Ice Cream Mission to Mars is the latest project of Will MacLean, previously of Variety Lights. A trip to the roadside attractions of the red planet. Recorded with a collection of vintage analog synthesizers. Synthpop, psych, glitch, ambient.

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Ice Cream Mission to Mars is the work of Will MacLean, who was previously in Variety Lights. After a few listens, I am still at somewhat of a loss as to how to describe Ice Cream Mission To Mars. The label describes the album as 'a trip to the roadside attractions of the red planet. Recorded with a collection of vintage analog synthesizers. Synthpop, psych, glitch, ambient.' This is techno, but it's not the kind that you dance to. This is glitchy and jerky with fat analogue synth lines, while at other times this is sparse synth improvisation. Some of this could well be futuristic advertising music because it is in very short chunks of music reminiscent of The Residents' 'Commercial Album.' In fact these compositions share the Residents' whimsical quality. It's a lot of fun and doesn't seem to take itself too seriously. So here's the best I can come up with: imagine that the Residents and Oval were given Front 242's drum machine, all the Moog synthesizers they could ever need, and locked in a studio and forced to collaborate on a new techno concept album about the 1950s space race as they subsisted on a diet consisting only of psychoactive mushrooms. If this sounds good (and it should), pick this one up. This album weighs in at around 24 minutes, which is pretty impressive for a disc with 10 songs that isn't punk or noise.

www.chaindlk.com/reviews/?id=8343

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A journey to Earth’s only natural satellite in a toy town rocket with Joe Meek and Delia Derbyshire by your side, this latest project by former Variety Lights man Will MacLean is as much a celebration of retro-future sounds as a sonic boom into space.

Although the likes of splendid opening number ‘Blast Off’ are full of squelching, screaming, farting analogue synths and atavistic drum machine beats, you’d be mistaken in thinking Ice Cream Mission to Mars is nothing more than an exercise in nostalgia. Other numbers, such as the title track and ‘Dr. Evermor and the Forevertron’, make full use of the sort of glitches and sonic battery one can usually expect to find on an Autechre release.

Thankfully, MacLean also has a winning way with a hook, meaning tracks such as the knowingly onomatopoeic ‘Loopteeloo’ and the positively swinging ‘Orange, Orange World’ are good fun even if you’re not a fully paid-up member of the synth anorak club. What’s more, only two tracks breach the three-minute-mark, meaning that even the more atonal numbers like ‘Planet Flipside’ and ‘BrickStix’ don’t outstay their welcome. Best of the bunch is the closing ‘Sleeping Dream Monsters’, a gorgeous ambient lullaby on which splashing synths and gently pattering beats rock you all the way back to Earth and into bed.

It won’t be to everyone’s taste, of course, but if you’re the kind of person who thrills to the sheer oddness of early 70s Doctor Who soundtracks (which I am), then Ice Cream Mission to Mars is a record you’ll want to take a trip with.

Rich Morris
soundblab.com/reviews/albums/5549-ice-cream-mission-to-mars-ice-cream-mission-to-mars

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Anyone who’s heard former Mercury Rev frontman Dave Barker’s new project Variety Lights would have been surprised, one might imagine, by the switch between the ethereal material on Deserter’s Sons and the harsh, though fascinating rhythms on debut Central Flow.
A similar leap of faith occurs as the six degrees of separation is stretched to its limits for Will Maclean’s project – having collaborated with Barker on the Variety Lights debut, this does indeed reek of that project’s vintage synths, with its analogue squelches. The lack of vocals (save the odd sinister processed whisper) mean that Variety Lights decided Pere Ubu feel (the two toured) doesn’t come across. Its more about a curious mix of simple melodies, almost chipcore, and oddball sound effects, lying between the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and ancient synthpop – The Normal’s sparse dentist drill sounds, mixed with Delia Derbyshire’s signal gegerators, Cabaret Voltaire’s sinister early material meeting DAF’s pulsating basic rhythms and Throbbing Gristle’s penchant for odd noises.
It’s a bit of a listen on headphones by the way, with rushing noises flitting in disorienting fashion between the stereo channels – but that somehow fits in perfectly with the overall feel, one for the braver souls venturing towards the boundaries of popular sound.

Bernhard Bessing
www.isthismusic.com/ice-cream-mission-to-mars

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Matisse meets Malevich.

luxotone.com/ice-cream-mission-to-mars/

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Will MacLean impressed a lot of folks (including us) with his last band/project Variety Lights. This time he delivers what might best be described as a curve ball with the release of Ice Cream Mission To Mars. These tracks were recorded using vintage analog synthesizers. As such, the sound is strangely reminiscent of decades past when electronics hadn't advanced to the stage they're at now. We used to hear more artists delving into this territory but over the past few years that initial surge seems to have declined. Because so few folks are treading in this terrain this album will immediately stand out in the minds of listeners. This disc is short, clocking in at just over twenty-four minutes. Ten ultimately creative and inspired tracks with all the blips, bloops, thumps, and clicks that only vintage equipment can provide. Clever and cool stuff from start to finish. Our favorite tracks include "Blast Off!", "Loopteeloo," "Dr. Evermor and the Forevertron," "Sci Fi Cafe," and "Sleeping Dream Monsters."

Babysue
www.babysue.com/2013-Oct-LMNOP-Reviews.html#anchor165923

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Fans of experimental electronics and vintage synths will want to put Will MacLean‘s newest project Ice Cream Mission To Mars on their radar. MacLean had previously been working with David Baker (Mercury Rev, Shady) in the band Variety Lights, but Ice Cream Mission To Mars is currently the primary effort for the Chicago-based musician. A quick visit to MacLean’s website reveals the artist’s continuing interest in old school analogue synthesizers, with some very cool pictures of his Rev 2 P5, Minimoog, and OB-8 on display, and everything about ICMTM’s upcoming, self-titled release buzzes and hums with that thick, vintage ambience. Possibly more beat driven than his work with Variety Lights, Ice Cream Mission To Mars conjures up memories of early 8-bit video gaming and even the golden days of techno. “Blast Off!” will surely induce flashbacks of hiding out at the arcade in the strip mall, when adrenaline and sugar were still your only drugs of choice. Put a quarter in the machine, and the rush begins to an ominous and throbbing bass line, before launching you headlong on your maddening Dark Star quest. Look for Ice Cream Mission To Mars to come out on CD and as a digital download on November 20th via Toy Moon Records.

www.liveeyetv.org/2013/10/15/listen-now-ice-cream-mission-mars-blast-off/
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