Search - Mouse on Mars :: Instrumentals

The perfect MoM album.

Duy Q. Tran | Portland, Oregon, USA | 03/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This vinyl only album is finally being released on CD. It's too bad if you don't have the vinyl b/c all the crackles and pops from over-play really add to the sound.:). What makes this album so good is that it is short (~40mins) and the selection of material is perfect. There is no filler, only perfect transitions--which is not always true with other MoM albums. It swirls from melody to bubbly ambience to white noise....then back again. something else about this album is that it keeps it's laid back ambient mood throughout and there are no hyperkinetic tracks here. you really feel as if you are immersed in warm alien amniotic fluid. If nothing else the aptly titled possibly best MoM song, "chromantic" is worth the purchase of the album."

The mice have done it again.

Russell Harris | 12/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Stylistically INSTRUMENTALS is somewhere between the techno goofiness of AUTODITAKER or IORTA TAHITI and the ambient soundscapes of GLAM. It contains the kind of distorted sounds that any MoM fan will be familiar with. MoM dosen't forget to include the one ingredient missing from most music made by "electronica" acts: melody and warmth. "Chromantic" (I really dig MoM's song titles) is a great example of the band's ear for lush melody without sacrificing abstractness. Only on the sparse "1001" does the mood turn somber; with its odd, scratchy trumpet soloing and skittish piano key loop. "Auto Orchestra" opens the music with an abstract cut-&-paste sound collage. "Owai" is the CD's only hyber/bouncy track. The rest of the tracks further reaffirms MoM's genius. The funny-looking cartoon characters found on the packaging is a great visual compliment to the music."

Beautiful and mind-bending noise

Jack Baur | Eugene, OR United States | 06/17/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I first put this CD in a week ago and gave it its first spin around the player, my girlfriend (who usually isn't the biggest fan of my wierder electronica) said, "Oh, they are what Autechre want to be! Or maybe just what I want Autechre to be..." And while it is definitely true that Autechre are what they are, this album is fairly reminiscent, in all the best ways, and not at all in a derivative sense. Maybe I'd be willing to call it "Autechre Lite," or at least "Autechre-with-some-of-the-rougher-edges-off." I've never owned a Mouse on Mars album before but I'm sure that I will own many more in the near future. This is great stuff lovely, complex, and melodic ambient with soft, staticy beats and odd tones, an album to dream by."