Sudafed makes you want to lie down. Von Sudenfed makes you want to dance. AP Photo/HO/Courtesy of Domino Records/Benjamin Huseby

Word that Mark E. Smith of The Fall had teamed up with German avant-garde electricians Mouse on Mars to form Von Sudenfed caused hearts to twitter. Granted, most of those belonged to Fall fans, some of the more ravenous and easily excitable music heads out there. But the artists' stated intent piqued interest across denominational lines: The cantankerous Brit and turtlenecked Germans were going clubbing. Von Sudenfed wanted you to dance.

Mouse on Mars had demonstrated glimpses of hedonistic glee in the past. When the duo of Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma weren't producing art installation complexity, they made dance music.

The surprising thing about the new release "Tromatic Reflexxions" isn't the insistent thump driving most of the songs; that, of course, was raison d'etre behind Von Sudenfed. No, the revelation is how much better these freakish hybrid tracks are than those that supposedly play to each contributor's strengths. When Smith is left to his own accord or Mouse on Mars veer off, the songs stumble.

Thankfully, that's rarely the case. Smith, who hasn't sounded this good since he read the soccer results for BBC Sport last year, lets St. Werner and Toma steer the sound, his nasally vocals distorted beyond recognition. On "The Rhinohead," the 50-year-old's rasp gets the vocoder treatment and sounds melodic for once, while on "Serious Brainskin," Mouse on Mars douses his drawl in juiced-up dubstep.

"Tromatic Reflexxions" is a breath of fresh air for dance music. Or maybe it's just a decongestant. Either way, Von Sudenfed is that rare side project that may even better than the parts of its sum.

Check out the video for "Fledermaus Can't Get It" here.

Download free MP3s here:
"The Rhinohead"
"Flooded"

Otis Hart is an asap staff reporter based in New York.