Jan St. Werner

Jan St. Werner gained recognition primarily through his role in the forward-thinking German electronic pair Mouse on Mars, yet he simultaneously developed independent projects under the Lithops alias and his personal moniker. Whereas the duo typically fused absurdist wit with abstract yet rhythmic grooves suited to dancing, his individual output leaned toward greater sonic experimentation. Not long after Mouse on Mars issued its debut album in 1994, Werner joined Oval’s Markus Popp to form Microstoria and explore glitch-driven, minimalist ambient textures. He simultaneously launched solo material as Lithops; while the earliest efforts echoed Mouse on Mars, the 2003 release Scrypt adopted a noticeably harsher and more demanding approach. Throughout the 2010s he launched the ongoing Fiepblatter series, encompassing the ambitious, quasi-operatic Miscontinuum Album of 2015 and the raw intensity of 2017’s Spectric Acid. Early-2020s collaborations followed with Mark E. Smith on 2020’s Molocular Meditation and with Kid Millions on 2021’s Imperium Droop.

Born Jan Stephan Werner in Nuremberg in 1969, he had already completed the 1992 album Slow alongside F.X. Randomiz and issued two limited-edition cassettes before Mouse on Mars appeared in 1994. Mid-decade he began issuing singles and the full-lengths Uni Umit and Didot as Lithops, roughly coinciding with the Microstoria partnership. Even while Mouse on Mars maintained activity and Von Südenfed emerged from their link to the Fall’s Mark E. Smith, Lithops maintained consistent productivity through the 2000s with Scrypt, the two-part Mound Magnet, and the compilations Queries and Ye Viols!. During that same decade Werner also served as artistic director of Amsterdam’s Institute for Electronic Music.

Blaze Colour Burn inaugurated the Fiepblatter series on Thrill Jockey in 2013. Later that year the second installment, the cassette-only Transcendental Animal Numbers, employed abrupt dynamic and frequency changes to evoke the unpredictable, organic character of field recordings. Infinite Greyscale issued the limited 10-inch “Split Animal Sculpture” in 2014. The following year Miscontinuum Album appeared, featuring musicians from Earth, Oval, and Bo Ningen; the piece had already been staged as opera and radio play during the preceding four years. Felder, the fourth Fiepblatter volume, arrived in 2016 and was conceived for open-ended public installation. Spectric Acid, the fifth entry, delivered a forceful impact in 2017. Glottal Wolpertinger, assembled from microtonally tuned feedback compositions, surfaced in 2019. Editions Mego released Molocular Meditation in 2020, a work rooted in a 2014 multi-channel composition and incorporating Mark E. Smith’s voice. Imperium Droop, a joint effort with Oneida’s Kid Millions, followed in 2021.