Berlin’s electronic-based duo Modeselektor performed last Thursday April 19th at the Royale Theater. Expectations were not only reached, but surpassed with their German mix of electro, techno, dubstep, hip hop and old school Berlin crunk. The house DJ outdid himself by forcing the crowd to dance right after doors opened, even though the place wasn’t packed. The opening act, Toronto’s Egyptrixxx, was announced the same day, but did not impress. Egyptrixxx played a DJ set consisting of dubstep and hard electro, but did not seem to lift the mood. I wasn’t particularly a fan of the transitions between songs and it all seemed quite monotonous. The two main Berliners of the headlining act set up visuals projected on hung white cloth that went perfectly with their set list. Their stage was protected by branches of freaky, neon light. From the beginning, Modeselektor injected the crowd with a hard dose of in-your-face electro. Eventually, people went verrückt (crazy) as they played their so longed-for single, “Berlin”. Something interesting about Modeselektor was how they would stop after every song, like a rock group, instead of making it a whole steady piece, which is typical of electronic music. They played mostly material from their Monkeytown album, which we often play on my show, Practical Solutions for Insanity. Regardless of the amount of people, there was an incredible bonding vibe within the crowd. The duo ended their set with their LFO-raging semi-nostalgic electro-ish “A New Error”, which was originally released as a side project by the name of Moderat. It was definitely a night of good vibes and emotion. Danke schön Modeselektor.      

British music press darlings The Horrors played the Paradise Wednesday night in a lead-up to their double-weekend slot at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. New York’s Small Black opened. Although Small Black presumably borrow inspiration for their name from the influential Steve Albini noise-rock project, the group bears about as little resemblance as possible to Big Black’s pummeling nastiness. In its stead is a dual keyboard, drums and bass lineup with a moody take on the sunny, reverb-y vibes of chillwave. The core duo of Josh Kolenik and Ryan Heyner spent most of the set bent over their keyboards and samplers, bobbing their heads in lockstep with drummer Jeff Curtin and their own electronic pulses. Complex, melodic bass lines from Juan Pieczanski stood out in the mix. Minimal blue house lighting established an atmosphere that the band went to lengths to maintain. They were just a little too down-tempo to be dance-y, but not so much so that they sounded too dull for a live performance setting. Small Black were an enjoyable enough opener, presenting a less sundrenched variation on one of indie electronica’s current trends. In the interim between sets, whoever happened to be in control of the Paradise’s house music began playing The Velvet Underground’s 1968 exercise in avant-garde chaos White Light/White Heat in its entirety. The Horrors would take the stage about fifteen minutes into the madness of closing track ‘Sister Ray,’ and rapidly segue us into something much more calculated. The juxtaposition was especially striking considering The Horrors’ origins as a noisy, gothic garage-punk band. The transition from that style into the post-punk and shoegaze hybridizing of the band’s current sound has been a mostly welcome shift. Still, the group shined in moments where that reckless punk attitude came back to haunt them. Predictably,
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