Duke Shin

Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary are two Berliners better known to the world as Modeselektor, the burgeoning genre-defying superstars perhaps best known as the resident merry pranksters of techno headmistress Ellen Allien's ubercoolisch BPitch Control imprint. Their first release for the traditionally techno-oriented label was 2002's "Death Medley" EP, which might've initially caused a lot of head-scratching from the techno elite who struggled to categorize the surgically edited glitch-heavy dub-influenced rhythms (they call it "Berlin bass"). But by the time their 2005 debut LP "Hello Mom!" was released, the duo was upgraded to next-big-thing status, with "Silikon" (their collaboration with Jahcoozi's Sasha Perera) being charted on Thom Yorke's iTunes playlist. Yorke himself contributed vocals to their sophomore-slump-defying follow-up "Happy Birthday!" (2007) and proudly sported their simian logo t-shirt while performing at Lollapalooza.

"It was an honor to open for these guys," says a sleepy Bronsert, sipping his third expresso in his Berlin garden. "It was a very special moment for us because it was in Berlin—our hometown! [Radiohead] asked us later on to play with them [for] the whole Japan tour in October!"

Thom and the boys aren't the only music luminaries who have caught on to the sonic, tempo-shifting mutations Modeselektor creates. "We got asked to remix 'The Dull Flame of Desire' from [Bjork's] 'Volta' album—a very epic song where she is singing together with Antony from Antony and the Johnsons," he explains. "In the end, we did two remixes of this song—one remix for boys and one remix for girls. She liked both!" The remixes are slated for a September release. "[Bjork] is so lovely," he gushes. "She showed up when we played in NYC last march to say hello."

Despite being released last year, "Happy Birthday!" still seems to be gaining momentum. Modeselektor recently released "Happy Birthday! Remixed #1," featuring Trentemøller's re-imagining of the Thom Yorke collaboration "The White Flash." Addressing the delay in release, Bronsert claims that the remixes weren't planned releases, but divulges info on two more "Happy Birthday" remix releases to come, featuring tech-eclectic Marcel Dettman, glitch cohort Siriusmo and Uffie's production Banger, Feadz, among others.

After a slew of massive European festival dates, the duo perform live in their Chicago debut, with a DJ set from BPitch boss Ellen Allien to boot. Perhaps Modeselektor will also drop previews of their next LP, which will resurrect their previous collaboration effort Moderat (with labelmate Apparat). So any other messages for their fans in Chicago? "Keep it real and happy metal!" Bronsert concludes.

Modeselektor perform live, with a DJ set from Ellen Allien at Sonotheque, 1444 West Chicago, (312)226-7600, on September 3, 9pm-2am. $15.

(2008-08-26)

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