Siriusmo - Mosaik (Monkeytown, 2011)

I don't think I've looked forward to a gig this much in years, but this Sunday, 1st May, sees Siriusmo play the Twisted Pepper.  Label mates (and owners) Modeselektor will also be playing a dj set that night, which is a draw in itself, but I reckon Siriusmo's live set will be a tough act to follow.  So here's a little bit about his new album.

Mozaik is Siriusmo's first full album, yet it features tracks from a number of previous releases such as The Uninvited Guest and The Plasterer of Love EPs, released in 2009 and 2010 respectively.  With that in mind, the album would appear to have been in the works for quite a while and the result is a collection of 17 astounding dance based tracks that literally come together like an aural mozaik of diverse and unexpected sounds.

The album's first track "High Together" is a dancefloor friendly IDM tune, featuring a broad range of samples and synths, from the childlike voice that chimes the words of the track's title, to slapped bass and a sampled ride cymbal that taps out the steady rhythm.  A few tracks in and "Sirimande" begins with a collection of sampled percussive instruments and some seriously dirty bass synths making the track sound like something Aphex Twin might have conceived of 15 years ago.  Half way through the track these elements fade to reveal a layer of smooth fender rhodes piano, before the track builds back up as a banging acid-techno tune.  "Bad Idea" has some even dirtier bass and dub-step rhythms that become more complex and dense as the song builds to its climax.

The second half of the CD version of Mozaik is a more melodic affair, yet retaining the dark and gritty basslines.  "Idiologie", "Einmal in der Woche schreien", "Good Idea" and "Nights Off" have some of the catchiest and bounciest melodies I've heard in many a year, especially in the context of Berlin dance music.  "Good Idea" is the highlight of the album with its interweaving basslines and melodies constructed of notes played by various synthetic instruments, the notes of each only becoming a cohesive whole when heard in sequence with the others.  In this sense it epitomises the fragmentary nature of an album made up of a seemingly random collection of sounds.

Here the album briefly descends into darker territory once again with "Peeved" and "Feed my Meatmachine", the latter of which breaks after two minutes, giving way to some beautiful 80s inspired synth-pop.  Make sure and keep listening to the last track, "Red Knob" for its hidden second half that only emerges after 3 minutes of silence.  A beautiful ending to a truly eclectic album.

Check out both the CD and the vinyl versions for a different arrangement of tracks, and see him live this Sunday at the Twisted Pepper.