eMusic

Start Your Trial

Hello Mom!

by

Modeselektor

 
  • Deal
Hello Mom!
view larger image View Larger

Rate it!

Avg: 4.0 (90 ratings)

Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Eurocrunk.

  • We Say...

    Bpitch's resident pranksters, the grinning duo Modeselektor, are quickly becoming known for an over-the-top live show combining 808-driven booty bass, IDM-inflected hip-hop in the spirit of Prefuse 73 or the Chocolate Industries label, ragged scraps of dancehall and reggaeton, and an impish delight in the mind-numbing repetition of piledriving rave stabs. To gauge their sense of humor, just check the Apple startup sound inserted in the middle of "Turn Deaf." (The first time I heard it, I was sure my computer had crashed and was rebooting in mid-song.) Their 2005 album Hello Mom, featuring vocals from Paul St. Hilaire (aka Tikiman) and French hip-hop tricksters TTC, is a masterpiece of the genre Modeselektor rightfully call "Eurocrunk." And as a special bonus, the Hello Mom Remixes EP contains a track by the shadowy, celebrated minimal-techno producer Sleeparchive.

  • They Say...

    Any album that has its promotional version (at least) start off with a nerdish radio DJ voice insisting that his station plays the finest in Eurocrunk has its heart in the right if weird place, and thus does German duo Modeselektor enter the world of full-length albums with Hello Mom! One of the many techno acts of recent years that takes modern pop radio's own reworkings of more obscure electronic forebears as a source of inspiration, Modeselektor sound fantastic as a result -- unafraid of being slick and immediate, but at the same time not exactly "normal" either, if that term even applies these days. A comparison point here and there might be the peerless Basement Jaxx, but Modeselektor are less insanely hyperactive, though the collage of beats on songs like "Die Clubnummer" pack in a similar amount of hooks per second. Many of the songs feel like Modeselektor happily dipping into styles just to see if they work (in one of the most interesting examples, the solitary piano sound of "Hasir" almost sounds like a kiddie version of RZA's classic Wu-Tang work). "Silikon" tweaks with grime, "Kill Bill Vol. 4" plays around with the neo-industrial beat approach of Black Strobe, while the more stentorian pace of "Earth [UPS Edit]" and "In Loving Memory" suggest a slightly older industrial approach, though spiked with glitch. Then there's the open Depeche Mode-meets-Aphex Twin homage of "Vote or Die," suggesting a way that those two pioneers might have sounded if they had collaborated in 1997 but working just fine on its own in the present. Meanwhile, the astringent chill of the keyboards and crisp '80s beat on "The Rap Anthem" -- which doesn't feature any rapping at all, as best can be told -- actually does live up to the Eurocrunk claim as much as anything else.

  • You Say...

    Write a Review

    I would like to say...

    Artist: Modeselektor

    Album: Hello Mom!

    Review Title: (maximum 50 characters)

    Your Review: (maximum 1,000 characters)

    Cancel

    Please keep your comments to the recordings themselves, and be courteous and respectful. Thanks! For further info, read our Community Guidelines.

The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.


Rolling Stone
Start Your Trial

© 1998-2009 eMusic.com Inc. eMusic and the eMusic logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks in the USA or other countries. All rights reserved.

All Music Guide © 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC

Facebook®, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia® are registered trademarks of their respective owners, Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Neither Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. nor Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. are partners or sponsors of eMusic. eMusic uses the Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia API but is not endorsed or certified by Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia. eMusic does not pre-screen, monitor, endorse nor assume any liability for websites, contents, products, services or claims made by Facebook, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia®.