Rating:
Genre:
Electronica
Release Date: 02/08/2000
From the first few seconds of
Mouse on Mars' sixth full-length, it appeared that Germany's most inventive duo had deserted the bubble'n'squeak
electronica they'd trademarked and instead gone the way of instrument-driven post-rockers like
Tortoise or
Kreidler. There's a chamber quartet in attendance and a hushed air that sounds almost mature. After a minute of suspense though, things go all wibbly and
electronic fans will find themselves back in the happy preserves of prime
Mouse on Mars. The duo's vision of
techno on
Niun Niggung is impeccably perfectionist but texturally messy and surprisingly organic: it's
electronic dance as produced by robotic hill people. The highlight is
"Super Sonig Fadeout," a propulsive track that begins with several moments of metallic distortion. Slowly, ingeniously, the noise organizes itself into a loping, incredibly funky beat that drives the rest of the track. The music on
Niun Niggung is far too much fun to provoke the question of whether
Andi Toma and
Jan St. Werner have progressed or not (which is always a matter for serious analysis in
electronic circles), but the album does occasionally sound more like an attempt to duplicate the
Mouse on Mars formula than the real thing. [The American release of
Niun Niggung included a radically different configuration from the British and German release, plus several bonus tracks.]
~John Bush, All Music Guide
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