Who Else

The title of Modeselektor’s fourth album—their first in eight years, incredibly—is an implicit challenge. And they’re absolutely right: Who else but this Berlin duo could manage such an effortless fusion of UK-inspired bass music and classic German techno? In between albums, Modeselektor turned their labels Monkeytown, 50 Weapons, and Seilscheibenpfeiler into hubs for all manner of broken beats and low-end pressure, qualities they balance here with the piano stabs and rave sirens of a cut like “WMF Love Song,” a tribute to a foundational ’90s Berlin club. For proof of their border-hopping bona fides, they get London rapper Flohio to spit on “Wealth,” a thrilling fusion of post-dubstep and road rap. As a throwback to their raving days in former East German bank vaults, they lay down the martial acid sequences of the barnstorming “I Am Your God.” And for those who know them mainly for the heart-on-sleeve emo of Moderat, their trio project with Apparat, they get unabashedly misty-eyed on the closing “Wake Me Up When It’s Over”—at least until bare-knuckled jungle breaks come tearing through the frame, shredding the tasteful synths and channeling the kind of joyous mayhem that few other acts could muster, much less control.

ALBUM CONSISTS OF 8 TRACKS IN TOTAL! This is the new album by Modeselektor. It has been in the works for two years and was made within a month. It’s a record offering essential Modeselektor, a record formed by experience, self confidence and the usual madness. It raises a question and answers it straight away. „Who Else” is yet another counteraction to boredom and formulaic approaches. Hear Modeselektor casually kicking against the pricks. Somebody’s gotta do it. Who else? Technical knowledge and craftsmanship have improved their creative process, but in the studio they are driven by the same old things. It’s the quest for the beat they haven’t made yet, the eternal hunt for the perfect mix. No bass drum sounds like the other on this record, no snare repeats itself in a different track. Each hi-hat is tailor-made, no synth sound recycled on another occasion. This isn’t one of those predictable techno records, and that’s what makes it such an effort: the endless search for new sounds while always bearing in mind that less is more. „Who Else” represents the sound of Berlin in all its ambivalence. It is a record freed from outside pressure, only driven by a personal ambition to once more put out a great album. We’re happy they made it and looking forward to see them back on stage.

On the surface, Modeselektor's fourth album seems alarmingly restrained compared to their previous three -- there are only eight songs here, three guest artists (none of whom are anywhere as close to a big name as Thom Yorke), and the cover art is abstract instead of wacky.