Endorphin Bath & Todd E. Jones presents... 
MOMUS
Live At Mercury Lounge, NYC
On Nov. 6, 1998
Review by Todd E. Jones
I arrived at The Mercury Lounge around 9 o'clock after a long traffic filled drive from Edison, New Jersey. I was a little shocked to see that the name "MOMUS" was not on the blackboard which the post in front of the door. I asked the bouncer, "What time does Momus go on?"
    He replied, "Who's this Momus guy everybody is asking me about?"
    I did see a poster of his new album "The Little Red School Book" on the door with the date "November 6th" written in marker. I went to get something to eat with a slight fear that the show was canceled. On the street, I saw a tall, skinny man with an eye patch talking to two Japanese woman. I immediately thought to myself, "Ah! He IS playing!". He went off on his own and left the two woman to walk back to The Mercury Lounge. I walked up to one of the beautiful Japanese women and asked if Momus was playing. I told her that I did not see his name on the blackboard and the bouncers did not know who he was. With a strange look and a cute voice, she said, "Yes. He's playing." Once inside, we had to sit through a couple of bands since it was the CMJ music festival. Even though they stamped our hands, we were not allowed to leave. So there was nothing to do but talk and try to enjoy the music. Papa Fritas a nerdy rock band that kept a steady beat... Nothing special in my ears. Many people were there to see Komeda. They sounded like a cross between a weak Stereolab, Lush, Elastica mixed in with the cuteness of Blast Off County Style... Once again, nothing special to my ears...  The person I was with sat down on the floor near the back exit. Some bouncer thought we were smoking pot but we were not...  I was mearly sipping my drink with a straw as I sat next to the woman I came with. There was a tall and extremely skinny man standing alone across from us. I did not hear him say a word to anybody.
    Maybe, I was eager to see the person I came to see... Momus! Once, he was just a song writer on a creation compilation who sounded like a homosexual. Now, he's a perverted pop legend who has a cool underground cult status. Though he was suppose to come on at 11:30, he came on at Midnight. Kahimi Karie was suppose to go on after him but the news came... They were going on together!!!
    So, I got a nice seat at table where I could get a good look at everything on the stage. It was late and I wanted the damn' show to begin already!!! Suddenly, the tall man who was standing across from us came on stage and started speaking in a thick french accent. He said, "This is a song about my fish. We put it in the pool. Fed it meat and it grew to be big and strong. Then it ate my father. True story." He pressed a button and the synthesizer program played a weak electro beat and he sung his two songs in French. The woman I came with whispered sarcastically in my ear, "He's rocking." I did like his early T21 simple music style mixed with the humor of Jarvis and Momus but only... French. He wore black jeans and a thin grey jacket which he buttoned all the way to the top. His name was Gilles Weinzaepflen. 
    Kahimi Karie and Momus walked out on stage. Gilles stayed on stage too. He took his jacket off and just wore a black t-shirt with a small electronic organ on it. Gilles played a Korg organ on the right side. Momus played his Korg organ on the left while the elegant and gorgeous Kahimi Karie, whose on the label called Minty Fresh, sat on a stool in the middle. She was so cute with her black skirt and her extremly sexy legs. She's the kind of woman who never even has to try to be sexy.. She has natural sexyness. Though she was Japanese, she sung many songs in French. Momus helped out on the vocals. Of the Momus songs, they did together : A wonderful version of "Lolitapop Dollhouse" off of the Momus album titled "Ping Pong".  I did not like the song that much when I first heard it but the live version made me fall in love with it. It was wonderful. During a synthesizer solo, Gilles walked up to Kahimi to see if she wanted to play some of the keyboard and she unplugged it! Towards the end, Momus handed the microphone out to one of the audience members (who he probably knew) and the person sang a couple of lines. In French, she sung "The Symphonies Of Beethoven" with Momus backing her up. Someone shouted, "You're beautiful!" and she replied in the cutest voice, "Thank you." She did another song in French that translated in English : "What Do You Tell Your Lover Before You Go To Sleep?". Then, Momus asked her, "What do you tell your lover before you go to sleep?". She replied in her cute voice, "I tell him to turn off the light." She's so cute! Momus said, "They're practical people, the Japanese." The highlight of the show was the song they did together called "I Am A Kitten" which is from Momus' "20 Vodka Jellies" and from a Kahimi Karie album too. It was the highlight of the entire show. Momus and Kahimi went back and forth as he played the guitar. It was brilliant! The woman I came with thought it was the best part of the entire show. From "I am a kitteness", sings Momus... At the end of the song, he sings, "We're both kittens" over a jazzy guitar riff. I don't own (nor have I heard) the Kahimi Karie version. If they sing it together, like they did at the concert, it would be wonderful!
    When Kahimi Karie and Gilles walked off stage, Momus stayed. The woman I came with asked me, "It's just going to be him now?" I saw Kahimi sitting down on the floor and smoking cigarettes while Momus played alone. Gillies did the same. Perhaps, he was wondering about his fish...
    Momus started his own part of the show with "The Hotel Marque De Sade" off of the very old EP titled "The Beast With Three Backs" and the compilation called "Monsters Of Love". This live version which was well done, I must say. It was just him and a rather large guitar. It was a nice change in mood... serious, a little morbid, still perverse.
There he was, all alone, playing his guitar and singing his heart out. I wish he played more of his older songs like "The Rape Of Lucretia" and "The Spy On The Moon" but no luck.
    He said, "These songs are from my new album called 'The Little Red School Book' which is in the style of Analog Baroque inspired by Gilles. Momus describes: "Baroque was the last purely European style. "Musically it's defined by its adoption of the tonal rather than modal, which means that melodically it's usually quite simple, with a bassline and a single melody. The instrumentation is strident and relatively vulgar, the themes often secular. Monteverdi is perhaps the greatest baroque composer." I have the new album and I enjoy it. Unfortunately, most of it does sound the same and he should of mixed up the songs more. Gilles did help him out on stage with some of the songs. The highlights of this part was when he did "I Was Born To Be Adored By Women" where Momus and Gillies turned their backs to the audience during the instrumental parts and ran their arms down their own bodies to make it look like there were two skinny white boys making out with two other people. It was funny. Odd, but funny. Most of the music was canned, programmed already. Nick just had to press a button and the song began and finished just like on the album. There was no improvisation... oh well.
    During "MC Escher", Gilles walked out on stage and started to dance and do the hand gestures of a rapper. He did it really feminine and snobby to add to the humor. It was funny.  It goes with the song lyrics: "MC Escher, the impossible rapper, Ain't nobody, does it better!" It was funny but was it racist? You decide. Since it is a rap song, maybe he should of had someone to kick some freestyle rhymes over the beat... I would of done it. (And I would of done a damn' good job too!). This rap song, in analog baroque style, was the only real song that got the crowd dancing. A woman next to me (not the woman I came with) started dancing like one of those people in the Saturday Night Live skit called "Sprokets".
    During the song "Old Friend, New Flame", Gilles and Momus did Medieval dancing during the instrumental parts. It was quite funny and somewhat retarded looking. Other songs he did were "Tragedy and Farce", "Who Really Is Mr. Jones?", "Coming In A Girl's Mouth" Unfortunately, when he did the song "Harry K-tel", the woman I came with seriously wanted to leave.  It was two in the morning and I had to go be at work at nine the next morning.  We left while Nick Currie was up on stage wearing his eye patch, a white button down shirt, and badge pants, singing "I hate your famous guts..." Out of all of the songs on his new album, "Harry K-Tel" is the worst in my opinion. 
    Overall, I did have a good time. I like Momus as an artist and I think he definitely puts on the most unique show around. The woman I came with thought the whole lot of them were a bunch of freaks except for Kahimi Karie. I did like the show. It would have been perfect if Momus mixed the songs up a bit and bounced from songs from his new album to "Ping Pong" to "Circus Maximus" to "The Ultraconformist" to "The Voyager". Who knows, if I was stoned off my ass, I may have been less picky. I did leave early so I did miss some songs. A woman I was talking to in the audience (who danced like one of the Sprokets on Saturday Night Live to "MC Escher") told me that he played "The Complete History Of Sexual Jealousy" in his last concert at The Fez. That would have been cool to hear.  I enjoyed myself at the show. I had a good time. Momus is not for everybody. He's unknown to many and thought of as a God to others. He's even hated by some people too. One thing for sure : Momus is like nothing else you'll ever see in your life. Everyone was a bunch of freaks! It was great! If you're in the mood for a weird experience mixed with some perversion and electronic programmed pop music, get to a Momus show and you won't be unsatisfied.  Is he too clever for his own good? Momus, the impossible pop star, "Ain't no body does better"
-Todd E. Jones
 toddejones@yahoo.com
Check out an INTERVIEW I did with MOMUS for Creation Records.com
MOMUS INTERVIEW by Todd E. Jones April 2003
or check out the MIRROR SITE for the Interview if the above link does not work.
If you click on the pictures of Momus, you will float away to his official website.
The same goes for the lovely Kahimi Karie.

Endorphin Bath

  Poetry by Todd Jones

The Official CLOSE LOBSTERS Web Site

The Official TRISOMIE 21 (T21)  Web Site