Glam was originally released in 1996 on vinyl only, as a proposed (and consequently rejected) soundtrack to the Hollywood film of the same name featuring Tony Danza and Ali McGraw. Thrill Jockey ensure that this dating Mouse on Mars release makes it to our favorite degradable format, and are so kind to include the extra tracks from the rare Japanese only CD import version.
Sounding very much like out takes from the majestic Iaora Tahiti sessions, much of Glam burbles and resonates along eerily, like any Mouse on Mars release rightly should. The intriguing thing about Glam is that it documents so obviously that Mouse on Mars’ Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner were in a stage of transformation during its creation, often a point where artists produce their most cohesive and challenging work. Prior to Glam, they had impressed and baffled with their crudely named Vulvaland, and the magnificent Iaora Tahiti, and post-Glam (Autoditacker onwards) have adopted a distinctly more fractured, fashionable yet skillful, and micro-sequenced approach to digital signal processing.
Glam gradually eases into the hallmarks that we have come to expect from the duo, with “Port Dusk,” “Grindscore” and “Snap Bar” all as if they were the less developed pieces for the soundtrack. “Mood Leck Backlash” gives a brief glimpse of the cheeky stabs of melody and jittery microtunings that featured on Iaora Tahiti, while “Tiplet Metal Plate” harks back to the slow burning, filter-melodies of early tracks such as “Frosch.” Glam pushes to the extreme the notion that Mouse on Mars have the rare ability to regain their listeners attention totally upon testing their patience somewhat with extended wibble workouts and low-volume micro doodles, only to then unleash more accessible melodic structures and rhythms, almost as little audio rewards for their perseverance.
As is often the case, it is the free-for-all nature of the movie-soundtrack that has enabled Mouse on Mars to present us (albeit sonically re-heated) with their most versatile and dynamic record to date.
Glam is out now on Thrill Jockey.
