Three of a Perfect Pair

At first it sounded like too much of a gratuitous pairing, if not something akin to a shotgun wedding -- the merging of two of the leading names on the international electronica scene. But the proof is in the results, and with the release of their album this past month, the collaborative trio Moderat (that being two parts Modeselektor to one part Apparat) proved that the venture makes total sense.

On prior releases, the duo Modeselektor have established themselves as deft craftsmen and versatile collaborators -- switching styles at the drop of a hat while working with everyone from Thom Yorke to glitchcore nutter Otto Von Schirach. Likewise for the moody and pop-minded Apparat (aka Sascha Ring), who showcased his own creative flexibility when he partnered with Ellen Allien for the brilliant 2006 album Orchestra Of Bubbles.

Working together as a trio and recording in all-analog mode, the artists play well off of each other as they hopscotch across the stylistic map -- sounding like an upbeat Boards of Canada on one track, or Yello making a dancehall move on another. On any given tune, it's easy for familiar listeners to tell which artist is taking the lead, especially when Apparat pops up with his more romantic, yearnful material (even if, at times, it sounds like what he's yearning for these days is to have one of his tunes included on the soundtrack for Twilight). In the end, the joint effort makes for one of the most pop-savvy, well-rounded electronic music releases of late.

Moderat play a headlining set at the Bottom Lounge this Wednesday evening, arriving in Chicago in the midst of their U.S. tour. WLUW's Abstrakt Science DJs Chris Widman and Luke Stokes get the evening rolling with a guest set on the decks. Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 the day of the show. The show is ages 18+, and doors open at 8 PM. 1375 West Lake Street.

[video]: Moderat - "A New Error"
[video]: Modeselektor - "Happy Birthday"
[video]: Apparat - "Holdon"


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Pulsing Endlessly in the Hush

Back in the '90s, perhaps no one figure played more of a single-handed role in reshaping the German electronic music scene than Cologne-based producer and musician Wolfgang Voigt. Issuing recordings via a plethora of pseudonyms and short-run labels, Voigt was at the center of a network that stepped up to challenge the supremacy of rave-centric Berlin techno; all of which would eventually lead to his co-founding the broadly influential Kompakt label. But in the years since, Voigt's legacy has mostly rested on the work he did throughout the late 1990s under the alias Gas.

Over the course of numerous albums and EPs, Voigt developed an enigmatic and impressionistic take on dance music. The average Gas track struck the ear like a soft-focus pastorale -- all awash in layered, sweeping timbres that sounded like an orchestral string section sawing away at Mahler's Sixth in slo-mo, with the muted throb of a persistent beat thumping through the atmospheric haze. Musically, it was more the stuff of dreamscapes than dancefloors; but a decade after the fact it seems that Voigt's now in a position to trade on his work's lasting appeal. This past year's seen the Nah und Fern 4-disc boxset reissue of the Gas discography, as well as a book of Voigt's artwork with an accompanying CD via the Raster-Noton label.

Throughout it all, Voigt's appearances on these shores have been few and far between. He's currently hitting the States to play a pair of shows in Chicago in New York, and he'll be performing at the Chicago Cultural Center this coming Tuesday evening. Reportedly, the occasion marks the first U.S. debut performance as Gas. (According to an announcement on the Kompakt site, Voigt's only played Chicago once before -- under his Mike Ink alter-ego about 15 years ago, at a warehouse event that was promptly shut down by the CPD.)

Wolfgang Voigt be giving a 90-minute performance and presentation, complete with visuals courtesy of video artist Petra Hollenbach, as part of the Center's Ohm Multimedia Series. The event starts at 7 PM in the Claudia Cassidy Theater. Free to the public, limited seating available. 77 E. Randolph.


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Taking a Tumble with Black Dice

Rumor has it that Repo, the newest release from the Brooklyn-based experimental music trio Black Dice, has a few of the band's longterm devotees crying "sell out!" It's difficult to see what any sort of fuss might be about, especially considering that Repo doesn't signify any big change in artistic direction. As with their other four albums, the group's sticking with their usual technique of tweaking and twisting samples and loops into lopsided rhythms. But Repo finds them forgoing some of their prior austerity and greatly expanding their sonic vocabulary in terms of source material. And this time out the tracks are denser and more richly-layered constructions, with the guys running loops and sounds around a deeper acoustic space, bouncing them about like tennis balls in a clothes dryer.

The end result is an album that contains a newfound sense of playfulness and some genuinely hilarious moments. Case in point, the woozy percolating bloopiness of "Lazy TV," and the delirious psychedelic cartoon stomp of "Glazin" as it uncoils around the wobbly sounds of a Hawaiian slide guitar and (what sounds like) loops pinched from "Crimson and Clover" and "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy." If anything, it all reveals a group that's finally reached a certain comfort level with what they're doing. Enough so, that they can loosen up and have a little fun with their chosen mode of noise-making.

Black Dice will be playing as the headlining act at the Empty Bottle this Wednesday night. Supporting for the evening is hyper-prolific Ann Arbor noise-rock heavies Wolf Eyes. The two acts have teamed up for several recordings over the years, mostly via a series of limited edition CD-Rs from on the Eye's American Tapes label. Whether this means fans can expect some collaborative activity for tonight's show is uncertain, but it still makes for a double-whammy billing. Ape Technology opens. Doors open at 9:30 PM, and admission is $12. 1035 N. Western Ave.



[video]: Black Dice - "Tree Tops"


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Club Tunin' with the Prince

Chances are good that you're familiar with DJ and producer Prince Paul in one way or another. Either as the man behind the decks in Stetsasonic, for the number of concept albums he's released over the years, from his work in Handsome Boy Modeling School, or most likely you might know him for the major role he played in shaping the first three albums by De La Soul.

Even though it's never translated into getting stinkin' rich or leading a glamorous life, Paul's always gotten mad respect as an innovator and an outside-the-box craftsman. And he's been quick at trading on that clout over the years. Among other things, he's recently worked with Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell on their collaborative Baby Elephant project, and he also had a major creative hand (with some critical input from his 5-year-old daughter) in producing the Baby Loves Hip-Hop CD. Presently, the rumor's been circulating that he's working on the next Souls Of Mischief album, a job which -- to hear Paul tell it -- has him amassing an array of vintage analog equipment to give the tunes a warm, throwback feel.

Prince Paul will be making a special appearance in Chicago with a headlining DJ set at Zentra this Friday night. The occasion for the evening is a birthday party for local beat-slinger DJ Intel, who -- along with DJs Pickel and Lego -- will be getting the party started in the earlier leg of the evening. Admission is $10, and doors open at 9 PM. 923 W. Weed Street.

[video]: De La Soul - "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)"
[video]: Gravediggaz - 1-800-SUICIDE
[video]: Prince Paul & Dante Ross - "The BeatLab"
[audio]: Prince Paul - "It's a Stick-Up"

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Mike Watt: Still Banging Away in the Engine Room

Come hell or health problems, Mike Watt doggedly adheres to his age-old ethos of "jamming econo" and working the "thud" end of things.

Arguably the punk movement's most technically adept and hardest-rocking bassist, Watt first came to prominence in the 1980s with his work in the Minutemen and fIREHOSE. And in the intervening years he's managed to stay indefatigably busy and prolific. Recently, he served as the bass player for the resurrected line-up of the Stooges, and he's also continued to record and tour with a dizzying number of bands and projects.

One such current project is the ensemble Unknown Instructors, whose fourth album, Funland, drops via the Chicago-based Smog Veil label this month. The group marks an all-star reunion of alumni from the SST stable of yore. In addition to Watt, Unknown Instructors also includes former Minutemen drummer George Hurley, guitarist Joe Biaza from Saccharine Trust and Universal Congress Of, with Joe Carducci -- former SST maestro and author of the aesthetic tome Rock and the Pop Narcotic -- handling the product boards. Vocal duties go to Watt and Toledo-born poet Dan McGuire, with contributions from Pere Ubu frontman David Thomas and former Black Flag sleeve artist (and current art-world big cheese) Raymond Pettibon.

Ultimately, the project might beg the question: Does the '80s punk/alt-rock set need its equivalent of the Traveling Wilburys? Maybe not, but on Funland Unknown Instructors sounds more like The Magic Band as fronted by four Ken Nordines in search of a roadmap. Watt and Hurley shift rhythmic gears at the drop of a dime -- going abstractly diffuse and free-form at some points, getting vaguely funky at others, but generally keeping things steady by banging it out hard and steady. As the deft and dynamic core of the group, they manage to keep all the critters from straying too far from the range, hemming in a lot potential chaos as Biaza threatens to get unruly with his usual manner of fret-strangling jazzoid noodlespew. Watt, McGuire, Thomas and Pettibon each take turns at the mic, spinning post-Beat narratives and travelogues as the whole party gets willfully lost on a maze of backroads and byways that connect dying Rust-Belt cities and far-flung border towns alike. Before it's all over, they do a loose cover of Beefheart's "Frownland," Watts pays homage to the Windy City, and Pettibon pinches from GFR by ironically proclaiming "We're an American band!"

Watt's in town this Thurday night to play Schubas with one of his other projects, Mike Watt & the Missingmen. The trio also features guitarist Tom Watson, formerly of the band Slovenly. They've been known to lace their sets with plenty of classic punk cover tunes, including songs by Television, Wire, the Stooges, Roky Erickson, and - yes -- the Minutemen. For the current tour, Watt and crew will reputedly be playing material from "hyphenated-man," the third and most recent of Watt's supposed "punk-rock operas." The Nones play the opening set. Doors open at 9 PM and admission is $15. 3159 N. Southport.

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Tortoise: New Tracks, Upcoming Album Preview

As we head toward summer, local post-rock pioneers Tortoise are preparing to ramp-up their activity. The band's got a new full-length CD on the way and they're also scheduled to play an all-request set on the opening night of the Pitchfork Music Festival. Over at his music blog Pampelmoose, Gang of Four bassist Dave Allen offers a preview for the new album -- two tracks from the band's upcoming album Beacons Of Ancestorship, which is set to arrive via Thrill Jockey on June 23.

The two preview tracks also recently popped up on the the band's Myspace page. Allen, however, throws in a special bonus -- Tortoise's previously unreleased remix of Gang of Four's "Paralyzed" that wasn't included on the U.K. edition of Return The Gift, the Gang's double-disc live/remix collection from a few years ago.

You can check all three of 'em out here.

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Eclectic array of local artists pile aboard for Hideout 3-Way Benefit

Baby Alright
Over the years, the Hideout has not only played a vital role in fostering the local music scene, but it's also often linked up with various organizations that strive to improve the social and cultural quality of life in the city of Chicago. This weekend, they bring these two traditions together yet again as they host a three-way benefit event, and a superb lineup of Chicago acts have signed on to take part.

Kicking off at 4 PM and continuing throughout the evening, the benefit features a rich and diverse billing of Chicago artists. The roster includes a double dose of homegrown avant-folk from Spires That In The Sunset Rise and Pillars & Tongues, some Puerto Rican styled bomba y plenta from the percussion & dance ensemble Afri Caribe, as well as a set of spaced-out latin psychedelic pop from local favorites Allá. The band Roommate will also be putting in an appearance, and headlining for the evening is Baby Alright -- the funk/soul covers project whose lineup includes Dan Bitney of Tortoise and poet/former D-Settlement frontman Marvin Tate. This being a Saturday night, the Hideout's Dance Party follows, with DJ Céline.

The full schedule:

4:00 PM - Pillars & Tongues
5:00 PM - Allá
6:00 PM - Afri Caribe
7:00 PM - Roommate
8:00 PM - Judson Claiborne
9:00 PM - Spires That In The Sunset Rise
10:00 PM - Baby Alright
11:30 PM - Dance Party with DJ Céline

Proceeds from the event go to helping three organizations that are committed to community outreach initiatives, prison reform, and the literary arts -- the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, the Tamms Year Ten Coalition, and Young Chicago Authors. Poet and YCA associate Avery R. Young will be hosting throughout, and representatives from the involved organizations will be on hand to sign up volunteers. Admission for the event is $12. 1354 W. Wabansia. Check the Hideout website for more details.

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No Moping on the Dancefloor

When he first slunk on the scene earlier in the decade, Superpitcher (a.k.a. Aksel Schaufler) delivered a heads-up to electronic-music fans when his 2001 breakthrough track "Heroin" first popped up via the Cologne-based Kompakt label. Riding on minor-key washes and a dark, foregrounded bassline, the tune demonstrated Superpitcher's wont for augmenting Kompakt's minimalist tech-house thump with shades of "micro-goth" moodiness and dejected romanticism.

His highly-touted 2004 debut LP Here Comes Love saw him moving toward a slight more melodic, song-oriented approach -- with Schaufler delivering whispered vocals throughout and sometimes draping the shadowy grooves with a Roxy Music-styled melodic lushness. But more recently, he's mostly been working with Kompakt labelmate Michael Mayer under the Supermayer moniker. The duo have cranked out a plethora of remixes, and released the dazzlingly eclectic and upbeat Save The World album in 2007. If anything, both artists have proven that the standard Kompakt formula isn't immune to radical and unexpected overhauls.

This Friday night, Superpitcher puts in a headlining appearance behind the decks for the latest in Smart Bar's series of "Kompakt Sessions" events. His DJ sets have been known to run the range between uptempo sad-bastard indie pop and full-on tech-house bangers. Daniel Mnookin and Brian Ffar get everything started for the opening sets. Doors open at 10 PM, admission is $10 before midnight, and $15 after. 3730 North Clark Street.

[video]: Superpitcher - live DJ set
[audio]: Superpitcher - "Heroin"
[video]: Hot Chip - "One Pure Thought (Supermayer remix)"

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