There are lots of producers out there who try really hard to do "something else". Then, there are these chosen few artists that effortlessly are "something else" in their own right. Durian Brothers and their magical array of modified turntables, sequencers and machines belong in this selected circle. So this mini album is a quite special and unconventional release, but that doesn't mean it's not dance music - quite the opposite! It just means it's perfect for Kontra-Musik.
Labeled DAS MACHT MODERN, one would perhaps expect cold, intellectual sounds reminiscent of steel, glass and silicon, but on the contrary, the soundscape rather lends itself to feverish fantasies about the explorations of ancient cultures and malaria-stricken jungle expeditions. In fact, this mini album is so soaked in organic movement and compulsive rhythms that it should probably be tried out as a experimental treatment for coma patients. We dare you not to dance!
The expedition starts off with Psychic Driving, a track filled with the expectations of a imminent journey. The strange mechanical sounds and the pounding toms remind you of Nellie, the steamboat in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and this album couldn't start with a more fitting vision.
The very backbone of DAS MACHT MODERN is the play between sounds and rhythms that stem from crumbling temples, huts and bonfires and the modern, yet analog sounds from altered machines. The slow but decidedly sweaty Weggeputscht is the perfect example of this. It sort of sounds like Aztecs working on a factory assembly line.
We find the same playfulness in Secession, albeit more in a more stripped-down manner. Imagine if Plastikman had moved to a village in the Cambodian jungle instead of Berlin. Imagine if he started to produce music there using a discarded washing-machine as sequencer. You get the picture.
We remain in Cambodia for Oni Baba. Listening to these entrancing rhythms, you can actually see the shadows from franticly dancing bodies flickering across the torch-lit walls of Angkor Wat. You can even hear the trumpeting of elephants! Music for a decadent feast.
Offenporig has a lighter, dreamlike feel and a distinctive oriental soundscape. A twangy rubber band-slap bass adds a western element and a nice 80's vibe, and we end up in a cool video arcade scene in a Karate Kid movie.
The journey ends in Cairo with Die Eisheiligen, an alluring track perfect for the charming of snakes. Or men. Or 1940:s computer machines. It's seductive, yet melancholic and that's suiting because you don't want this album to end. None of us do.
Labeled DAS MACHT MODERN, one would perhaps expect cold, intellectual sounds reminiscent of steel, glass and silicon, but on the contrary, the soundscape rather lends itself to feverish fantasies about the explorations of ancient cultures and malaria-stricken jungle expeditions. In fact, this mini album is so soaked in organic movement and compulsive rhythms that it should probably be tried out as a experimental treatment for coma patients. We dare you not to dance!
The expedition starts off with Psychic Driving, a track filled with the expectations of a imminent journey. The strange mechanical sounds and the pounding toms remind you of Nellie, the steamboat in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and this album couldn't start with a more fitting vision.
The very backbone of DAS MACHT MODERN is the play between sounds and rhythms that stem from crumbling temples, huts and bonfires and the modern, yet analog sounds from altered machines. The slow but decidedly sweaty Weggeputscht is the perfect example of this. It sort of sounds like Aztecs working on a factory assembly line.
We find the same playfulness in Secession, albeit more in a more stripped-down manner. Imagine if Plastikman had moved to a village in the Cambodian jungle instead of Berlin. Imagine if he started to produce music there using a discarded washing-machine as sequencer. You get the picture.
We remain in Cambodia for Oni Baba. Listening to these entrancing rhythms, you can actually see the shadows from franticly dancing bodies flickering across the torch-lit walls of Angkor Wat. You can even hear the trumpeting of elephants! Music for a decadent feast.
Offenporig has a lighter, dreamlike feel and a distinctive oriental soundscape. A twangy rubber band-slap bass adds a western element and a nice 80's vibe, and we end up in a cool video arcade scene in a Karate Kid movie.
The journey ends in Cairo with Die Eisheiligen, an alluring track perfect for the charming of snakes. Or men. Or 1940:s computer machines. It's seductive, yet melancholic and that's suiting because you don't want this album to end. None of us do.
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