(12.12.03) It seems as if brothers Don and Roel Funcken just can’t go wrong. Everything they dip their gear into turns into an audio assault of creative electronic engineering. This time around, On Records unleashes 4 remixes by Funckarma offering a wide-ranging musical palette of tranquil rhythms and thoroughly enforced digital frequencies. Remixes of original tracks by Ontayso (U-Cover), Céline (The Black Dog/AFX/BoC), Kero (Shitkatapult/Lowres/Ghostly) and Slemper (Jip) are provided on a 12″ EP of varying electronic detail.
Dropping the needle on the A-side of this slab of wax (“Score Of An Imaginary Iceland”), we’re immediately elevated to the acoustically drenched, jazz-influenced experiments of Ontayso (of Llips and Starfish Pool fame). Funckarma repositions the energetic juices on this remix by adding a swaying digital groove digging deep into the fabric of this already relaxed organic treasure. Some might recall Céline’s voice from random tracks produced with The Black Dog, Aphex Twin and the Boards of Canada; Current collaborations include Mr. Projectile, Xela, Ulrich Schnauss and NKH. On Funckarma’s remix of Céline’s “Here And Now,” tranquilized ambient flows drift into the dark, delicate clipping beats pass by without notice, and faded voices brush against textured backgrounds of experimentation.
Flip the record over and you’re in for more of a surprise; Kero’s “Bent” is remixed to extreme effect. Basslines rumble with a percussive envelope of rhythmic complexity, energetic bursts of ambience fill in the voids, while crumbling layers of dust settle above the electrical fragments of sound; Quite an expansive dose of sound composition, arrangement and detail to say the least. On Slemper’s “Soccermummy,” a personal favorite, Funckarma manufactures an impeccable mix of kinetic rhythms that unfold, derail and decompose into 8-bit electro distortions. Add to that, the subliminally placed vocal cuts and rubbery bassline, and “Soccermummy” becomes an instant highlight on this 12″ remix-EP.
DemSongzByWe is a great representation of Funckarma’s ranging creativity. Fiddling with organic instrumentation, schizophrenic ambiences and aggressive, bass-heavy electronics, this 12″ will stay at the front of your record bag for quite a while.
DemSongzByWe is out now on On.
