Michael Fakesch

Best known amongst fans of electro-heavy IDM as one-half of German duo Funkstörung (who broke up in 2006), producer Michael Fakesch maintains the bass-y beats on Dos, his latest solo release. Fakesch manages to keep the beatboxing, horn samples and fast cuttin’ beats, along with the Prince-tinged vocals, and almost the right level of cheese in the songs. The selections on this disc should come as no surprise to fans of either Funkstörung (they’ve remixed Björk, Michael Jarre and Wu-Tang Clan) or fans of Fakesch’s other projects. Tracks like the medium-tempo "Soda” and "Complicated,” lined up next to the squeaky, spacey knob-twiddles of "Travel,” make for a bit of an uneven listen if you’re new to the electro-hop thing but the unpredictable build-ups of "Wire” create a glitchy pastiche worth a second listen. For those who like their IDM to keep ’em guessing, this is a solid, if somewhat monotone, release from one of the genre’s pros.