Von Südenfed

Tromatic Reflexxions (Domino)

This unlikely party album collaboration between the Fall’s Mark E. Smith and Mouse on Mars’ Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma guts the last Fall LP by sheer virtue of its mad bastardization of everything from the electro-squall dance beats of “Fledermaus Can’t Get It” to what appears to be a disgruntled Smith having an indecipherable row with Stephen King’s Lawnmower Man (“Jbak Lois Lane”). Then there’s “Flooded,” bad-tailor-made for dying time at the Beauty & the Beast Bar; “I booked this club and the DJ tonight,” mutters Smith atop MoM’s grimebomb beats. Braggadocio? Apology? Errant journal entry? Smith on Mars is unpredictably beyond the pale, yes, but also great spastic, limb-swinging fun, and a comfort of sorts, as well. Who else would dare close out with a quasi-Nigerian patter-song-eulogy to “Dearest Friends” that’s not only jarringly upbeat but also a strange solace buoyed aloft on the bleakest of Fall-guy breakers?

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This article appears in September 14 • 2007.

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