Mouse on Mars

Mouse on Mars
Mouse on Mars live (2001)
Background information
Origin	Düsseldorf, Germany
Genres	IDM, ambient, experimental
Years active	1993 to present
Labels	Too Pure Ipecac Thrill Jockey Sonig Domino Monkeytown
Associated acts	Lithops Microstoria Oval Noisemashinetapes Von Südenfed
Website	www.mouseonmars.de
Members	Jan St. Werner Andi Toma

Mouse on Mars is a duo from Germany (Jan St. Werner, from Köln, and Andi Toma, from Düsseldorf) who have been making electronic music since 1993. Their music is a sometimes quirky blend of IDM, krautrock, disco, and ambient with a heavy dollop of analog synth sounds and cross-frequency modulation. Their music also utilizes live conventional instruments such as strings, brass, drums, bass and guitar.

St. Werner and Toma are childhood friends who were born on the same day, in the same hospital. Dating back to the mid-1990s, their productions do not shy away from fractures and deconstructions of conventional patterns in electronic music; at the same time, they also play with these patterns. Their approach is characterized by a blend of intuition and reflection that spotlights a special sensitivity to structurally and harmonically interesting inventions. For the most part, their pieces do without vocal elements.

Their first album, Vulvaland, was released in 1994 on the British record label Too Pure. This is considered their "straightest" and most focused album, mixing ambient and dance forms. Their second album, Iaora Tahiti, has a much more playful feel and encompasses a wider variety of electronic dance genres. Over the years, their sound has increased in warmth, playfulness and what the duo term "fantastic analysis". On their fourth album Niun Niggung (released on Domino Records in 2000), the live instruments start to become more prominent. Idiology, their fifth album, continued this trend, while their sixth album, Radical Connector, has a more "pop" feeling. Both of these albums also increasingly include vocals, primarily by touring drummer Dodo NKishi.