Send "Apparat " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 The fourth installment in a markedly busy year for !K7's DJ-Kicks series, Apparat's (real name: Sasha Ring) contribution is also the least predictable. Part of that has to do with how difficult it is to describe his music, an ambiguous form of electronic dance where texture varies greatly from one sound to the next. In his world, if a reverbed guitar echoes overhead, then perhaps the hectic clickity-clack of skittering drums will offset it, rapidly stapling it down. And each sound in an Apparat track seems like it was created using different tools, so that guitar strain might reflect the smoothness and shine of silk while each of those percussive instruments sounds like a completely different kind of metal was used to sculpt it. Since Apparat has such a wide array of textures at his disposal, his possibilities for a mix seem vast.Of the three 2010 DJ-Kicks mixes prior to this one-- Juan MacLean, Kode9, and James Holden-- Apparat's most resembles the latter. Where MacLean blurred distinctions between house music old and new and Kode9 tried to pack as many funky/dubstep records into a small space, Holden went a different route: He took a number of disparate records and tried to make them resemble his own aesthetic. MacLean and Kode9 were selecting and mixing tracks in order to make a banging mix; Holden was selecting and mixing tracks to make a banging album. Likewise, Apparat digs through his collection in an attempt to make an Apparat-sounding album out of other people's music. Though in so doing, he shows his cards a bit, suggesting that his sound could be loosely categorized as one where experimental electronic music edges further into indie territory. Between Holden's and Apparat's DJ-Kicks, Holden's gets the edge, and it's not even because he selects better tracks. Ultimately, Holden is the better sequencer, with a stronger understanding of the rhythm and pacing of a mix. Apparat finds his groove during a stretch in the middle beginning with Four Tet's remix of Born Ruffians' "I Need a Life" and ending at Vincent Markowski's "The Madness of Moths", possibly the best patch on any of the four DJ-Kicks this year, but there's a lack of a defined arc over the course of these 24 songs. When Thom Yorke's "Harrowdown Hill" appears near the end, its placement feels odd and disjunctive, as if your roommate came in and decided to drag one of his favorite songs into a playlist you spent hours making....full text |
| Dustedmagazine |
| Berlin’s Sascha Ring, better known as Apparat, collaborates frequently. Most reviews of the albums he has made with Ellen Allien and Modeselektor contrast his generally melancholic solo music to his buddies’ club-moving jams. Ring is much more of a studio guy than a DJ in a scene that goes both ways, and his moodiness and interiority are unique but far from a liability. His music remains relatively unknown in the U.S., despite comparisons to the overhyped likes of M83. If he hasn’t quite popped off, though, it’s not because of cultural differences (he barely qualifies as techno); he makes the right kind of electronic music to appeal to indie-rock types. The emotional template for his music is readily available, containing elements of shoegaze and a love of simple melodies placed within busy arrangements, à la Aphex Twin. For whatever reason, though, he belongs more to techno. He’s flying solo on this installment in the DJ-Kicks series — his first mix compilation — and on it, he brings his highly personal sound to an established format without sacrificing either dreaminess or danceability. All bad mixes are alike (they’re boring); every good mix is good in its own way. It’s difficult to articulate why, but easy to hear. The Juan MacLean’s DJ-Kicks from this year, for example, was muscular, analog, and mixed live: it embodied John MacLean’s personality as a DJ and a music fan more than it did The Human League-influenced synthpop of his latest album. It made listeners feel like they were learning something without it being academic, and it also established his dance cred to an audience that didn’t know him as a DJ. Apparat’s mix, on the other hand, doesn’t function as a history lesson or a devotional to dance music. It relies instead on an eclectic, if seemingly dated, set of artists that wouldn’t be unfamiliar to adventurous indie fans: Oval, Telefon Tel Aviv, Born Ruffians (remixed by Four Tet), and even Thom Yorke take part. But a good mix is a separate organism from the track selection. Apparat’s music is frequently referred to as IDM, but there’s no glitch here: it’s a very fluid and, especially toward the end, physical experience. This album isn’t held together by a constant 4/4 pulse, but by the quality of the mixing, which emphasizes the bass. (This is lost on laptop speakers, but my car’s blown-out woofers did justice to the subtle things Apparat does with bass that’s more felt than heard.) There are lots of details that float through and around the tracks as they morph into each other. Things get a little too saturated on Apparat’s smoggy “Interlude,” which extends the previous Telefon Tel Aviv track a touch too much. “Interlude” is a pregnant pause that doesn’t fully translate to the listener, and, compared to the rest of the album, it sounds muddy and inert, although it isn’t long before he gets back on track with Luke Abbott’s bright “More Room.” Some tracks benefit from their new settings: Pantha du Prince’s “Welt Am Draht” felt like it took too long to get going on Black Noise, but Apparat puts it to good use as a part of a transition into the mix’s dancey final third....full text |
| Residentadvisor |
| Despite the gaunt, grey frame staring out from the sleeve, the sounds which lie within Apparat's DJ Kicks make for a technicolour lesson in computer music. Apparat's pedigree in electronica is second to none. The Berlin-based producer operates with fellow Germans Modeselektor as Moderat, worked with BPitch Control boss Ellen Allien on the acclaimed Orchestra of Bubbles and has also released three solo albums of his own. Apparat's mix, following in the wake of dance floor-orientated efforts from Juan Maclean, Kode9 and James Holden, explores electronic pastures less immediately concerned with making you move. As he puts it, DJ-Kicks features "good new music—music that gave me hope that there's more out there than boring minimal techno." It begins with "Circles," a fresh production from Apparat himself, pregnant with glitches, a croon and an ominous bass thud. It sounds, like much of his solo work, as if it was conceived in the early morning half-light and sets a bittersweet mood of flickering otherworldliness. As it progresses, the mix builds from the shimmering layers of percussion and synths of Telefon Tel Aviv and Oval, to a more industrial, yet danceable landscape. Not only are the shadows of machines and buildings heard in the music, but they're also right in the titles. Ripperton's "Echocity" and Cosmin TRG's "Tower Block" both represent music at its most primeval, with the former sounding like a steelworks pounding its way through the night. Elsewhere, Four Tet's influence is writ large. Kieran Hebden's reworking of Born Ruffians' "I Need a Life" and "Moth," the killer collaboration with fellow South Londoner Burial, subtly wind the mix out of the dream world. Vincent Markowski and his "The Madness of the Moths" uses synths and drums nabbed straight out of the DFA's studio to up the ante, while "Sayulita," another new work from Apparat, is one of the highlights and indicative of Apparat's take on electronica—a blend of warm glitches and muted guitars rise into a gentle, yet swelling crescendo....full text |
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