It’s not hyperbole to say that Modeselektor are among our favorite artists on Earth. Not only are they top tier producers, but their live show is bananas — drippy, sweaty, grimy Euro-crunk for your bass junkie ass. Last summer they went on tour with Ellen Allien and we went off about how great they were, and we posted their remix of Apparat’s “Hold On” as evidence. Well, you may wanna hold on (rimshot!) as they’ve just announced they’ve formed a most unholy union with Apparat, and dubbed it Moderat. We are most intrigued. And frightened.

Apparently in 2002 they recorded an EP together, but it was so costly on their relathionship they dubbed the EP At The Cost Of Health. So they split up acrimoniously and recorded their own respective albums — Modeselektor’s great Hello Mom! and Apparat’s Orchestra of Bubbles with Ellen Allien. Years passed, and they both put out second LPs (Modeselektor’s breakthrough Happy Birthday! and Apparat’s Walls). Modeselektor went on to tour Japan with Radiohead and slay last year’s Coachella, while Apparat did OK for himself as well. Somewhere in there, Modeselektor did that most evilest Apparat remix, although from the press release it makes it sound like this was done without meeting.

Then, a chance re-encounter involving women of low moral fibre, children, a public swimming pool and verbal abuse brought them back together…and…well, read the full press release after the Jump — this one’s actually worth reading.

Below is a medley of tracks from the upcoming self-titled album on Bpitch Control, prepare for its deliverance on April 20th.

BPC200_MODERAT_MEDLEY.mp3

A full press release, tour dates & tracklisting after the Jump!

Moderat’s formation began back in 2002 when Sascha Ring (aka Apparat) and Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary (aka Modeselektor) recorded an EP for the record label BPitch Control. The making of this release was incredibly exhausting for the three of them, and at the last minute they renamed the EP “Auf Kosten der Gesundheit” (which translates to “At The Cost Of Health”). When it came time to begin working on an album, Moderat suddenly broke up.

A short time later both Modeselektor and Apparat simultaneously worked on their own full-length albums — Modeselektor’s debut, Hello Mom!, and Apparat’s collaboration with Ellen Allien, Orchestra of Bubbles. Each went on to become successful releases and were followed by two career-defining albums for the individual acts. Additionally, since their debut releases, both acts have performed over 1,000 shows at nearly every point of the globe.

Modeselektor’s sophomore album in 2007, Happy Birthday!, set a milestone in German music history including musicians such as Puppetmastaz, Maximo Park and Thom Yorke. Amongst a slew of remixes for the likes of Thom Yorke and Björk, Modeslektor also went on to tour with Radiohead across Japan in 2008.

Apparat, on the other hand, moved forward with his album Walls in 2007, taking a musical path that was more band-oriented and kept him on tour for several years running.
It was a twist of fate that brought about Modeselektor and Apparat’s reunion in the spring of 2008. Szary and Bronsert, both proud fathers, were on their way to the “Stadtbad Mitte” (Berlin-Mitte City Pool) with their children for their regular Monday swimming lessons when they ran into Ring, a devout bachelor who happened to be accompanied by several dubious females. After a battering of verbal abuse, the three gentlemen quickly made peace and decided to get back to work on their collaborative album post haste. Thus, Moderat was reformed.

In recording Moderat’s self-titled album, the three men began by renting studio space at the legendary Berlin Hansa Studios (where Bowie recorded Heroes) in order to record the album in analog with the help of the studio’s vintage tube technology and an old EMI console from 1972, restored especially for Moderat. American software designer, Joshua Kit Clayton, was hired to program a superb reverb algorithm specifically for the recording process of this album. This exquisite sound design is one of the reasons why the promotional copies can be listened to only in mono. Finished copies will, of course, be in full stereo.
Additionally, during the first phases of recording the Moderat , Szary and Bronsert bought an EMT Model 140 Plate Reverb on an Internet auction and had to travel to Los Angeles to pick it up. While there, they met the Californian rapper Busdriver and the groundwork for “BeatsWaySick” was laid. Moderat continued to work on this with Busdriver from their respective continents. Unfortunately due to legal issues at the time of manufacturing, this track will be released as an exclusive download in the near future.

Back in the studio, the Berlin vocalist Dellé (aka Eased) from leading German act Seeed found himself in Moderat’s studio room while on a quest to find a bottle opener. There on the spot, the three gents of Moderat finally waved good-bye to the concept of a mere instrumental album and said hello to vocal recordings and the song “Sick With It”. Coincidentally, they found older vocal recordings of Paul St. Hilaire that had been recorded by Szary and Bronsert way back on low-noise 1/4″ analog tape. Those recordings are what led to “Slow Match”. All this encouraged Szary and Bronsert to convince Ring it was time for him to contribute vocals, which can be heard on “Rusty Nails” and “Out Of Sight”. “Rusty Nails” is the first single, which will feature remixes by Shackleton and Booka Shade.

The self-titled album Moderat will also be available as a limited edition DVD produced by the Berlin based artist collective Pfadfinderei. The DVD will feature music videos and more exclusive content. Pfadfinderei will also contribute visuals to all Moderat live shows.
Tracklisting:
01. “A New Error”
02. “Rusty Nails”
03. “Seamonkey”
04. “Slow Match” (feat. Paul St. Hilaire)
05. “3 Minutes Of”
06. “Nasty Silence”
07. “Sick With It” (feat. Dellé aka Eased from Seeed)
08. “Porc # 1”
09. “Porc # 2”
10. “No. 22”
11. “Out Of Sight”

MODERAT on TOUR:
30.04.2009 /  DE / Leipzig / Conne Island
01.05.2009 /  ES / Gijon / L.E.V. Festival
02.05.2009 /  BE / Hasselt / Polsslag Festival
02.05.2009 /  AT / Krems / Donaufestival
08.05.2009 /  IT / Rome / Dissonanze Festival
14.05.2009 /  DE / Berlin / WMF
15.05.2009 /  UK / London / Roundhouse
19.05.2009 /  US / Seattle / Neumos
20.05.2009 /  US / San Francisco / Harriet
21.05.2009 /  MX / Mexico  / Electrovisiones
22.05.2009 /  US / Los Angeles / Paramount Lot
23.05.2009 /  US / Denver / Beta
28.05.2009 /  CA / Montreal / Mutek
29.05.2009 /  CA / Toronto / Circa
30.05.2009 /  US / New York / Webster Hall

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