It turns out that the rest of Hello Mom!, Modeselektor's 2005 debut, is just as intriguing as the track we first heard. Though it starts out with some weaker, more typical techno dance grooves, the album takes a turn toward the more bombastic with a creative splurge at around track seven. Sampling anything from human breathing to baah-ing sheep, Modeselektor manages to produce some incredible beats with impeccable technical ability. "Earth (UPS Edit)" is a perfect example of such a beat. Other tracks, like the synth-washed "In Loving Memory" and the breathbeat of "My Anthem," show a more mellow end of the range of emotions on the album and are just as beautiful to the ears. "Hasir" throws some arabic influences into the mix, "I Love You" adds some shimmering Studio-esque tropicalia, and "Dancing Box" does the same to French rapper TTC that "Silikon" does to Sasha, creating breakbeats from his fragmented speech. All show off the diversity and originality in Modeselektor's music and vouch for the necessity of this album in any techno junkie's collection.
Showing posts with label techno. Show all posts
Showing posts with label techno. Show all posts
Monday, June 8, 2009
Hello Mom!
While cruising the streets of Miami, my friends and I stumbled across a remarkable little track by Modeselektor being broadcast from UM's equivalent to our BSR. The song, "Silikon," completely dissects and rearranges the hip hop vocal performance of guest Sasha Pereira, and the result was so interesting that I had to get at the whole album.
It turns out that the rest of Hello Mom!, Modeselektor's 2005 debut, is just as intriguing as the track we first heard. Though it starts out with some weaker, more typical techno dance grooves, the album takes a turn toward the more bombastic with a creative splurge at around track seven. Sampling anything from human breathing to baah-ing sheep, Modeselektor manages to produce some incredible beats with impeccable technical ability. "Earth (UPS Edit)" is a perfect example of such a beat. Other tracks, like the synth-washed "In Loving Memory" and the breathbeat of "My Anthem," show a more mellow end of the range of emotions on the album and are just as beautiful to the ears. "Hasir" throws some arabic influences into the mix, "I Love You" adds some shimmering Studio-esque tropicalia, and "Dancing Box" does the same to French rapper TTC that "Silikon" does to Sasha, creating breakbeats from his fragmented speech. All show off the diversity and originality in Modeselektor's music and vouch for the necessity of this album in any techno junkie's collection.
It turns out that the rest of Hello Mom!, Modeselektor's 2005 debut, is just as intriguing as the track we first heard. Though it starts out with some weaker, more typical techno dance grooves, the album takes a turn toward the more bombastic with a creative splurge at around track seven. Sampling anything from human breathing to baah-ing sheep, Modeselektor manages to produce some incredible beats with impeccable technical ability. "Earth (UPS Edit)" is a perfect example of such a beat. Other tracks, like the synth-washed "In Loving Memory" and the breathbeat of "My Anthem," show a more mellow end of the range of emotions on the album and are just as beautiful to the ears. "Hasir" throws some arabic influences into the mix, "I Love You" adds some shimmering Studio-esque tropicalia, and "Dancing Box" does the same to French rapper TTC that "Silikon" does to Sasha, creating breakbeats from his fragmented speech. All show off the diversity and originality in Modeselektor's music and vouch for the necessity of this album in any techno junkie's collection.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Yesterday And Today
Another great act from Sweden, The Field, also has a new record on the way. Yesterday And Today, the follow-up to 2007's epic From Here We Go Sublime, will be released on May 26th.
Like its predecessor, Yesterday And Today is about an hour's worth of minimalist ambient techno split amongst a few lengthy tracks, though here there are fewer and they're even longer (with the closer, "Sequenced," clocking in at over 15 minutes.) The new album, though continuing in the same vein, offers an interesting new twist on producer Axel Willner's one-trick formula. You can still expect the same vast, expansive sound that characterized the icy chill of the debut, but it's gotten slightly warmer over the 2-year gap between releases. This is probably due to the increased use of human vocal samples, something which Willner has been incorporating more and more into his live shows of late. These are especially evident on the preview track, "The More That I Do," and on "Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime," which borderlines on having vocals and lyrics (gasp!) Though most of the tracks contain the repetitive elements on which the ambient techno genre thrives, Yesterday And Today has a significantly greater dynamic range than From Here We Go Sublime. More electronic effects, layering, and use of different samples push the music in new directions, offering a lot of subtle yet exciting twists and turns that make the album especially enjoyable. However, I wouldn't say the sound is more refined: Yesterday And Today is more like a bolder, more adventurous sibling to the 2007 release rather than an evolutionary step forward (something also reflected in the album art, which is almost exactly the same for both discs.)
Like its predecessor, Yesterday And Today is about an hour's worth of minimalist ambient techno split amongst a few lengthy tracks, though here there are fewer and they're even longer (with the closer, "Sequenced," clocking in at over 15 minutes.) The new album, though continuing in the same vein, offers an interesting new twist on producer Axel Willner's one-trick formula. You can still expect the same vast, expansive sound that characterized the icy chill of the debut, but it's gotten slightly warmer over the 2-year gap between releases. This is probably due to the increased use of human vocal samples, something which Willner has been incorporating more and more into his live shows of late. These are especially evident on the preview track, "The More That I Do," and on "Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime," which borderlines on having vocals and lyrics (gasp!) Though most of the tracks contain the repetitive elements on which the ambient techno genre thrives, Yesterday And Today has a significantly greater dynamic range than From Here We Go Sublime. More electronic effects, layering, and use of different samples push the music in new directions, offering a lot of subtle yet exciting twists and turns that make the album especially enjoyable. However, I wouldn't say the sound is more refined: Yesterday And Today is more like a bolder, more adventurous sibling to the 2007 release rather than an evolutionary step forward (something also reflected in the album art, which is almost exactly the same for both discs.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
