In Moderation

Not every collaboration needs to be
Aerosmith’s cock-rock kicking through the wall of Run-D.M.C.’s hiphop
studio, but a little artistic friction can certainly make for interesting sparks.

You could infer some such friction from Auf Kosten der
Gesundheit, the 2002 debut EP from Moderat, a collaboration of
Berlin techno luminaries Modeselektor (Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian
Szary) and Apparat (aka Sascha Ring). The EP’s title translates from
the German to “at cost of health,” and the story goes that all three
producer/
musicians just barely got its four tracks out of the
studio and off to mastering before they all broke down in exhaustion
and illness.

On that EP’s “Mode 2,” you can just barely make out the tonal washes
typical of Apparat as they struggle to get up over Modeselektor’s
stuttering, chopped-up vocal samples and trunk-rattling, hiphop-echoing
beats. But more than conflict, the EP mostly just felt unfinished, like
sketches of Modeselektor beats with Apparat’s synth pads simply tacked
on top—not only not clashing in dramatic ways or kicking down
stylistic walls, but not even fully synthesized.

(In the time since, both acts have gone on to produce outstanding
work as collaborators, though not with each other: Apparat scored his
breakthrough working in tandem with Ellen Allien on the stately
electronic suite Orchestra of Bubbles; Modeselektor, on their
albums Hello Mom! and Happy Birthday!, have worked
with everyone from puppet-rap crew [yeah, I don’t know,
either]Puppetmastaz to Thom Yorke of Radiohead, with whom the duo went
on tour in 2008.)

Their new album, Moderat, better realizes the potential
sketched out in their previous work, not of a quarrelsome soundclash,
but of a seamlessly integrated sound. Because, really, as tempting as
it is to pigeonhole each act—Apparat as the swoony, ambient
electro popster and Modeselektor as the glitchy electro-hop
humorists—they have far more in common than they do in conflict.
Apparat knows his way around a hard beat and a tweaked sample,
Modeselektor are just as accomplished at producing lush analog ambience
or a pop vocal turn, and both have several tracks that combine the
above elements to make for music as heady on the headphones as it is on
the dance floor.

On Moderat, the three producers all meet in their shared
middle ground, the space where their harder edges are softened, their
glitchy tendencies debugged, their ambient sides anchored by more
thoroughly bumping beats.

Lead single “Rusty Nails” and album closer “Out of Sight” both open
with dusty, echoing dubstep beats that could’ve been lifted from Burial
tracks, before Ring takes numb, mumbly vocal turns over pinched synths
and submerged bass. “Slow Match” and “Sick with It” both feature guest
vocal spots, both lightly toasting; the former features a low-growling
and slightly sinister sounding Paul St. Hilaire (of Rhythm &
Sound), the latter a regrettably thin and overwrought spot from Frank
Dellé (aka Eased from Seeed). “Porc#1,” with its circular guitar
line, highlights Ring’s increasing use of acoustic instrumentation in
his various productions. “Seamonkey” and “No. 22,” with their hypnotic,
off-grid beats, recall Modeselektor’s fluency in switching between and
stitching together the rhythmic patterns of techno, hiphop, dub, and
beyond. Throughout, the album sounds like a perfectly polite
compromise, some songs recalling specific sounds or moments from the
constituent players’ individual records, but never in such a way as to
disrupt the whole.

On the act’s website, there’s a promotional video showcasing
Moderat’s nonaudio portion, the graphic-design/video team of
Pfadfinderei, whose work appears on the new album’s DVD version and who
will be providing live visuals for the group’s performances, which are
sure to be stellar if previous sets by the separate acts are any
indication. Also featured on this video are some rather bland sound
bites from the collaborators about the album’s recording process:
“Everyone had to hold back a bit,” “We actually agreed on a certain
aesthetic and feeling,” “A soundtrack,” “We just wanted more space in
the music, a lot of reverb and range.” And crucially: “The name was the
motto—Moderat.” Such a modus operandi means that while
Moderat is a fine record, it’s also not the most exceptional
thing these guys have ever produced (it might make you want to dig out
their other records, in fact)—a success, but a moderate one.