John Maus, Love Is Real, 2007

   'LOVE IS REAL' Free MP3s

Do Your Best | My Whole World Is Coming Apart

UTR015 | Digipack CD / LP | 14 tracks, 46 mins | 19 Nov 2007 | Buy


John Maus' second album 'Love Is Real' is an apocalyptic journey through the nostalgic streets of our home towns deep into the recesses of the human heart. It is a map of self discovery, rejection and escapism captured across 14 songs of melancholic baroque pop music. Similar in style to his 2006 debut 'Songs', the album is a mixture of exploratory synthesiser theatrics, tensely-strung bass lines and insistent drum machine clicks and pops, all set off by John's deeply resonant reverb-drenched vocal. 'Love Is Real' is a more reflective and realised effort than 'Songs' however, focusing its attentions on impulsive song writing and inspired musicianship, replacing the reminiscent feel of the first record with genuine poignancy.

'Love Is Real' is an album of contrast, of obscurity and familiarity, of darkness and light. Moments of intense disco anxiety warning against the sin of avarice - "Too Much Money" - find themselves rubbing shoulders with romantic virtuoso fugues - "Green Bouzard". The juxtaposition of the buoyant 80's synth pop alongside John's sombre, sometimes even morose lyrics is another good example of this tension. "Without you girl, I'm going over the edge" Maus sings over the four-to-the-floor dance rhythm of the album's prescient closer 'Times Is Weird'. Over the fantastical keyboard gymnastics of 'The Whole World's Coming Apart' John finds relief in repeatedly confessing "This is my nightmare, my nightmare". It's contrasts like these which point towards John's preoccupation on this album with confused emotions and misunderstood intentions.

Whilst 'Love Is Real' maintains the same anthemic genius and sense of humour that it's predecessor revelled in - the impassioned 'Rights for Gays' being perhaps the most neurotic example - this album finds its strength in its more delicate and revealing moments. The superbly mournful 'Do Your Best' is an elegiac paean to true love - "Reach out your hands to the one alone, in the city tonight" croons Maus to baritone abandon, sounding like a man resisting his own best advice. Similarly 'Tenebrae', the album's tour de force, follows the grand tradition of many classical composers who have tried to convey the suffering, 'great noise' and joy of the Holy Week in music over the last 300 years. It is a stately and majestic song which soars and pulses into inevitable splendour becoming the focal point of this remarkable album.

'Love Is Real' is a record about facing the demons within, searching through eternity and finding hope in the darkness of these uncertain times. It's about never giving up and holding out for the one you love. Put simply it can only be an album by John Maus.

Source: http://www.upsettherhythm.co.uk/johnmaus.shtml

This man is a musical genius in every sense of the word. He knows how to manage his PR and own recording and playing live. He's the embodiment of all that is art and replica, for replica is art in its true sense. I believe we can only learn to mirror true beauty when we see it. It is then that we learn to master the appreciation for it, and therefore the skill. I am so excited about John Maus' work, and terribly in love.


Pitchfork Review: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11283-love-is-real/
Find it at: Insound Vinyl | eMusic | Amazon MP3 & CD
My favourite John Maus blog: http://rougesfoam.blogspot.com/2009/07/heaven-is-real-john-maus-and-truth-of.html

John Maus , Songs, 2006

 'SONGS'

Don't Be A Body | Just Wait Til Next Year

UTR003 | CD | 16 tracks, 54 mins | 20 Mar 2006 | Buy

'Songs' is Maus' debut, his life work, which was written and recorded at home over the course of five years. It's a twisted baroque pop record that brings to mind early 80's hits and coming-of-age movie soundtracks. Almost entirely electronic, the Maus sound is created from synthesisers, drum machine, bass and his remarkable vocals, which are pitched somewhere between Ian Curtis, Calvin Johnson and David Bowie

The record is a manic lo-fi masterpiece, which blurs addictive melodies, emotive lyrics and dreamy soundscapes to memorable effect. Permeated by feelings of intense nostalgia, with this album Maus has created a testimony to lost romance and to longing. These combine in such a way to make the listener feel as through they have stumbled across a lost classic. Ambitious in his musical and thematic scope, Maus touches upon timeless subjects such as the conflict between the mind and body, unrequited love, death and eternity.

John Maus  myspace
“We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves” (due April 2011)
Maus is undoubtedly an artist one would admire and any musician aspire to be. Besides having worked on is music project for years, Maus teaches at The University of Hawaii and went to Cal Arts.  he’s worked with Panda Bear and Ariel Pink and has garnered tons of respect from both of them and the DIY music community at large.  He releases his own stuff via Upset The Rhythm.  Below is one track off his upcoming release and some old ones:


mp3s ::
JOHN MAUS - ‘And The Rain’ (new single)
—
JOHN MAUS - ‘Do Your Best’

Publish Post

JOHN MAUS - ‘My Whole World Is Coming Apart’
JOHN MAUS - ‘Don’t Be A Body’
JOHN MAUS - ‘Just Wait ‘Til Next Year’
(via weekly tape deck)


above photo © Mark Blower

Source: http://www.upsettherhythm.co.uk/johnmaus.shtml

John Maus, We Must Become The Pitiless censors Of Ourselves, 2011

   

FREE mp3 available NOW for "Quantum Leap":
http://bit.ly/quantumleapmp3

John Maus - Quantum Leap (Upset The Rhythm / Ribbon Music)

We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves track listing:

01. Streetlight

02. Quantum Leap

03. ...And The Rain

04. Hey Moon

05. Keep Pushing On

06. The Crucifix

07. Head for the Country

08. Cop Killer

09. Matter of Fact

10. We Can Breakthrough

11. Believer

Love is Real by John Maus was an understated gem from 2007, which reflected his love for gloomy lo-fi pop with a distinctly melancholy hue to it. It’s taken four years, but Maus finally has a follow-up record ready bearing the excellent title We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves.

The album will be released on the Ribbon Music label, which is a subsidiary of Domino, on June 28, and it’s being previewed by the track “Quantum Leap,” which you can hear in the Sound cloud clip below. Check out the full track listing below the audio file—can’t wait to hear the song “Cop Killer.” 

JOHN MAUS lives in his birthplace of Austin, Minnesota. Whilst working towards his PhD in Political Science he also composes music that taps into melancholic fantasy and affirms that we are all truly alive. Questing synthesisers, tensely strung bass lines and chasing drum machines providing the perfect backdrop for John's deeply resonant reverb-drenched vocal. Born in the decade of synth pop and sharing his birthday with George Frideric Handel, John started making music when Nirvana posters went up on every teenager’s wall. It’s this curious conflux of influences that partially helps to describe John’s music. It’s a world where the Germs jam with Jerry Goldsmith, Cabaret Voltaire relocate to Eternia and Josquin des Prez writes a new score for RoboCop. The confrontation of punk, the fleeting poignancy of 80’s movie soundtracks, the insistent pulse of Moroder and the spirituality of Medieval and Baroque music all find salvation in John Maus.

John Maus’ debut album proper entitled ‘Songs’ was released in 2006. It was a record permeated with aching memories; a perfect testimony to lost romance and longing. It’s awe-inspired follow-up ‘Love Is Real’ (released on UTR, 2007) proved a more cohesive listen in terms of focus and emotional depth. Maus finally returned last year to the heavy snows of the Midwest to finish album number three, ‘We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves’, set for release this June.

This is the artwork for free track Quantum Leap which also appears on iTunes.

‘We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves’ breaks new ground for Maus. The shirt pulling and air punching of his impassioned live performance is finally captured in all its frenzied appeal alongside a tender inner space. ‘Pitiless Censors’ looks towards the future in all its absurdity. It’s a record where promise takes the lead for the first time, providing a counterpoint to John’s default existential calling. This is perhaps best shown with new track ‘Quantum Leap’ available through the link above and via iTunes as of now. ‘Quantum Leap’, a song full of dead zones, glancing slaps and oscillating solos. “Heart to heart, mind to mind, we are the ones who seem to travel through time,” intones Maus resolutely through the mist. John’s lyrics are as likely to touch upon themes of Cronenberg gore just as much as the musings of Jacques Rancière. It’s this no-brow approach that makes things interesting, casting Maus as a savant and allowing his music to startle us in ways whereby we open up to the unimaginable.

If that's wet your interest here's a list of John's impending live performances too at SXSW and throughout darkest Europe.

Check out info on this album and John Maus' LIVE Schedule:http://upsettherhythm.blogspot.com/2011/03/john-maus-we-must-become-pitiless.html