Modeselektor is a German

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

duo consisting of Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary.

History

The group members met in 1992 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

with group member Szary performing live

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...

music at illegal underground parties, under the moniker Fundamental Knowledge. The group says, "After

the Wall ''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/ EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera which explores Pink, a jaded rock star, as he constructs a psychologic ...

came down, everywhere in Germany and especially East Germany there was a lot of chaos, anarchy." Both soon joined forces and began creating music as Modeselektor, a name taken from a function on the Roland Space Echo

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

delay

effects unit An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion (music), distortion/overdrive, ...

. In 1999 Modeselektor signed its first remix contract and began working with Pfadfinderei, a Berlin-based VJ and design collective. In 2000 Modeselektor met

Ellen Allien Ellen Fraatz, known professionally as Ellen Allien, is a Berlin-based German electronic musician, music producer, and the founder of BPitch Control music label. Her album '' Stadtkind'' was dedicated to the city of Berlin, and she cites the cu ...

, making

BPitch Control Ellen Fraatz, known professionally as Ellen Allien, is a Berlin-based German electronic musician, music producer, and the founder of BPitch Control music label. Her album '' Stadtkind'' was dedicated to the city of Berlin, and she cites the cu ...

their home label. Modeselektor has also been involved in collaborative efforts;

Moderat Moderat is a German electronic music supergroup (music), supergroup originating in Berlin between Sascha Ring, also known as Apparat (musician), Apparat, and Modeselektor members Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary. The band have released four st ...

- a musical collaboration between Modeselektor and Apparat, Pfadselektor - a music/visual collaboration between Modeselektor and Pfadfinderei, and with Rhythm & Sound's Paul St. Hillaire. They have produced sound installations at the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and lectured at the Merz Akademie in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. Modeselektor is a favourite group of

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...

(frontman of

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

), who has recommended their albums in interviews and included the song "Silikon" (from their 2005 LP ''Hello Mom!'' and featuring vocalist Sasha Perera) in a publicly available

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player, either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs that can be played once or in a loop. ...

(the collaboration between Modeselektor and Apparat) has also supported Radiohead on the band's concerts in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, in August 2009. The follow-up to '' Hello Mom!'' was '' Happy Birthday!'', which was released in 2007 with Paul St. Hilaire, TTC, Puppetmastaz,

and

Maxïmo Park Maxïmo Park are an English alternative rock band formed in 2000 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band currently consists of Paul Smith (English singer), Paul Smith (lead vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar, bass, keyboards, backing vocals), and Tom Engli ...

as guest vocalists. Other collaborators included Otto von Schirach,

Siriusmo Moritz Friedrich (born 1976), better known by his stage name Siriusmo, is a Berlin-based German record producer. Initially influenced by Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin, his tracks can be broadly defined as electroni ...

, and Apparat. In an interview that same year, the group said regarding their sound: "Happy metal, hard rap, country-ambient, Russian crunk. We don’t like it if people tag us as being a certain style or school or scene or whatever. We don’t really care about all that." In March 2009, they released an album with Apparat under the name

. They have collaborated previously on an EP named ' which was released as a limited 12" on

in 2002. Modeselektor also appeared as the main characters in Amy Grill's 2009 electronic music documentary, ''

Speaking in Code ''Speaking in Code'' is a character-based documentary directed by Amy Grill about people's obsessions with the techno electronic music lifestyle and the effects on their lives. It follows Modeselektor, the Wighnomy Brothers, Philip Sherburne, ...

''. Modeselektor are said to be good friends with

, and regularly remix and promote his material. In September 2011 Modeselektor released their third LP, Monkeytown, in which various artists including

collaborated on. In August 2013, Modeselektor released their second album in collaboration with Apparat under the name

, entitled '' II.'' In 2013, Modeselektor's label Monkeytown Records and Telekom Electronic Beats produced the documentary "We Are Modeselektor". In March 2016, Modeselektor released their third album in collaboration with Apparat under the name

, entitled III. In April 2021, Modeselektor released their fourth LP, Extended. In February 2022, a book on Modeselektor's album ''Happy Birthday!'' was published by Sean Nye for the ''33 1/3 Europe series.'' In May 2022, Modeselektor released their fourth album in collaboration with Apparat under the name

, entitled '' More D4ta''.

Monkeytown Records

Monkeytown Records is a

-based

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, owned by Sebastian Szary and Gernot Bronsert of Modeselektor. The label has released music by

, Modeselektor, WK7,

Mouse on Mars Mouse on Mars is a German electronic music duo formed in 1993 by Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma. Their music is a blend of electronic genres including IDM, dub, krautrock, breakbeat and ambient, featuring heavy use of organic analog synth and ...

, Otto von Schirach,

, and

Funkstörung Funkstörung (sometimes stylized as Funkstorung) are an electronic music duo from Rosenheim, Germany, consisting of Michael Fakesch and Chris de Luca. History Chris de Luca and Michael Fakesch first met in 1992 at a techno party organised by ...

, among others.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Hello Mom!'' (

, 2005) * '' Happy Birthday!'' (BPitch Control, 2007) * '' Monkeytown'' (

Monkeytown Records Modeselektor is a German electronic music duo consisting of Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary. History The group members met in 1992 in Berlin with group member Szary performing live acid house music at illegal underground parties, under th ...

, 2011) * ''Who Else'' (Monkeytown Records, 2019) * ''Extended'' (Monkeytown Records, 2021) * ''Mean Friend'' (Monkeytown Records, 2021) * EXTLP (Monkeytown Records, 2021) * Missed Opportunities (Monkeytown Records, 2021) * Extended Chords (Monkeytown Records, 2021)

Compilations

* ''Modeselektion Vol. 01'' (2010) * ''Modeselektion Vol. 02'' (2012) * ''Modeselektion Vol. 03'' (2014) * ''Modeselektion Vol. 04'' (2018)

DJ mixes

* ''Boogybytes Vol. 3 - Mixed by Modeselektor'' (BPitch Control, 2007) * ''Body Language Vol. 8'' ( Get Physical, 2009)

Multimedia

* ''Labland'' (Dalbin, 2005) with Pfadfinderei, DVD * ''Mdslktr'' (

, 2005), DVD + CD Box Set

Extended plays

* ''Death Medley'' (BPitch Control, 2002) * ''In Loving Memory'' (BPitch Control, 2002) * ''Ganes De Frau Vol. 1'' (BPitch Control, 2003) * ''Turn Deaf!'' (BPitch Control, 2004) * ''Hello Mom!'' The Remixes (BPitch Control, 2006) * ''Happy Birthday!'' Remixes #1 (BPitch Control, 2008) * ''Happy Birthday!'' Remixes #2 (BPitch Control, 2008) * ''Happy Birthday!'' Remixes #3 (BPitch Control, 2009)

Singles

* "Weed wid da Macka" (Shockout, 2006) * "The Dark Side of the Sun" (BPitch Control, 2007) with Puppetmastaz * "Evil Twin" featuring Otto von Schirach (Monkeytown Records, 2012) * "Silikon" featuring Sasha Perrera (FIFA 08 soundtrack) * "Kalif Storch" (2018) * "Wealth" featuring Flohio (Monkeytown Records, 2018) * "I Am Your God" / "Bronko" (Monkeytown Records, 2019) * "Who" featuring

Tommy Cash Tommy Cash (April 5, 1940 – September 13, 2024) was an American Country music, country musician. His elder brother was Johnny Cash. Background and career Cash was born in Dyess, Arkansas, on April 5, 1940, the youngest of four sons and thre ...

(Monkeytown Records, 2019)

Remixes

Miss Kittin Caroline Hervé (born 15 July 1973), known professionally as Kittin, is a French electronic music producer, DJ, singer, and songwriter. Since rising to prominence in 1998 for her singles "1982" and "Frank Sinatra" with The Hacker, she has worke ...

- " Professional Distortion (Modeselektor's Big Muff Mix)" *

- Skip Divided (Modeselektor Remix) *

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

- Dull Flame Of Desire (Modeselektor's Rmx for Girls) *

- Dull Flame Of Desire (Modeselektor's Rmx for Boys) *

Boys Noize Alexander Ridha (born 22 August 1982), better known by his stage name Boys Noize, is a German-Iraqi electronic music record producer, songwriter and DJ known for collaborations with artists including A$AP Rocky, Tommy Cash, and Frank Ocean (for ...

- Jeffer (Modeselektor Remix) * Bonaparte - Computer in Love (Modeselektor Remix) *

Roots Manuva Rodney Hylton Smith, better known by his stage name Roots Manuva (born 9 September 1972), is a British rapper and producer. Since his debut in 1994, he has produced numerous albums and singles on the label Big Dada, achieving commercial succ ...

- Witness (Modeselektor's Troublemaker Remix) * Headhunter - Prototype (Modeselektor Remix) EMP046*

- Good Evening Mrs Magpie Rmx *

Trentemøller Anders Trentemøller (; born 16 October 1972) is a Danish indie artist , producer and multi-instrumentalist based in Copenhagen, Denmark. History Trentemøller started music in the late 1990s with different indie rock projects. In 2006, follow ...

- Tide (Modeselektor's Last Remix Ever)

Production

* TTC - Une bande de mecs sympas (''3615 TTC'', 2007) * Fettes Brot - Bettina, zieh dir bitte etwas an! (''Strom und Drang'', 2008) * Bonaparte - Orangutang ('' My Horse Likes You'', 2010)

With
Moderat Moderat is a German electronic music supergroup (music), supergroup originating in Berlin between Sascha Ring, also known as Apparat (musician), Apparat, and Modeselektor members Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary. The band have released four st ...

* ''Auf Kosten der Gesundheit'' (EP, BPitch Control, 2003) * ''

'' (BPitch Control, 2009) * '' II'' (Monkeytown Records, 2013) * '' III'' (Monkeytown Records, 2016) * '' More D4ta'' (Monkeytown Records. 2022)

References

External links

* *
Pfadfinderei Vj Collaborators

The Fake Interview (French)

In the Mix Review/Interview

Modeselektor Portrait on Tracks/arte (French-German TV)
* Book: 33 1/3 Europ
''Modeselektor's Happy Birthday!,'' by Sean Nye (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022).

Feature interview

stuartbuchanan.com interview

Electronic Beats interview

Modeselektor RBMA video lecture session
{{Authority control BPitch Control artists Musical groups from Berlin German electronic music duos German male musical duos