Coming out of electronica's left field,
Mouse on Mars released three albums and five EPs for the British hyper-indie Too Pure between 1994 and 1997. The duo would later kick-start an abstract electronic community based in Köln, but during these years
Jan St. Werner and
Andi Toma were simply two creative German lads using the same instruments as many dance producers but conjuring radically different, wildly creative music from them. It all began in 1992, when
Jan Werner, one half of
Mouse on Mars, sent a tape to the duo's favorite British label, the home of
Stereolab and
Seefeel, enclosing a polite note that read in part, "You may not like what we're doing, but thanks for releasing those records." Even after the group refused to change their name (over the protests of label co-founder Paul Cox), Too Pure couldn't help but release the first fruits of their work, a pair of 1994-1995 singles ("Frosch," "Bib") and albums (
Vulvaland, Iaora Tahiti) that suddenly made a raft of electronic productions nearly obsolete.
Mouse on Mars tracks were dense where much electronica had been spare and skeletal, with dozens of clever, imaginative ideas -- multiple percussion lines, acid effects, distortion -- bouncing around the mix on each track. From 1997, productions spearheaded by the singles "Twift" and "Cache Couer Naif" (the latter with vocals from
Stereolab's
Laetitia Sadier) included all of
MoM's previous innovations, but added a surprising sense of melody that hooked American listeners and echoed contemporary work by
Stereolab itself. For the nonfanatical,
Rost Pocks: The EP Collection collects most of the duo's nonalbum work for Too Pure, and throws in a bonus: "Maus Mobil," which originally appeared on a volume in the Trance Europe Express series. ~ John Bush