Customer Reviews

Vulvaland

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mouse On Mars' first album "Vulvaland" sounds unlike any of their followup efforts. I think its also their best (though I haven't heard the vinyl-only and out-of-print "Instrumentals"). On "Vulvaland" Mouse on Mars seem focused on long hypnotic works rather than their more concise songs on "Iaora Tahiti" and "Audiotacker". Here, the songs often stretch out for nearly ten minutes, giving the album a surprinsignly unified feel. Much of the flow is probably due to the warm, fuzzy, soundscapes that MoM devises for each of the track. A lot of the sounds are vaguely reminiscent of record scratching or something associated with sand-paper. The whole record is soaked in this sound with bright tempos and a good vibe. It would make an effective porno soundtrack, really. However, I don't necessarily consider this album more accessible or less daring than other efforts. A lot of the sounds, especially the bizarrely fragmented vocal/dialogue snippets, and initially quite offsetting. As an example, the sixth track "die seele von brian wilson" supposedly has sampled vocals of the Beach Boy. Supposedly. My personal favorite tracks would be "Frosch" and "Chagrin" both are chock-full of the aforementioned sand-paper sounds and are quite 'ambient'. "Vulvaland" is a perfect album to background when studying, working, or surfing the net. Its also got enough going on for a rather intense listen experience. Because of excellence and chronology, "Vulvaland" is the ideal introduction to the world of Mouse On Mars.

This is drifty, dreamy, dubby ambient music that washes over you and swirls around you like a warm cocoon of sound. If you didn't know it was MoM you would be hard pressed to tell that it wasn't a new release from the orb. That's what this sounds like, the orb. Lengthy dub filled soundscapes with the trademark melodies of MoM, the only consistent thread throughout all of their discs.

Don't make the same mistake my friend eric did: as a diehard fan of the orb, I let him borrow this disc knowing that he would love it. He did and then proceed to purchase other MoM realeases and was very disappointed that NOTHING else by them sounds like this disc (Instrumentals comes pretty close). Not necessarily a good starting point for those new to the wonderful sounds of MoM (Iaora Tahiti is where to begin) but essential to those who are diehard fans of MoM.

Frosch and Chagrin are my favorites. frosch for that weird squeeky sound that starts off the beat and I love the beautiful melody and the sad vocals of chagrin (hence the title, I guess).

Good stuff.

I love MOM and have been a fan for four years now. Frosch and UAH are my favorites, along with another thack that is hidden. After Katang, fast foreward to 15:45. You'll hear a quiet, just-above-ear-level ambient track that lasts about four minutes. Fast foreward again to 23:45, and you'll hear a very cool, very fast (and loud!) trance/techno track that lasts about six minutes. Suprising, since most of the songs on this disk are dreamy ambient! Happy dancing!

I couldn't tell this was their debut. It sounds as unearthly as their other numbers, and just as good. Its way more laid back I think. It reminds me somewhat( I suppose it's the way they introduce live samples and recorded snippets of people talking, into an abstracted rhythmic tempo, of My Life In the Bush of Ghosts(David Burne and Brian Eno collab.)The song Chagrin on this album is worth it all. Very hipnotic and totally and appropriately vulva-like. Maybe its the BPM and the way it swoons. I would add that track to a bump and grind playlist and label it tantric sessions 101. My other favorite track is "die seele von brian wilson." This song is one of the most absurd tracks I've ever heard. But only absurd within the margins of known rationality.hehe(cough cough,hint hint) If anyone can tell me what the sample of the girl is saying,( I hear: Wheelbells spin like windchimes) I will buy you..uh, a virtual beer. MOM does it, did it again.

The first thing from MoM. It's a truly richfull and hipnotic album, mixing the deepest dub with the softness of ambient electronica. Wicked sounds, full of strange textures. And excellent album to listen with your eyes closed in your favorite sofa.

Mouse on Mars's most accessible and least quirky album. Full of atmospheric building alien bleepiness with some haunting vocals and emotional crescendoes. A couple of classic big-bass alien soundscapes to boot.

Like rnewton@iona.com says, it is Mouse on Mars's most accessible and least quirky album. That is exactly why I don't like it as much as say, "Audioatacker" or the super abstract "Instumentals". Its the raw sounds, distorted and warm, and the odd sound structures that turn me on to MoM. "Vulvaland" just comes across as being kind of boring, it just doesn't really hit me, doesn't illustrate the true MoM sound.

So, if you are also into the more abstract, distorted MoM, check out "Lithops" Jan St. Werner's solo project. Totally mind bending beautiful music. Very quircky, very odd.

I became a Mouse fan through Autoditaker and Nuin Nuigging and was curious as to how the band sounded in it's earlier days. This, their debut album (I think), lacks the punch of the beforementioned masterpieces. The whole time the CD was playing I was thinking "ORB"! (Not a bad comparison mind you, think the Orb's first two releases for reference). "Frosch" is my favorite track, it sets things to a good start, but the rest are too midtempo with not alot going on in them. I must admit that "Future Dub" has a nicely hypnotic rythym. I recommend this only to the die-hard M.O.M. fans who want to collect the band's entire output. There is little on Vulvaland to even hint at the style of present-day Mouse On Mars. If anything this recording shows how much the band has progressed and grown into their own original sound as years have gone by.