Month: April 2016

III by Moderat

Justin Anastasio, Leave a comment

Moderat - III

Billows of dark clouds float through your translucent body, delicately kissing your insides with their coldness. The undulating masses clear from your vision, revealing a hooded figure standing at an altar of some sort. The shrine, adorned with countless bulbs, towers over you. One of the bulbs is slowly filled with indigo light, and another with aquamarine. Two more hooded figures step out from behind the altar, as the chamber steadily fills with light . . .

Collaborative projects tend to take their time arriving at an intended point of fruition, when the seams between the puzzle pieces are filled in, leaving an image that resembles a complete artistic work rather than a merging of talents. Sometimes those separate talents are more disparate than others, which results in more time being taken to achieve more rewarding results. III is the newest full-length from Berlin trio Moderat.

Consisting of Modeselektor’s Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary on instrumental duties and Sascha Ring (Apparat) on vocals, Moderat is a group that mixes their diverse strengths in stunning ways. Inhabiting the darker end of the sonic spectrum, these songs revel in atmospheric, subtly evolving, IDM-tinged electronic grooves, while Ring’s floaty, emotive singing soars over the compositions with melodic, hypnotic elegance.

Resembling a concoction of the graceful xx, the ethereally subterranean Burial, the soulful Jamie Woon, and the versatile Four Tet, III is the destination that these three artists have strived for; a fluid blend of late-night dance music and the sultry sounds of soul music. Moderat have long excelled in this endeavor, but never to this lofty extent. If you’re seeking IDM-tinged electronic soul, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)

III by Moderat

Aviary by Slackk

Justin Anastasio, Leave a comment

Slackk - Aviary

You step into a humongous room, filled with machinery with no discernible purpose. The ceiling, walls, and floor begin to hum, and the machines start to move in mystifying ways. You can’t help but stare at them, and steadily walk around the room to view each one. After some time, purple paint spews from one of the machines and forms a large blotch on the ground. Paint of every hue pours out of the frigid metal, creating an evolving canvas below you . . .

At its core, grime is a genre characterized by its sense of cavernous space, punctured by powerful, often mechanical impacts resembling monstrous machinery thrashing about in gigantic empty rooms. The melodies that do find their way into compositions tend to lean on the sparse side, and that’s precisely where this artist sets himself apart from the pack. Aviary is the newest release from London-based producer Paul Lynch as Slackk.

Lynch’s breed of grime music is startlingly unique, as it’s nimble and overflowing with fluid melodies. Present are traditional components of the genre — stomach-churning bass, fidgety rhythms accented with 808s — but they’re colored with charming palettes including flutes, horns, fluttery synths, and a fair amount of instrumentation from the Far East. It’s hard-hitting and tender in equal amounts, and captivating throughout.

In just six brief tracks Lynch disrupts the concept of grime, raising the bar to a whole new level when it comes to electronics-based songwriting. Aviary is the kind of record that perplexes, but does so in a way that keeps the listener hooked and in a constant state of awe. Initially it throws out heaps of fresh ideas, and many more are revealed with subsequent listens. If you’re seeking charming, melodic grime, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)

Aviary by Slackk