Mouse On Mars

Niun Niggung is the sixth full-length from Germany’s Mouse On Mars. Jan St. Werner (who’s worked with Oval’s Markus Popp as Microstoria) and Andi Toma are the main players and they manage to make one heck of a joyful noise. From the album’s opening trio of quirky avant rock and pop cuts (minus the lyrics, thank goodness) to introspective electro, seductive techno with a MoM twist, and heady downtempo and experimental numbers, these 13 songs make up one gorgeous piece of work — an album that immediately becomes a must-have for the electronic music enthusiast. There are those who can craft a pop ditty, and those who can push the boundaries of audio. But it’s not an easy task doing both — and doing it well — balancing the seductive and the inventive, juxtaposing sleek passages with digital blips and bleeps and melding the result into a pleasing whole. Give this one focused listen and you’ll want to add their previous albums — 1994’s Vulvaland, Iaora Tahiti (1995), Autoditacker and Instrumentals (both 1997), and 1998’s Glam — to your “to buy” list.