Mouse on Mars - Actionist Respoke EP
(Sonig)
This one is weird even for Mouse on Mars. It's a three track single from the
upcoming Idiology album, due out April 24, 2001, on Thrill Jockey. Here is how it breaks down.
"Actionist Respoke" is the album track, and we find our favorite German splurg
artists having gone in a more aggressive, rough direction. While the usual barrage
of crazy synths is present--blips, drips, booms, and many other unidentifiable
noises--the track is hyper, distorted, and dance-floor friendly, relatively speaking.
The sense of serenity and melodicism that characterized Niun Niggung is
noticeably absent and in its place is a frenetic agitation. The craziest thing, though,
is the vocals, in that this track features them, which is, I believe, a first for the
Mouse on Mars. They are, of course, processed, and the result is not unlike
perhaps what a mouse from Mars might sound like: chanting, high-pitched, with a
menacing edge, but, really, too funny to be truly threatening.
The single also features a 10 minute remix of the title track. It's a bit more messed
up than the original version; the rhythms are more irregular, and the sound collage is
more dense. The third track is "DJ Collapse" which is a collaboration between
Mouse on Mars and Matthew Herbert. It's a more moderately pace, fluid track,
simply constructed around deep, rubbery bass and simple whirs and blips. Not the
greatest Mouse on Mars track ever, but a nice chill out after the first two tracks.
This record is one of two recent releases by artists working outside of traditional
genre/instrumentation boundaries who know how to push boundaries, experiment,
and challenge their audience, while still producing music which is not only not
punishing but actually enjoyable to listen to. If you like Mouse on Mars, of if this
sounds good to you, then I encourage you to also check out the review of Matmos' A
Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure that appears in this issue, if you have
not already done so. Each of them may be characterized as electronic, but that label
does not really adequately summarize the humor, intelligence and humanity that is
evident in each of these releases. Though these sounds are all the product of
extensive processing and manipulation--machine music--they have a freshness
and an organic quality that has been drained out of many recordings by live
musicians using acoustic instruments. Which goes to show that heart and
originality will bring art to life no matter what environment it is created in.
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