Mikrofisch - Monsters of the Universe

Right, so this is not actually a Mikrofisch album. It is in fact the last Mikrofisch album (Masters of the Universe!) and assorted tracks covered by friends’ bands. What a marvellous idea indeed!

The result is a mixed bag of various German (and Dutch!! The USA are on here, too!) bands, well, interpreting songs. The resident rave track suddenly has a rather shrill flute on it and what appears to be real drums and possibly an acoustic guitar. The song by the USA is, unsurprisingly, very nice, too!

The Kids Are All Shite (this is actually proving popular in German indie clubs!) got a ravey makeover. I can’t make up my mind whether I like this one or the original better (quick recap, this is the one that goes ‘Fuck the Kooks!’ and ‘Are you gonna be my girl – FUCK OFF!’).

My personal favourite is Sechsundneunzig (eg. Ninety-Six!), which is a translated and adapted version of Let’s Kiss and Listen to Bis. Adapted in that it’s no longer about Bis, it’s about Tocotronic, complete with a bit of a Toco intro and some Tocotronic lyrics strewn around. I never heard of the guy who wrote it but I would very much like to phone him up and thank him profusely, because I do like a bit of nostalgia, ahem. I was there, in 1996, in my corduroy flares and Adidas jacket. I own the vast majority of Tocotronic’s back catalogue. I’ve been to a shitload of Tocotronic gigs, heck I even did the pogo dance down the front. Once we all went on a 5 hour train journey to see them play a gig in a disused railway depot. Oops, going off on one now!

Bizarrely, the cover of Drum Machines Will Save Mankind is laced with acoustic guitars and … oh dear … violins I believe. And real ones, by the sounds of it. Someone managed to Belle-and-Sebastian-ify a song about drum machines. Well and truly astounding.

I reckon everyone should try to get this album. You have no excuse – it’s a free download, dammit! And the Mikrofisches are very nice people. One half ran the rival fanzine in my home town 15 years ago, the other resides in London now and I haven’t seen her in ages!

http://www.komakinomag.de/?label:mikrofisch:monsters_of_the_universe