It’s a testament to the popularity of Berlin duo Modeselektor that at midnight on a Thursday, Digital is rammed, and not just with students – a fair few sickies are going to be pulled tomorrow. The show’s promoting their third album, ‘Monkeytown.’ Released in September to rapturous delight, this album is a dance music how-to, spanning electro, techno and house with equal grace, and featuring guest collaborations from Otto von Shirach, Antipop Consortium and none other than Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. Intelligent, innovative and surprisingly accessible, ‘Monkeytown’s deserving of the buzzing atmosphere that’s packed the club out.

The night is the first endeavour of Brighton’s Convex Collective, a group of tight-knit allies bonded over a deep love of all things electronic. As any promoters in Brighton will tell you, putting together an event as large as this without much prior experience is a tough job – but they’ve done it. Well-selected support acts warm up the crowd and as Modeselektor reach their zenith, monkey masks drop from the balconies to an appreciative and receptive crowd.

From the hard, pounding trance of ‘Evil Twin,’ to the hip-hop clicks of ‘Humanized,’ the set blasts by quicker than seems reasonable, and leaves a club full of sweaty fans to grin their way home.

MODESELEKTOR
DIGITAL, THURSDAY 13TH OCTOBER 2011
WORD BY JESSICA MARSHALL MCHATTIE
PHOTOS BY INDIGO BURNS