by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Modeselektor - The White Flash (Ft. Thom Yorke) (MP3)

Moderat

Last week Squarepusher made me really happy. He is the king of electronic music for me....And Mr. Squarepusher is so gorgeous! And fat sound! I was thinking about our sick military world, the omnipresent consumption, the insanity of humanity.. But out of this, I started becoming creative. I got ideas for my new project BE, colors and designs for ellen allien fashion where whirling through my head. Music enables my creativity and brings charm into my life. In the last months I spent too much time with pushing my label BPitch Control, instead of doing music. But now the path is ready for doing music on my own, finally. :)

See you on the dance floor. :) -[Ellen Allien on her site]

Ellen Allien's BPitch Control label is releasing the self-titled debut LP by Moderat, a combo group of Modeselektor and Apparat, on April 21st. Moderat will play a Saturday, May 30th NYC show at Webster Hall, as part of a brief end-of-May US tour. All dates below.

Ellen Allien toured with Modeselektor in '08 (w/ a Studio B-turned Highline Ballroom date), and collaborated with Apparat on the Orchestra of Bubbles LP in 2006. Modeselektor was last here in January when they played Bowery Ballroom.

The Moderat LP was to feature a guest spot by L.A. rapper Busdriver on the song "BeatsWaySick," but, the press release says, "due to legal issues at the time of manufacturing, [the track] will be released as an exclusive download in the near future." Busdriver is playing SXSW on Thursday, March 19 at The Independent and Friday, March 20 at Back Alley Social, with other Austin dates below.

Ellen Allien's "10 Years of BPitch" tour is set to next visit NYC on Friday, March 27th at Studio B where she'll share a bill with Thomas Muller and Gui Boratto). The night is presented by FIXED, the parties-hosting team of JDH (Josh Houtkin) and Dave P (David Pianka). Tickets are available for the show, with the option to buy a 3-day package that includes March 26th's Ladyhawke with Heartsrevolution show and March 28th's The Twelves & Yuksek (dj set) gig, both also at Studio B.

The three-day ticket and 10-years-of-Bpitch also coincide with FIXED's fourth birthday.

The FIXED party was conceptualized around 2003 after JDH took the amazing 2ManyDJ lads to one of Dave P's Making Time parties in Philadelphia. After JDH and Dave realized that they were spinning the same events together and both had mutual admiration for the music they were DJing out at parties, the idea for FIXED was born.

"We just seemed to play a lot together as we liked similar music," admits JDH. "We started booking gigs around the US, Canada and Europe, and we would both go, and they would end up saying, 'Well, why don't we just book you two together as DJs?' and that's pretty much how we play now... as one set."

Establishing their first home base at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, FIXED went on to host a number of legendary and groundbreaking performances from a number of critically-acclaimed acts, including 2ManyDJs, Hot Chip, The Rapture, Mylo, and Erol Alkan.

"We always say that our biggest influence for FIXED was the Trash party [UK DJ Erol Alkan's legendary weekly party], which sadly, doesn't go on anymore," says JDH. "We wanted to do a big club night for the average person who likes good music."

The status of Studio B as a venue has been in question for a while, but not to worry...

The venue has now re-opened under new management, and [JDH and Dave P] will be expanding their vision of exciting music bookings, while also revitalizing New York's nightlife scene with a top-notch and diverse team of live music bookers and promoters. Starting this March, expect a fresh mix of dance music, hip-hop parties, live shows, curated special events, and more.

Little Boots played Studio B on February 6. All future FIXED dates, tour dates, the Moderat tracklist, and Ellen Allien videos below...

Continue reading "Ellen Allien (BPitch) releasing Moderat (sans Busdriver) - both touring, playing NYC + FIXED is four, STUDIO B is open"