German DJ builds walls of sound
By: Dennis Mongello
Issue date: 5/18/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Originally published: 5/18/07 at 1:41 AM EST
Last update: 5/18/07 at 1:40 AM EST
Originally published: 5/18/07 at 1:41 AM EST
Last update: 5/18/07 at 1:40 AM EST
A friend once told me "Sometimes we put up walls - not to keep people out but to see who cares enough to break them down." I don't know where she got it from, and something tells me I wouldn't like it if I found out, but it's still an interesting perspective.
On his new CD Walls, German DJ Apparat constructs walls of sound and then proceeds to tear them down himself. He starts off with a small, simple loop and then builds a foundation by adding bricks of baselines and beats. He then cements them together with melody and harmony, adding a little complexity with each new brick and seal. The overall construction leads to a coherent song despite the more involved sound.
Apparat's real genius shines through when he deconstructs these layers in an instant. "You Don't Know Me" is the perfect example of this. There is a slow and steady build up leading to the destruction of this wall Apparat has created with his music, leaving behind beautiful ruins. The music goes from intense to relaxed with pinpoint precision. While many of the songs are different thematically, this is the one common thread that ties the album together, and this is what Apparat does best.
Wall's genre would be considered intelligent dance music (IDM), but that is a bit of a misnomer. IDM doesn't exactly make you want to get out of your seat and dance. However, it's a broad enough genre that some songs will make you want to dance and others will make you think, but that is going into dangerous territory. By calling one type of music intelligent, it seems to be discarding everything else as stupid. That, too, is far from reality.
No matter how you look at it though, IDM has carved itself a niche in electronic music. Apparat fills this niche with his own brand of IDM sound.
His latest album is like a mix of his recent releases, Orchestra of Bubbles and Duplex. It mixes the calmer, more subdued Orchestra with the harder edge of some of the songs on Duplex. This creates an incredible contrast in sound. On the one hand, you have the chill, relaxing sounds of violins and steel drums. On the other, you have the dissonant melodies and inorganic-sounding instruments creating a sort of dystopian cyber-punk setting despite significant-sounding organic loops. The music he composes doesn't just make a sound- it sets a mood, an atmosphere. This atmosphere surrounds anyone in earshot in a looming, oppressive wall covered with lush green ivy just begging to be broken down.
On his new CD Walls, German DJ Apparat constructs walls of sound and then proceeds to tear them down himself. He starts off with a small, simple loop and then builds a foundation by adding bricks of baselines and beats. He then cements them together with melody and harmony, adding a little complexity with each new brick and seal. The overall construction leads to a coherent song despite the more involved sound.
Apparat's real genius shines through when he deconstructs these layers in an instant. "You Don't Know Me" is the perfect example of this. There is a slow and steady build up leading to the destruction of this wall Apparat has created with his music, leaving behind beautiful ruins. The music goes from intense to relaxed with pinpoint precision. While many of the songs are different thematically, this is the one common thread that ties the album together, and this is what Apparat does best.
Wall's genre would be considered intelligent dance music (IDM), but that is a bit of a misnomer. IDM doesn't exactly make you want to get out of your seat and dance. However, it's a broad enough genre that some songs will make you want to dance and others will make you think, but that is going into dangerous territory. By calling one type of music intelligent, it seems to be discarding everything else as stupid. That, too, is far from reality.
No matter how you look at it though, IDM has carved itself a niche in electronic music. Apparat fills this niche with his own brand of IDM sound.
His latest album is like a mix of his recent releases, Orchestra of Bubbles and Duplex. It mixes the calmer, more subdued Orchestra with the harder edge of some of the songs on Duplex. This creates an incredible contrast in sound. On the one hand, you have the chill, relaxing sounds of violins and steel drums. On the other, you have the dissonant melodies and inorganic-sounding instruments creating a sort of dystopian cyber-punk setting despite significant-sounding organic loops. The music he composes doesn't just make a sound- it sets a mood, an atmosphere. This atmosphere surrounds anyone in earshot in a looming, oppressive wall covered with lush green ivy just begging to be broken down.
