Funckarma: Refurbished One
n5MD

Refurbished One compiles fourteen Funckarma (Hollanders Don and Roel Funcken) remixes of material by Blamstrain, Plat, Koolfonk, Xenoxeno, Mr. Projectile, Slemper, and others into a comprehensive 70-minute package, the first volume of a proposed series. The brothers show themselves accomplished handlers of multiple genres, including slippery synth-funk and dubby experimentalism, though IDM material like Speedy J's “Hayfever” engages less than hip-hop tracks like “Nipponnized,” Shingetsu Ensemble's entrancing opium-soaked dirge, and Funkstörung's smeary head-nodder “Fat Camp Feva” (featuring Tes and Non Genetic). Though reminiscent of Bola, Ra-X's percolating “Korrupted By Power” slams memorably while other IDM treatments sparkle with churchy melancholy (Jaap Boots' “Als het iemand is”) and tower with epic string washes and drum flourishes (Heavenly Social's “Cyprien”). Two of the album's better tracks are Duuster's skin-crawling grinder “Duuster & Donker” and Plaid's “Cold” which toughens the Warp act's chiming melancholia with choppy funk pulses.

Surprisingly, though, the collection ultimately underwhelms with many pieces sounding curiously uninvolving and, well, flat. This may be attributable to the Funckens' modus operandi which tends towards self-effacement, the two atmospherically massaging their remixes with rhythmic texture than wholly redefining them. Perhaps mediocre source material is the problem; at the same time, original material of average quality can certainly act as perfect fodder for the generation of stunning remixes. Even without knowing the proposed contents of Refurbished Two, one wonders whether a single disc containing the volumes' strongest material might not have been the wiser release strategy.

November 2005