2LP "Blue + White Marbled" Colored Limited Edition Release Date: 14/11/2025 Label: !K7 Records
Description
Sasha Ring’s work under his Apparat moniker has always been evolving; over three albums on the Shitkatapult label and the collaborative full lengths with Ellen Allien and Modeselektor as Moderat on Bpitch Control, he’s surprised a lot of listeners with his output. Confined to little or no definitive style his music has always been in a constant state of metamorphosis, simultaneously breaching new waters and staying true to his unique spirit of musical openness and his obvious passion for sound design.
Aptly joking that his DJ KiCKs selection reflects his style to “not really have a style” it’s evident that Ring is more than aware that his contribution to the series might look ‘intelligent’ on paper – with the tracklist aligning variant artists like Oval, Autechre, Ripperton and Thom Yorke – but given his recent tour at the start of the year, it’s simply a representation of where he’s at in terms of modern music. “I didn’t want to make this kind of ‘smart’ mix, that’s eclectic and sounds like it’s done ‘on purpose;’ but I need to do different things to keep myself motivated,” Ring explains. “At first I wanted to make a collection of influences, all kinds of old songs but then sometimes with those mixes it’s hard to keep some kind of flow and they’re just not very easy to listen to, so I ended up using good new music; music that almost gave me hope that there’s more out there than boring minimal techno.” The Apparat contribution is as stylized as the preceding mixes in the series from Kode 9 and James Holden; with Ring embracing the opportunity to create a mix that represents both his personality and his brave take on ‘club’ music. With an incredibly prevalent talent for manipulation of both tempos and melodies, Ring includes tracks from a handful of dubstep producers like Dutch producer Martyn – whose ‘Miniluv’ provides a glorious rhythmic propulsion when under-layed beneath Patrice Baumel’s ‘Sub’ – and Ramadanman’s ‘Tempest’ – whose melody all but dissipates at the optimum moment – layering and blending them perfectly with tracks from across an array of genres from Autechre’s percussive white noise to Oval’s erratically colourful sound slices or the echoed clicks of Phon.o’s ‘Intervall.’
“A mix needs a bit of dynamic,’ he states. “There were these weirder things I wanted to use, like this Four Tet remix (of Born Ruffian’s ‘I Need A Life’) and then there are some tracks i had to use as tools to glue it all togehter. The way I used the Martyn track is more of a tool to adjust the Patrice Baumel track dynamically to the following ones. But most of the songs are in there for musical reasons. All these artists have their own sound signatures and manage to inject that space into every new song they produce.”
Achieving a sense of progression in the mix through both his selections and his awareness of sonic space, Ring manages to harness his enthusiasms for frequency perfect soundscapes, often creating moments of sheer beauty out of his polarized composite parts.
“The mix isn’t that balanced when it comes to melody I guess,” he continues, considering his point. “There’s a lot of sweetness on there, but it is dark and mysterious at points. I guess the bittersweet-ness has long been kind of my thing and with this mix I was just trying to spice it up a bit.”
A1 Luke Abbott – More Room
A2 Patrice Bäumel – Sub
A3 Ripperton – Echocity
B1 Cosmin TRG – Tower Block
B2 Pantha Du Prince – Welt Am Draht
B3 Born Ruffians – I Need A Life (Four Tet Remix)
C1 Vincent Markowski – The Madness Of Moths
C2 Ramadanman – Tempest
C3 Phon.o – Intervall
D1 Spherix – Lesser People
D2 Joy Orbison – The Shrew Would Have Cushioned The Blow
D3 Thom Yorke – Harrowdown Hill
Refund Policy
All original product is sealed or brand new condition. However, if an item is defective (sealed and unused) Please send us proof of item and we will be happy to exchange the defective copy for a replacement of the same item within the first week after receiving the return item from you. If a replacement isn't available, we will offer you a store credit or refund (your choice). There will not be a shipping charge for this exchange.
For international returns, any customs or import duties, taxes and all other charges paid on return shipments are the solely your responsibility. In the event you refuse your package, only the purchase price will be refunded. All costs, duties, fees, or taxes are your responsibility and will not be refunded to you.
If items are not delivered because you gave us incorrect information, or because your post office was unable to deliver the package because there was no-one to receive it, We will refund you for the cost of the items only, but not for the postage charges. Provided the items are still available, we can re-send the items at your request one time only and you will have to pay all shipping fees.
Requests for refunds must be made within 30 days of the purchase date. We will not refund after such date for any reason whatsoever.
All items must be in original condition and show no signs of use, and must be returned in original vendor packaging.
We do not provide a refund or replacement for items that have been scanned as delivered by FedEx, Post Office or SF Express. If your package tracks as delivered, but you have not received it, please inquire with your local FedEx, mail carrier or at your local post office branch.
We cannot accept unwanted/incorrect items that have been opened. Please make sure you pack your return securely. If an item is returned to us in an unsuitable condition due to poor packaging then we may have to send it back to you without a refund.