose tracks were among Radical Connector's very best, didn't join Mouse on Mars on tour, so none of her songs are represented here. Nitpicking aside, Live04 is a very entertaining live album, and while it's still not quite the same as seeing Mouse on Mars in concert, that it manages to capture even a fraction of the atmosphere and sweat of their shows makes it potent stuff indeed. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Throughout their decade-plus career, Mouse on Mars' Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner have engaged in a very focused kind of wandering. They've moved from the frothy textures of Vulvaland and Iaora Tahiti to the busier, drum'n'bass-inflected Autoditacker to the playful pastoralism of Niun Niggung to Idiology's rubbery, eclectic pop while, paradoxically, crafting a sound that is distinctively Mouse on Mars. On Radical Connector, Toma, St. Werner, and percussionist/vocalist Dodo Nkishi once again build on what they've done before and take it in a very different direction. The album is more overtly pop than anything they've done before -- each of the tracks features vocals, a first on a Mouse on Mars album -- but also harder-edged and more overtly electronic than work such as Idiology. As clichéd as it may be to say it, the album's title conveys its aesthetic perfectly: tracks like "Mine Is in Yours" and "Spaceship" build on Idiology's most radically jittery tracks like "Actionist Respoke" and "Introduce," but take this sound in an immediate, danceable direction. And while the frostbitten, pristine beauty of "Send Me Shivers" -- featuring guest vocalist Niobe -- borders on the alien, it's never alienating. But even the album's most delicate, intellectual moments don't feel as detached as Mouse on Mars' past work; Radical Connector has more guts and soul than what has come before it. Nkishi feels more integrated into this album than he did on Idiology, and his blunt, raspy vocals provide some of Radical Connector's best tracks. Nkishi's voice is the perfect canvas for Toma and St. Werner to tweak, particularly on the bouncy, oddly tribal "Blood Comes," where he croaks "it's interrrrrrrupted" over increasingly busy layers of himself and a relentless beat. Things get even crazier on "All the Old Powers," a witchy track built around Nkishi's trippy ramblings and a beat that sounds like it was made from kicking doors open and throwing things against the wall. Best of all, though, is "Wipe That Sound," a funky, evocative track that's both sweaty and smart. By the time the glacially gorgeous closer, "Evoke an Object," finishes, it's hard to believe that Radical Connector is only nine tracks long; the album is so concentrated that it feels much bigger. This may not be Mouse on Mars' most ambitious album, but it's among the group's most successful -- it's not at all difficult to feel a connection to this truly intelligent dance music. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
While their peers in the field of electronic music continued to either overshoot experimentally (resulting in radical, unlistenable work) or make the same records over and over again, German duo Mouse on Mars pumped out radical, intriguing work by the bucketful. Idiology, the duo's seventh full LP in as many years, is a more immediate album than its predecessor (Niun Niggung), not quite as reliant on the hyperprogramming and content to simply chug along with crunchy beats and the usual roster of push-the-envelope effects. The opener (and single), "Actionist Respoke," sets the agenda immediately, with a red-line vocal sample shimmying its way through a crunchy breakbeat production. It's probably the most traditional track on the album though, as the pair throws away the Mouse on Mars rule book for much of the rest of Idiology. "Subsequence" works its way around a dabbling piano line soon taken up by clarinet and strings as well, with all manner of effects/samples chirping away in the background. Tracks three and four comprise ten minutes of practically beatless, chaotic bliss, introduced by a fetchingly overenunciated vocal from drummer Dodo Nkishi. The next, "Catching Butterflies With Hands," lurches along like an obviously dysfunctional toy from some Disney cartoon, struggling to perform its duties and, in an odd way no one could've expected, succeeding. Hidden within Idiology are at least half-a-dozen mini-masterpieces of neo-electronic composition, and as many tracks of flat-out electro-funk. Most significant of all when considering Mouse on Mars is that, in the notoriously coattails-riding electronic scene, no one's been able to duplicate what Mouse on Mars does so often, so consistently, and so well. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
From the first few seconds of Mouse on Mars' sixth full-length, it appeared that Germany's most inventive duo had deserted the bubble'n'squeak electronica they'd trademarked and instead gone the way of instrument-driven post-rockers like Tortoise or Kreidler. There's a chamber quartet in attendance and a hushed air that sounds almost mature. After a minute of suspense though, things go all wibbly and electronic fans will find themselves back in the happy preserves of prime Mouse on Mars. The duo's vision of techno on Niun Niggung is impeccably perfectionist but texturally messy and surprisingly organic: it's electronic dance as produced by robotic hill people. The highlight is "Super Sonig Fadeout," a propulsive track that begins with several moments of metallic distortion. Slowly, ingeniously, the noise organizes itself into a loping, incredibly funky beat that drives the rest of the track. The music on Niun Niggung is far too much fun to provoke the question of whether Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner have progressed or not (which is always a matter for serious analysis in electronic circles), but the album does occasionally sound more like an attempt to duplicate the Mouse on Mars formula than the real thing. [The American release of Niun Niggung included a radically different configuration from the British and German release, plus several bonus tracks.] ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This LP of warm, grubby electronica was originally recorded as the soundtrack to an American film staring Tony "Who's the Boss?" Danza, and finally saw general (if somewhat limited) release in 1998, after it became clear the film would never be completed. Despite the passage of time, however (most of these tracks date from 1993 and 1994), Glam contains some of Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner's most compelling material to date, and listens like a sort of combined laboratory/proving ground for the dauby, impressionistic abstraction later pursued on the 1997 Mouse on Mars LP Instrumentals and by Werner's side project Lithops. The least "genrefied" of Mouse on Mars' already exceptionally itinerant discography, Glam is also wonderfully diverse, mixing tracks containing clamorous, sometimes goofy rhythms with introspective cuts consisting of little more than patterned clicks and raspy, absorbing organ drones. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Autoditacker finds Mouse on Mars continuing to grow and improve, adding textures and detail to their dense, electronic soundscapes without compromising their sound. They still are indebted to Krautrock and dub, but they continue to add new sounds and styles to their music, including long ambient stretches and flirtations with drum'n'bass. There are no silent moments on Autoditacker -- every inch of the tape is filled with rhythms, keyboards, and electronic squiggles. Each listen reveals new layers of the group's intricate arrangements, and the shifting instrumentation and themes recall the best adventurous jazz in terms of unpredictability. It's another stunning record in a distinguished, inventive catalog. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Iaora Tahiti'
What The Critics Say
More upbeat and with far greater detail than the debut, Iaora Tahiti proves Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma haven't stood still. The pair's fondness for all things lo-fi follows them here, but just as evident is a depth and punch lacking in their earlier material. Jungle-style programming pops up on the first single, "Bib," as well as elements of dub, funk, industrial, film soundtracks, and musique concrète. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
A wibbly, barely digital match of ambient texturology with experimental strains of techno, dub, and Krautrock. While the flip relies too heavily on four-on-the-floor ambient house clichés, the A-side is a prize, cultivating a weird, electronics-based avant-pop vibe as successful as it is unique. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
