mouse on mars: 21 again

Mouse On Mars' 21st anniversary double CD featuring exclusive collaborations with: Cavern Of Anti-Matter, Tortoise, Errorsmith, Dodo NKishi, Scratch Pet Land, Eric D. Clark, Helado Negro, Siriusmo, Modeselektor (feat. Mr. Maloke), Atom TM, Laetitia Sadier, Schlammpeitziger, Junior Boys, Candie Hank, Machinedrum, Mesak & Claws Costeau, F.X. Randomiz, Funkstorung, Yoshimi, Herbert, and interludes by: Eleni Poulou and Mark E. Smith, A Hawk And A Hacksaw, AGF Delay-Team, Ingrid & Oswald Wiener, David Michael DiGregorio & Sung Huang Kim, Prefuse 73, and DJ Scotch Egg. How many internationally influential pop acts has Germany thrown into the mix? Kraftwerk, of course, followed by Can and the other Krautrock pioneers -- Neu! and Cluster, Tangerine Dream and Faust; after that, Einstürzende Neubauten, perhaps. And in the mid-1990s, Mouse On Mars joined this select group, quickly earning international recognition for their unique blend of concept, experiment and pop. Rare is the festival of electronic or independent music that hasn't welcomed them to the stage, and there are few producers of edgy, intelligent pop music who do not cite Mouse On Mars as a reference. They are feted as rock stars across Japan and North America, and for the past 20 years they have been packing clubs -- and even classical concert halls in European metropolises. Mouse On Mars are a musical phenomenon. After two decades of constant innovation and reinvention, they have lost none of their might and magic. And, just like jazz musicians, the duo seems to be getting ever more seasoned, savvy and uncompromising. The band's anniversary release -- a compilation celebrating 21 years of band history with a bit more than 21 collaborations -- seems like a logical move. Open to outside influences from day one, Mouse On Mars' music and approach anchors a surprisingly malleable methodology to an unwavering vision at the eye of the hurricane. The surface of pop music thrives on change, on constant renewal, and the Mouse On Mars phenomenon fuses this mutability with a myriad of voices caught in a proliferating web of dialogue. And at the heart of these oscillating force fields, Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma invariably remain themselves -- curious, critical and even-keeled. In this spirit, Mouse On Mars celebrate their "coming of age" surrounded by 23 of their peers.