UKNW SOUNDS : MODERAT (Germany)
If you are already attracted to the style of Kalkbrenner, which like the origins of electro, assumes a minimal amount of techno, then there are other aspects of this genre, less popular, which steers electro in a way more subtle and refined. Shortly after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the electro glitch variant emerged in Berlin in the 90s by placing the aesthetics of failure as a standard. Several effects reflect the chaotic musicality: abused sounds, digital distortion, the sound equipment, vinyl hiss … Some of the followers did not wait. Amongst them, two artists stand out, Apparat with his ambient electro and Modeselektor with his hip-hop and electro house tones.
After many productions, the two princes of the Berlin bass music concocted the worthy collaboration Moderat which brings their own style to the table. A stlye of music with passion and free from all pretention. The bittersweet shade and border between Apparat’s slightly murky pulsations and Modeselektor’s vibrant enthusiasm, brings a delightful meeting of the delicate electronics of a sincere pop and a good omen.
The verse of their first single “Bad Kingdom” taken from their second album II has the blues downtempo vibe of Australian Chet Faker. The graphic-musical assortment by the group Pfadfinderei clinches our eyeballs in a black and white pop-art vision and tells the story of a young Brit caught in a greedy and corrupt underworld. The beautiful aesthetics of the “Black Hole” video with a Charles Burns style, represents the grotesque mutations of teenagers in an otherwise decrepit canvas of a Liechtenstein perdition. The rest of their sound work is neither more nor less than lunar base and the chips scattered (see Versions, Gita) and orbiting the throbbing Milk, which lasts 10 minutes, persuade us of the best and the worst, between milky flows and seismic arrangements.
Well established, these fierce Berliners encourage us to face our eternal convulsions with a hyperactive fury that could make us dance or burst into tears. We hope that these convulsions are not short lived!
Julien Catala