Aphex TwinModerat is the two gents behind Modeselektor (Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary) plus the guy behind Apparat (Sascha Ring). These three fellows all produce electronic music in Berlin, so either collaborations or dis tracks are pretty much mandatory.
The first four tracks lull you into a false security that the whole album will feature glitchy Burial-like beats, but this is not so.
The first track, A New Error, starts off with a simple loop of a broken major chord that reminds me of Aphex Twin then the dub kicks in and gives this track a unique kick. It's a rather bold blending of different styles, that somehow works very well and sets the bar pretty high for the rest of the album.
The next track, Rusty Nails, sounds very typical of a Modeselektor track (or Burial, practically the same sound nowadays). This track features the Thom Yorke/Chris Martin-esk vocal stylings of Mr. Apparat himself. This track typifies everything I love in a Modeselektor remix, that delicate blend of upbeat and melancholy. It's like a rainy Saturday morning, there's some sort of comfort in the dreariness.
Seamonkey reminds me of Amon Tobin.
Slow Match features lightening fast vocals of Caribbean rapper Paul St. Hilaire, which works surprisingly well with the glibeant (ambitch?) beat.
The next two tracks, 3 Minutes Of and Nasty Silence, slow things down with low-key ambiance that reminds me of Tim Hecker with a bit of techno thrown in.
I love Sick With It for some inexplicable reason, but it does not sound like it belongs on this album at all. Being placed in the middle of the album makes it stand out even more. I don't know why I like this song so much. I usually detest Reggae-rap style of singing, and the beat is rather clunky, like an old car sputtering along. I'll be damned if I don't nod my head to it though.
The next two tracks, Porc#1 and Porc#2, are bouncy post-rock mixes that blend nicely into each other, except for the tail-end of Porc#2 which turns into some dub-like creature.
Les Grandes Marches is probably the weakest track on the album. It sounds like the instrumental version of a T.A.T.U song. It could be worse, of course. The freshness of the other tracks make this song seem worse than it actually is. Maybe it will grow on me with time.
Berlin is a nice little palate cleanser.
Nr. 22 is another song that uses a simple beat, I believe it's a remix of
Days Go By. Yet, I'd say it's the second weakest track. Again, it just seems lackluster compared to some of the other tracks on the album.
Out Of Sight is very similar to Rusty Nails. It features the familiar skipping/glitch beat and vocals by Apparat. Between the two, I can't decide which track I like more.
The album comes to a close with BeatsWaySick. The beat really makes this track, and it's a good thing because I find the rapping to be pretty awful here. It's similar to sick with it, but less clunky and more duby. I do love the Boards of Canada-esk sample in the chorus.
I love this album so very much, but the tracks do not flow very well. Half the tracks are smooth ambient with a glitch chaser. The other half are either dub or ambient with light techno.
Delicate ambient tracks are sandwiched between remixes that probably should have been b-sides. I suppose that this might have been the sound that the artists were going for. Yet, it seems as though this album is a collection of singles instead of parts of whole. However, I suppose that the crime of having a boring, cohesive album is a greater offense than having a dynamic, disjointed album.
Here's a Pitchfork review of Moderat.
The first four tracks lull you into a false security that the whole album will feature glitchy Burial-like beats, but this is not so.
The first track, A New Error, starts off with a simple loop of a broken major chord that reminds me of Aphex Twin then the dub kicks in and gives this track a unique kick. It's a rather bold blending of different styles, that somehow works very well and sets the bar pretty high for the rest of the album.
The next track, Rusty Nails, sounds very typical of a Modeselektor track (or Burial, practically the same sound nowadays). This track features the Thom Yorke/Chris Martin-esk vocal stylings of Mr. Apparat himself. This track typifies everything I love in a Modeselektor remix, that delicate blend of upbeat and melancholy. It's like a rainy Saturday morning, there's some sort of comfort in the dreariness.
Seamonkey reminds me of Amon Tobin.
Slow Match features lightening fast vocals of Caribbean rapper Paul St. Hilaire, which works surprisingly well with the glibeant (ambitch?) beat.
The next two tracks, 3 Minutes Of and Nasty Silence, slow things down with low-key ambiance that reminds me of Tim Hecker with a bit of techno thrown in.
I love Sick With It for some inexplicable reason, but it does not sound like it belongs on this album at all. Being placed in the middle of the album makes it stand out even more. I don't know why I like this song so much. I usually detest Reggae-rap style of singing, and the beat is rather clunky, like an old car sputtering along. I'll be damned if I don't nod my head to it though.
The next two tracks, Porc#1 and Porc#2, are bouncy post-rock mixes that blend nicely into each other, except for the tail-end of Porc#2 which turns into some dub-like creature.
Les Grandes Marches is probably the weakest track on the album. It sounds like the instrumental version of a T.A.T.U song. It could be worse, of course. The freshness of the other tracks make this song seem worse than it actually is. Maybe it will grow on me with time.
Berlin is a nice little palate cleanser.
Nr. 22 is another song that uses a simple beat, I believe it's a remix of
Days Go By. Yet, I'd say it's the second weakest track. Again, it just seems lackluster compared to some of the other tracks on the album.Out Of Sight is very similar to Rusty Nails. It features the familiar skipping/glitch beat and vocals by Apparat. Between the two, I can't decide which track I like more.
The album comes to a close with BeatsWaySick. The beat really makes this track, and it's a good thing because I find the rapping to be pretty awful here. It's similar to sick with it, but less clunky and more duby. I do love the Boards of Canada-esk sample in the chorus.
I love this album so very much, but the tracks do not flow very well. Half the tracks are smooth ambient with a glitch chaser. The other half are either dub or ambient with light techno.
Delicate ambient tracks are sandwiched between remixes that probably should have been b-sides. I suppose that this might have been the sound that the artists were going for. Yet, it seems as though this album is a collection of singles instead of parts of whole. However, I suppose that the crime of having a boring, cohesive album is a greater offense than having a dynamic, disjointed album.
Here's a Pitchfork review of Moderat.
