Funckarma: EB5

Info:

Author:	Alan Lockett
Magazine:	e/i Magazine
Review language:	English
Artist:	Funckarma
Rating:	no rate given
Review date:	01 Feb 2007

Review:
Don & Roel Funcken have swiftly gone from being promising newcomers to a status as veterans of beat-driven ambient-electronica. Mainly under the Funckarma brand name (though Quench has done good service too) they’ve had a string of 12”s and remixes, now assembled, respectively, to form two collections. Surprising to realize these are the first Funckarma full-lengths since Solid State (2001), if you ignore their co-productions with hip-hop trio Shadow Huntaz (which you shouldn’t, but understandably might). The Funckens have pledged allegiance to dub and hip-hop nations, and though those elements may work at a deeper level, the surface of their work is more overtly shaped by 90s ambient, techno, d ‘n’ b, acid and electro. A typical Funckarma track challenges the listener to follow a rhythmically complex breakbeat assemblage as it is constructed and de-constructed, through digital hi-hat fizz, thudding kicks, snare-clone crunch, and acid squelch. This is invariably offset by elegant motifs and smooth synthetic chord progressions on an A-cline (AFX-AE-Arovane) of neo-classical melodicity. On the Sending Orbs collection, which assembles tracks from several 12” releases, the four tracks from 2002’s Bourbon Sounds represent the most immaculate conception of this heady blend of intricate digital beats with micro-symphonic analog keyboard drift. “Noir” has morphing fragments cohering into a glitch-ridden funk-fest, gatecrashed by a somber welter of tenebrous cinematic chords; a smooth dark body with gritty undertones. “Sphere” provides a psychoactive zone-out space for those who seek steelier stuff than the flat insipidity of commodified “chill.” Uncoiling crunch ‘n’ crackly rhythmic fists are enfolded in the gorgeous gloves of “Velvet,” with its swelling plangent keyboards. Twin-tempo beats ignite “Sparkzz” while languid bass and keyboard sustains administer cool. Tracks from two other similarly-inclined EPs, the same year’s Elaztiq and the later Parts 5, make this into a sort of Best Of Funckarma, but that Bourbon intoxication remains unmatched.