Articles
2007 Ten Favourite Labels
Backtracking Greg Davis
Shackleton Interview

Albums
John Luther Adams
Joseph Auer
Commix
Dartriix
Floratone
Furniture
Shuta Hasunuma
Richard Hawley
Hologram
Icarus
Kiln
Kobol
Labradford
Last Days
M83
Mai
Darren McClure
Near the Parenthesis
David Newlyn
Objekt4
OK Ikumi
Ontayso
Wendel Patrick
Phon°noir
Pocahaunted / Robedoor
Poostosh
Prefuse 73
Quosp
Rapoon
The Retail Sectors
Skull Disco
Socos
Supersilent
Tigrics
Trentemøller
Zuydervelt / Baars / Veld.

Compilations/Mixes
Airport Symphony
Devil in the Detail
Dinky
EXPANSION | contraction
Funckarma
Little Darla v. 25
One Five Zero
Playgroup / Alter Ego
Signal Path
Soul Jazz Singles
U-cover Mix 03 [IDM]
Ricardo Villalobos
We Are All Cotton-Hearted
Well Deep

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Basic Unit
Bodycode
Kit Clayton & Sutekh
Dartriix
Ditch
INKlings
Insanic4
Lackluster
Najem Sworb
Ontayso
Sutekh
The Tamborines
Telafonica
Zainetica

Funckarma: Refurbished Two
n5MD

I think I've finally figured out how the Funcken brothers manage to be so prolific: they don't work side-by-side but in shifts, with one sleeping and the other working, and then switch roles at shift's end. How else to explain the never-ending stream of new and unreleased material and remixes? Anywaaay… the siblings' latest remix set won't disappoint Funckarma fans. As usual, it's a generous collection that exemplifies the brothers' distinctive signature. Don and Roel liberally cycle loops and effects like card-shufflers until a given piece appears to spin in place, albeit in relatively slow motion. Their material exudes a disorienting feel, with voices and rhythms constantly swirling as if entrapped within a druggy haze. Throughout the nearly seventy-minute disc, tracks are twisted elastically into low-riding, atmospheric dub-funk configurations.

Targeted artists are a diverse lot, with everyone from Run_Return (“Animals Are Beautiful People”), Gridlock (“Estrella V2”), and Landau (“Raued Daued”) given the Funckarma treatment. In their hands, Machinedrum's “Machinebong” becomes an exercise in churning, acidy madness, while the echolalic voices in Céline's “Here and Now” receive additional shredding in the group's digital Cuisinart. The brothers push Ontayso's “Score Of An Imaginary Iceland” into a rather more psychedelic jazz direction where a saxophone wails against a galaxial haze of synths and percussive thrums. Standouts include the squirrelly funk and hip-hop treatment of E.stonji's “Con.Trst” and the slinky, heavy-hitting hip-hop of “The Way It Was” by Strand & Tres (two equally epic instrumental mixes by Funckarma and Shadowhuntaz appear).

December 2007