- Modeselektor are scene veterans, and they understand how to sell music in a Web 2.0 world. For a lot of people, the widespread availability of free music isn't liberating, it's bewildering. Faced with this overwhelming torrent of data, people are more reliant than ever on trusted filters. Hence the resilience of the Modeselektion series, which, in return for a modest fee, allows fans to tap into Modeselektor's taste and sample 19 exclusive, hand-picked tracks. As Gernot Bronsert puts it: "We suffer from constant music overload, so we use Modeselektion to channel the best of these tunes to the outside world."
Among those tunes, Gernot and Szary toss us a few curveballs of variable quality. There are middling inclusions from Mego's ambient guitarist, Fennesz, and from cantankerous indie legends The Fall, both of which are trumped by Modeselektor's furious, uproarious edit of Omar Souleyman's "Edamat." For the most part, though, Modeselektion Vol. 3 covers predictable ground, with music reminiscent of Moderat's dusky, dubstep-inflected pop and Modeselektor's wayward bass music.
The tear-jerkers are mostly confined to CD1, the bangers to CD2—one exception being Henrik Schwarz's Herbert-ish vocal house track "We Are Bankrupt," which is the most moving thing here. Other highlights from the first camp include The Howling's "Signs," a song as sleek and emotionally-wrenching as a dream Hauschka and Gotye collaboration, and the delicate, ingenious electronic pop of "Time Hurtz" by Born In Flamez. The dance floor material peaks with L-Vis 1990's contribution, a typically exuberant, hard-hitting slice of footwork-shaded neo-funk. Onra's similarly '80s-indebted "Blast" is good, too, as is Robot Koch's sensational "Sun." The latter, which merges Zomby's methodology with the verve of Four Tet, looks back at early '90s UK hardcore through the shattered lens of contemporary bass music to produce a track that's effervescent, dramatic and astringently sad. In such moments, Modeselektor are invaluable guides.
TracklistCD1
01. Fennesz - TOM
02. Nosaj Thing - Dy
03. Solar Year - Way
04. The Fall - Fibre Book Troll
05. To Rococo Rot - Miles And Hour
06. Cid Rim - Pastis
07. Akkord - Gradient
08. Robot Koch - Sun
09. Howling - Signs
10. Born In Flamez - Time Hurtz
CD2
01. L-Vis 1990 - Funk 4D
02. Schlachthofbronx - Volumen feat. Buraka Som Sistema
03. Illum Sphere - Bullet
04. French Fries - Shift
05. Alex Banks - Be The One feat. Elizabeth Bernholz
06. Onra - Blast
07. Henrik Schwarz - We Are Bankrupt
08. Brandt Brauer Frick - Jungle Love feat. Vic Mensa and Om'Mas Keith
09. Omar Souleyman - Edamat (Modeselektor Edit)