Modeselektor Modeselektion Vol. 1
After two hotly tipped albums wedged into the grimy alley between dubstep and IDM, German […]
After two hotly tipped albums wedged into the grimy alley between dubstep and IDM, German duo Modeselektor emerged in a collaborative mode, teaming up with Apparat, touring with Radiohead, and remixing everyone from Ninjaman to Björk. Now Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary are taking a curatorial turn with Modeselektion Vol. 1, a compilation that delves deep into dubstep’s offspring and relatives, finding common threads across Europe and the States and uniting them through hard-edged glitch, savage edits, and an excess of bass.
Released on Modeselektor’s own label, Monkeytown, Modeselektion dodges the “one-label” or “artists we personally know” restrictions that often result in sound-alike comps, and ties together established names like Apparat and Tadd Mullinix with newer artists (Ikonika, SBTRKT), all of whom display their own creative takes on dark, twisted dubstep. 2562 offers a loopy thumper calling back to the earliest days of the hip-hop/house merger, eLan throws a glammy party that sounds like electroclash at quarter speed, and Housemeister’s “Kristall” backgrounds some spoken philosophy on the divine with shimmering keys, all enough to make you forget the sole misfire, Ramadanman’s droning “Pitter.”
True to their “more is more” philosophy, Modeselektor went utterly berserk in this first volume, presenting a 77-minute disc plus digital bonus tracks, videos, 12″s, and an LP limited to 666 copies. That’s your cue to get into a dubsteppy stomp and throw up the devil horns as Gernot and Sebastian intended.