Mouse on Mars

by Sean Cooper
German post-techno duo Mouse on Mars is among a growing number of electronic music groups dabbling in complex, heavily hybridized forms that include everything from ambient, techno, and dub to rock, jazz, and jungle. The combined efforts of Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner (of Köln and Düsseldorf, respectively), Mouse on Mars formed in 1993, reportedly when Werner and Toma met either at a death metal concert or a health food store. Working from Werners studio, the pair fused an admiration for the early experiments of Krautrock outfits like Can, Neu!, Kluster, and Kraftwerk into an offbeat update including influences from the burgeoning German techno and ambient scenes. A demo of material found its way to London-based guitar-ambient group Seefeel, who passed it on to the offices of their label, Too Pure.
MOMs first single, Frosch, was released by the label soon after and was also included on the debut album, Vulvaland. Immediately hailed for its beguiling, inventive edge that seemed to resist all efforts at easy schublade (an even less flattering approximation of the English pigeonhole), Vulvaland was reissued in 1995 by (oddly) Rick Rubins American Recordings label, which also released their follow-up, Iaora Tahiti, soon after. More upbeat and varied than their debut, the album made some inroads into the American marketplace, but the groups somewhat challenging complexity and steadfast refusal to pander make widespread popularity unlikely. They returned in 1997 with three different releases — the EP Cache Coeur Naif, the LP Autoditacker, and the vinyl-only Instrumentals. Another vinyl-only release (Glam) appeared in 1998, and was followed a year later by the official follow-up to Autoditacker, Niun Niggung.
Although remixes are rare, Mouse on Mars began appearing with increasing frequency on compilations of experimental electronic music, including Volumes popular Trance Europe Express series. They were also prominently featured on a pair of tribute albums — Folds and Rhizomes and In Memoriam — dedicated to French poststructuralist philosopher Gilles Deleuze. Idiology, which introduced percussionist/collaborator Dodo Nkishi into the fold, followed in 2000 on Thrill Jockey. In 2004, the duo celebrated a decades worth of work with the release of Radical Connector and a global tour, which was captured by 2005s concert album Live04. The following years hard-hitting Varcharz was released by Ipecac. St. Werner also has recorded as half of the duo Microstoria (with Ovals Markus Popp) and solo as Lithops.