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Mouse on Mars, "Glam"
Thrill Jockey
This is a record imbued with a kind of subtle beauty that I've simplynot heard in a long time. I've never paid much attention to Mouse onMars and my experience with this album was akin to my first experiencewith Sonic Youth; multiple listens reveal multiple dimesions of soundand with each listen the music becomes more and more enjoyable. Glamwas originally released as a limited edition vinyl in 1998 and wasintended to the be the soundtrack to a movie about love and drugs;appropriately the music is claustraphobic, hazy, and joyous. Denselayers of amorphous sound creep about the air like a fine mist; this ismusic that can be breathed in, it leaves a shiny dew on my skin afterI've listened to it. "Port Dusk" starts things off on an almostbeatless level and weaves a blanket with warm peals of sound andunwavering showers of heavy drones. There are beats throughout most ofthe album and many of them force my foot to tap and my head to back andforth, but the rhythms are almost subliminal. They more or less form aperfect seam with the short stabs of melody and robust undercurrentsthat run beside them. "Flim" and "Tiplet Metal Plate" are twonoticeable and exceptional anomalies. "Flim" is a plain ofrhythm-driven butterflies that meander about carelessly while "TipletMetal Plate" is more akin to a hammer falling on and through my skull;it's a punchy, schizophrenic, and completely ecstatic kick to the face.The bonus tracks included are completely hit and miss. "Snap Bar" is aworm-filled endurance test that simply goes nowhere while "Pool, Smoothand Hidder" is a rolling sonic highway and "Heizchase Nailway" feelslike an undulating mass consuming everything in its path. The last twoaren't bad, but when they're taken out of the mix and Glam islistened to in its original form, the album seems to have a more fluidcontinuity that makes it more enjoyable. These are minor complaints,however.
This is a record imbued with a kind of subtle beauty that I've simplynot heard in a long time. I've never paid much attention to Mouse onMars and my experience with this album was akin to my first experiencewith Sonic Youth; multiple listens reveal multiple dimesions of soundand with each listen the music becomes more and more enjoyable. Glamwas originally released as a limited edition vinyl in 1998 and wasintended to the be the soundtrack to a movie about love and drugs;appropriately the music is claustraphobic, hazy, and joyous. Denselayers of amorphous sound creep about the air like a fine mist; this ismusic that can be breathed in, it leaves a shiny dew on my skin afterI've listened to it. "Port Dusk" starts things off on an almostbeatless level and weaves a blanket with warm peals of sound andunwavering showers of heavy drones. There are beats throughout most ofthe album and many of them force my foot to tap and my head to back andforth, but the rhythms are almost subliminal. They more or less form aperfect seam with the short stabs of melody and robust undercurrentsthat run beside them. "Flim" and "Tiplet Metal Plate" are twonoticeable and exceptional anomalies. "Flim" is a plain ofrhythm-driven butterflies that meander about carelessly while "TipletMetal Plate" is more akin to a hammer falling on and through my skull;it's a punchy, schizophrenic, and completely ecstatic kick to the face.The bonus tracks included are completely hit and miss. "Snap Bar" is aworm-filled endurance test that simply goes nowhere while "Pool, Smoothand Hidder" is a rolling sonic highway and "Heizchase Nailway" feelslike an undulating mass consuming everything in its path. The last twoaren't bad, but when they're taken out of the mix and Glam islistened to in its original form, the album seems to have a more fluidcontinuity that makes it more enjoyable. These are minor complaints,however.
