Mouse on Mars have certainly proved one of the most adaptable acts in the underground pop landscape — a category which describes a band equally rooted in Krautrock and dance music far better than merely "electronic" or "experimental." Though perhaps "adaptable" isn't the word, as Mouse on Mars have never evolved to fit any discernible external influences; they've certainly never done anything like heed the prevailing winds of the pop marketplace. They've simply remained a profoundly mutable project, but always with an immutable core. It's never been possible to pin down Mouse on Mars to a particular sound — not even within the space of a single album. Still, there is a discernible arc in the progression of the band's albums, allowing listeners to tease out distinct phases in which various of Mouse on Mars 'interests become particularly clear.

The duo's two mid-period records Glam and Instrumentals, both dating from 1997, might almost be taken as a side project for the group, given the way they constitute a sort of eddy of calm between the group's more exuberant early and recent periods. (This impression is reinforced by the fact that they come closest to the oblique sounds of Microstoria… read more »