You know you’re about to blow up when Björk and Wu-Tang Clan both request remixes from you within the same week. Michael Fakesch and Chris de Luca have been fortunate enough to know what that feels like. Ten years and a slew of releases later, they have decided to pull the plug on Funkstörung, donating their Appendix to the world as the group’s last word. As wildly original as their own compositions were, it was their remixes that ultimately brought them fame, filtering a vast array of artists through a severely distorted lens of machine malfunctioning hip-hop and digital funk. Taking on Björk’s “All Is Full Of Love” was just too perfect for them. It’s the type of song that fit their noisy agenda, yet they were still able to retain a sense of vulnerability within the chaos. That was the great thing about Funkstörung: they knew when to bring the noise, but they also knew when to scale it back. Their remix of “1st Stroke” places Steve Spacek’s velvet smooth vocals within a sonic underbelly of dark secrets and late night confessions. Conversely, Lamb’s “Heaven” is given an awkward poignancy with ticks, clicks, and cuts running through the guitar strums and vocals. Even the rocking twang of The Raveonettes gets a makeover. “Love In A Trashcan” is not rendered unrecognizable, but is cut up and beat juggled with a start-stop motion, revealing a fragmented funk that might not have been there beforehand. If Funkstörung has left the building, consider Appendix the plastic explosive they left behind in their wake.
