Modeselektor & Apparat reunite for the sublime and succinctly titled 'II'. With peerless production sheen and the lushest intentions they bridge the gap between classy Teutonic trance, garage-grooved UK soul music and ambient indie-pop on eleven exquisite compositions. Sascha Ring aka Apparat's voice is a key factor, coming off like Thom Yorke's sweeter, blue-eyed soul brother for the most part, while the production is an insoluble combination of their tastes exhibited via the Monkeytown label, and that classic feel for pill-belly melody and intricate, involving arrangement equally adept at enhancing your headphone commute as it is to soundtracking stadiums and heaving clubs. The ghost of Burial looms large throughout, haunting its clipped 2-step rhythms and forlorn melodic figures from the lonely interlude to the depressed voices and snappy punctuation of 'Ilona', keeping each song teetering on the balance of soul wallow and euphoric salvation. The previous single 'Bad Kingdom' is the most obvious highlight, but our favourites moments lie in the brooding ten minute drone techno ascendance of 'Milk', and the wet-eyed trance tingle and woodblock grooves of 'Therapy'. We're sure you'll have your own percy, though, it's just one of those that albums that you can't deny on many levels.