LP5

Apparat’s Sascha Ring got his start in the early 2000s fusing Berlin techno with glitchy new-school IDM, but it didn’t take long before an even more important element entered the mix: bleeding-heart emo, misty-eyed and proud. On his first solo album in six years, Ring steps away from the widescreen drama of Moderat, his collaboration with Modeselektor, and gives free rein to his most sensitive inclinations. After Krieg und Frieden’s orchestral focus, LP5 returns to an electronic palette of layered synths and crunchy breakbeat mutations, crosscut with sparing use of more organic sounds: “Dawan” suggests a drum 'n' bass remix of The Cure, while the closing “In Gravitas” is a weighty slab of cinematic bass throb. (At the other end of the spectrum, the gorgeous “Eq_Break” could almost double as ambient chamber music.) But the focus throughout remains on Ring’s agile and expressive falsetto, his synths' low-end growl echoing the finely detailed grain of his voice. It’s a rare display of vulnerability and a moving demonstration of electronic music at its most personal.