Funkst?rung

by Sean CooperMunichs Funkst?rung have been described as the German Autechre, a description which probably has less to do with their sound than the interest the group has attracted to their Musik Aus Strom label. Similar to Autechres Skam label, Musik Aus Strom (German, roughly, for synthesizer music) became one of the more collectible, obsessed-over underground electronica labels, coveted as much for the Skam-esque enigma about them as the increasing exchange between the two labels rosters (a connection the two sealed in 1997 with the release of the limited-edition Mask series, a collaboration between the labels and their respective artists).Composed of Michael Fakesch and Chris de Luca, Funkst?rungs recent excursions into dark, muddy, lo-fi electro and instrumental hip-hop were preceded by a number of relatively straight-ahead techno records on Bunker sublabel Acid Planet beginning in 1994. The duo was contacted soon after by none other than Aphex Twins Rephlex label about releasing some material, but stalled plans and unanswered phone calls led the pair to forego the label-shopping route early on, and most of their most significant early material (with the exception of a few compilation tracks and a single for Compost) appeared through MAS. Although the Bunker singles far outnumbered their later self-released material, MAS 12s such as Zeit, Breakart, and Artificial Garbage composed the groups more sophisticated, mature sound.The hotly pursued Mask series did much for the groups visibility; limited to between 100 and 500 copies per release (in successively increasing quantities), Mask releases included tracks from Funkst?rung and Skams Jega, Bola, and Boards of Canada. In 1999, Studio !K7 released the remix collection Additional Productions, and Funkst?rung returned one year later with their full-length debut, Appetite for Disctruction.