Mona Mur & En Esch

Mona Mur and En Esch have been two of the more exuberant characters in the underground music scene, carving out their own respective niches as artists on the edge, always finding ways to push the musical envelope. With 120 Tage: The Fine Art of Beauty and Violence, the two come together to create an album that is true to its title, juxtaposing sensual energies amid a brutal array of industrial soundscapes. And yet, underlying each track is a series of dark and intense melodic counterpoints that will surely put many in the mind of the era of the Weimar Republic. Indeed, the songs "Surabaya Johnny" and "Der Song von Mandelay" feature elements originally composed by Kurt Weill and Bert Brecht, two writers most closely identified with this musical style of cabaret-influenced dark pop, and the ease with which Mona Mur and En Esch translate these songs into a flurry of guttural guitars, caustic drum programming, whimsical synthesizer loops, and oppressive industrial clamor - with hints of organ and piano for good measure - without sacrificing the darkly macabre and sensuous energies of the originals is both disturbing and lovely." ILKER YÜCEL, Int. ReGen Magazin, 1/09 “ While the performance has an air of cool restraint throughout, there's also a distinct feeling of seething passions just under the surface. Mona Mur gives us a performance of Brechtian torch songs and slow-burning cabaret-influenced chansons, meticulously delivered with a chilled composure that at once establishes a distance between performer and audience, even as it entices you in. The amiable tension between the two performers - the supercool vocalist and her rock guitarist, straining at the leash to amp it all up - adds another neat bit of tension to the proceedings. The audience is held, rapt and attentive, from first song to last. “ Uncle NEMESIS UK 2008 On the CD "120 Days - The Fine Art of Beauty and Violence" Mona Mur is collaborating with EN ESCH, the striking front man and talented guitarist who once formed the basis of the german/US electro-industrial outfit KMFDM and now enjoys a cult-hero status in his larger-than-life stage persona. The accomplished multi-instrumentalist and producer has drastically transformed Mur's most intense 80s Songs into a unique blend of electronic drum loops, bass, dirty organ and wreckless feedback guitars. Live they are accompanied by drummer Johann Bley (Juno Reactor, Killing Joke, Holger Hiller).