REVIEWSApparat, ‘The Devil's Walk’

8

• SPIN Rating:8 of 10

• • Listen:

    Spotify

Release Date: September 27, 2011
Label: mute

Apparat's Sascha Ring has opened for Radiohead (as one half of Moderat), released 2007's acclaimed full-lengthWalls, and helped shape modern techno by cofounding the Shitkatapult label (apparently there'sa German word for everything). Now, likeJames Blake's recent work,The Devil's Walk creates a compelling mix of programming virtuosity, songcraft, and plaintive vocals, with spastic blips fluttering amid languid string washes, while a ?mechanical scrim obscures and accentuates the underlying emotions. If Say Anything were made today, John Cusack might blare "Black Water" from his portable, solar-powered, high-end MP3-bazooka tube.