Moderat : The Perfect Marriage

Moderat is the love child between Sascha Ring (aka Apparat) and Gernot Bronsert and Sabastian Szary (aka Modeselektor). I discovered Apparat a few years ago and last year was exposed to Modeselektor when hearing their track with Radiohead front man Thom Yorke. That one track alone got me on a Modeselektor binge that force me to buy every album and EP I could get my hands on. You can only guess how excited I was when finding this gem of a album.
Back to the history: after recording their first EP for BPitch Control records in 2002, they broke up and went their separate ways. In the next 6 six years both groups would release multiple albums and countless EPs. In 2008 they back together to start recording their first full length album, “Moderat”, which released on April 20, 2009. A lot had changed but their fondness of dark, dirty, grimy electronic music had not changed.
I was not disappointed by what I heard. I know it sounds corny that the album would sound like a mix between the two artists but that is exactly what “Moderat” is. If you take the auditory sound-scapes of Apparat and mix in the brutally rough and chopped beats of Modeselektor, you have the mixings of great new band. Sprinkle in guest Vocalist and MC’s on selected tracks and now you have a true cross-over album marketable to the great unwashed. Don’t be surprised if you start hearing them in the media around you.

Astronautalis

I downloaded his 06' "The Mighty Ocean and 9 Dark Theatres" last night and have been listening to it all day. I am three years behind on this one but better late then never. Some compare Andy Bothwell to The Stone Throw's artist Why. He is part Hip Hop and definitely part experimental. He is way intriguing non the less and I can't wait to download more.

Pretty Light May 14th

I only have a few minutes to get this up for all of you. Unfortunately the internet in the smith household is down until Tuesday. There is an amazing show coming up on Thursday the 14th at the Masquerade.

I got introduced to Pretty Lights from a friend of a friend and have been listening to their albums now for a constant two weeks. Check out their website for free downloads. I am going back to give a dontation, I promise!

Some audio to preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62VASkbu1gw

Diplo Sleepwalks his way at Lenny's

Let me first start this off by saying that I love Diplo. The dude has some unbelievable spining skills. His ear for new music is hardly matched in the Dj Scene. But Last night both my girlfriend (seen him 2X in the last year) and I (seen him 1X in the last year) walked away disappointed. I have to admit the fist seven or eight songs were in a mix that I have never heard. Then he started pulling out "standards." Yes, the aragement of songs was really good when we heard them at Whirley Ball. Then again at The Masquerade. When I heard those same mixes again Lenny's I was literally calling the next song because I have heard the so many times before. One of them was going back as far as 06 in December when I saw him spin the Outkast Bombs over Baghdad to Le Tigre (From the Fabric Live). Toward the end of his set he stopped trying all together just cutting from one track to another. I am dissapointed because I know he can do better. The dude puts out quality podcasts on a weekly basis. Last week I found two unbelievable mixtapes with all new songs and mixes. With all this, why does he have to revert to spinning the same music live for year straight?

The Tape vs RQM

First and foremost, happy May everybody. The weather is finally starting to get toasty in Atlanta. The showers are coming and turning this dead and brown city green again.

I discovered a new band to start the month off on the right note. I found the Tape vs RQM in the electro section of emusic. They feel into the electro/hip category because there is a sick MC who appears on the tracks. The rest of the tracks range from Aphex Twins inspired R&B to female Electronic ballads. They best describe the act off their website:

"Originally entitled Black and Bruised: The Mixtape For Suicidal Lovers, Public Transport is deep blue on the sound spectrum. Like the previous The Tape vs RQM efforts it remains a subtle genre bender. The compositions swim fluidly between acoustic and electronic, between Hip Hop, Neo-Folk, and the endless shades of Rock, while a universe of IDM stutters, clicks, glitches, and rewinds forms the space for the heartbroken confessions of the featured vocalists. Back on vocalduty alongside RQM are the familiar voices of Malte Beckenbach and Sasha Perera of Jahcoozi, but also new timbres, that of Elle P and Ira. The emotional depth and the honesty found on this record is a rare occurrence in music these days."

Also check out their website for what looks to be a free sick mixtape. Downloading it will be on of the first things I do when I get home.

THE TAPE - MIXTAPE PART III - http://www.thetape.de/the_tape-mixtape_part_3.mp3

Tracklist:

1. Wolfmother vs. The Tape vs. RQM - Scuffed Up Sneakers
2. Apparat feat. Raz Ohara - Holdon
(Chris de Luca vs Phon.O remix)
3. Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead
4. Foxy Brown feat. Pharrell Williams - Magnetic
5. 50weapons 001 - Game Over
6. Snoop Dogg - Psst!
7. Elle P - Tricks (Jahcoozi Remix)
8. The Tape vs RQM - 718
9. Santogold - Creator
10. Vetiver - You May Be Blue
11. Al Haca - Baby Blue
12. Mama Shamone - Over (Jahcoozi Remix)
13. Filewile feat. RQM - Damn (Jahcoozi Remix)
14. Mark Ronson - Toxic
15. Klaxons - Golden Skans (Sebastian Remix)
16. Grimetime Allstars - Jah Studio Jam
(Robot Koch`s Heavy Metal Chrome Tape Remix)