Moderat @ Maria Bass Berlin Festival Day 1

What happens when you mix Modeselektor's heavy ape-like bootie beats with Apparat's light and bubbly glitches? Absolute love. Moderat is the name of the collaboration between two seemingly dissimilar Berlin-based electronic artists who somehow manage to tow the line perfectly between pretty and down and dirty. The result is a sound that is truly unique, at times hard to follow, and in its best moments jaw droppingly hot.



Anyone watching the crowd at Maria am Ostbahnhof on opening day of the BASS Berlin Festival could see this clearly as soon as Moderat took the stage. At moments, the audience was bumping and grinding along to the tracks that carried overtones of Modeselektor's deep bass and grinding beats. And in another moment Apparat's floaty, melodic sounds would leave the crowd standing there, staring up at the stage as if they were in the presence of a symphonic orchestra. An odd combination, but one that works as a result of its unexpectedness. This is the sort of collaboration that challenges conventional expectations, breaking down the boarders between genres of electronic music and creating an overall appreciation of sound.



Neither artist is unique to using collaboration as a vessel for pursuing the rare, untapped waters of electronic music. Moderat is one of Apparat's many collaborations with popular artists who share his interest in producing strange and beautiful sounds. His first was with techno all-star Ellen Allien best known for her albums Stadtkind and Berlinette. Most recently together they produced the aptly named Orchestra of Bubbles, an airy, emotional collection which debuted Apparat's vocal "talents." The album is far more indie than bootie, which is no surprise as Apparat's focus has never been on producing dance music, although Ellen Alien's, at least occasionally, has. But for all that it is an absolute pleasure to listen to while lying naked on the bathroom floor.



It's hard to think of a major artist deserving of their attention whom Modeselektor hasn't collaborated with yet. So far they've combined oscillations with Thom Yorke, Puppetmastaz, Otto von Schirach, Pfadfinderei, and Rhythm and Sound, all quite successfully. It's either a testament to their flexibility as artists or a hurrah to the staying power of their own unique brew of bass and delay that they've yet to stumble when it comes to producing brain shattering music alongside other artists, no matter how dissimilar.



After witnessing (what now seems like) the only natural intersection of Apparat and Modeselektor in the flesh, I can tell you that it is an entirely different experience than listening to the recordings in the comfort of your own dirty, low rent apartment (which you can do on Soundcloud for free by the way...) The process is so transparent on the stage that it is almost humbling to look at. Front and center it looked like just three friends standing around drinking beers over a couple laptops while foreign sounds exploded through the speakers. In fact, I got so close to the trio that I could see up Modeselektor's nostrils, which are plenty handsome by the way. And I was so moved by the seamless interaction between man and machine exhibited by these three electronic MUSICIANS in the truest sense of the word that I'm afraid I'll never wash these ears again.