Mutek 08: Modeselektor

June 2nd, 2008

My personal anticipation for Modeselektor‘s set on Friday night was huge. It was the Berlin duo’s Canadian debut and it was perfectly scheduled – I’ve had just enough time to completely exhaust iPod plays of Hello Mom! (2005) and Happy Birthday! (2007). Both albums are stellar and feature bangin’ collaborations with the likes of Maximo Park, TTC and Thom Yorke (Radiohead) (The White Flash, which IMO is the best track on Happy Birthday!, but unfortunately was too downtempo to make Friday’s explosive set).

Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary, aka Modeselektor, took the stage after a set from a makeshift version of Montreal collective Megasoid. It was just the pair of them plus Pfadfinderei, their longtime design collaborator who provided a stunning array of visuals to accompany the show. Everything from turntabling fingers and scrolling words to the Hello Mom! album cover monkey (both Gernot and Sebastian wore the tshirt!).

First off I’ve gotta say – Metropolis puts every concert hall and music venue in Toronto to absolute shame. It’s a concert goer’s DREAM: the sound is terrific and there are about ten different ways to enjoy the show that consider every type of fan and their preferences: people who like to be centre stage, bar loungers, ‘big’ dancers who use a lot of room (there’s an entire area at the back that is reserved apparently just for this type of behaviour) and then an enormous (I’d say it seats about 300 people?) semi-circled upper floor balcony with barstools and counters for a more peaceful sideline experience that doesn’t include being incessantly shoved out of the way. And get this? The entire place is easy to navigate and within moments you can make your way upstairs or to the front row. Love it!

Modeselektor played a host of songs from both of their albums, including my absolute favourites, Godspeed and 2000007 featuring Parisian rappers TTC. The crowd was pretty frenetic – I mean, I say this from a Toronto perspective since we all know how bored Toronto audiences usually act at shows. But pretty much everyone was either full on dancing or at the very least, subtly dancing. There were massive breaks in every song (sometimes upwards of four or five) and as I mentioned, a huge lights show to accompany the whole thing. The set lasted about an hour and a half, at which time it was past 2am and time for me to head to yet another party, even though the MUTEK party at Metropolis continued well into the night with other DJs!

Modeselektor is often mentioned as a favourite of Thom Yorke, who wholeheartedly recommends both of their albums in interviews. Which means you need to check them out. Well there’s that, plus my own recommendation, which carries with it the ‘or else’ threat. ;)

Links:
MySpace: Modeselektor
Official Site: Modeselektor
Official Site: Pfadfinderei

Posted on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm by Kat and is filed under Concerts & Events.