IDM Mailing Archive

CRUNCH "1" (Musik Aus Strom) cd/2lp 15.98/15.98 The story behind Crunch is an interesting one, indeed: Michael Fakesch (the member of Funkstorung who runs the Intelligent Dance Music boutique label Music Aus Strom) claims that he has no information about the identity or origin of Crunch. He received a DAT demo tape in the mail, and with it, only a cryptic e-mail address. No name. No postal address, although the package was mailed from from London. Solely based upon the merits of that demo, Fakesch blindly offered to release Crunch's first album. If you are to believe Fakesch's story, Crunch has maintained perfect anonymity -- and thus perfectly encapsulated the euphemism / insult "faceless techno bollocks!" Fakesch -- in both his solo outings and with Funkstorung -- has always walked the razor-thin success / failure line through the melodic arenas of IDM, a genre which holds the work of Autechre in such high esteem as to often haplessly delve into mere mimicry. Thus for Fakesch to fall for something as hard as he did for Crunch's demo, you gotta believe the Autechre influence there is really really strong! And it's true. (Who knows, maybe Crunch IS Autechre!) Crunch tends to sound most like the earliest Autechre releases (especially Amber), where sweeping synth motifs intertwine to form complex if sad melodic passages, which are more of a presence than the rhythmic complexities which tend to dominate later Autechre albums. If you're new to the IDM genre, pick up an Autechre album to start... but for confirmed Autechre/IDM fans, this is certainly one to get!! --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org