Apparat
THE
DEVIL’S WALK
Mute•Records
Dub•step \ dub-step \ n + tech•no \tek-nõ\ n + chill•out \
chil-aût \ vb
With Apparat, labeling proves
difficult. If I can’t make a tidy reference to house, say, how do I describe
the music? This is, of course, the key to the German producer’s charm. His
output is like some hyperevolutionary organism that transforms before we
musical taxonomists can classify it.
It used to be easier. Since he
began releasing music for his Shitkatapult label a decade ago, Sascha Ring has
existed at a crossroads of pop, techno, IDM and glitch. His early work clicked,
rattled and hissed a lot. Over the years, and especially here, he’s filed down
glitch’s harsher edges, softening things with guitars, strings, marimbas and
thoughtful lyrics. The common thread is Apparat’s ability to combine lush
textures and complex melodies to produce richly emotional music that transcends
any genre tag.
With help from Chicago’s Josh
Eustis (of Telefon Tel Aviv), the electronic alchemist has put the finishing
touches on his brand of sweeping electronic pop in The Devil’s Walk, a task that’s taken three albums
and stints with Ellen Allien and Modeselektor—the latter as Moderat. On “Song
of Los,” he conjures soaring celestial soul with skittish beats, gurgling bass
and guitars locked in an echo chamber.
He’s always lent his
voice to his productions. Here, it’s a centerpiece. Amid the churning of synths
and the dubstep gallop of “Candil De La Calle,” his pipes gleam with a hint of
Thom Yorke. Later, as the tremolo of strings and the pitter-patter of drums
crescendo into “Ash/Black Veil,” Ring repeats, “the walls are melting.”
Lyrically, he sings of a lot of doom and gloom. Yet even as he breathes, “let
me out, wave good-bye,” during the lilting swing of album-closer “Your House Is
My World,” things aren’t as bleak as he makes them seem. This LP ensures
Apparat a bright future.
—Joshua P. Ferguson
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