Munich's Funkstörung have been described as the German Autechre, a description which probably has less to do with their sound than the interest the group has attracted to their Musik Aus Strom label. Similar to Autechre's Skam label, Musik Aus Strom (German, roughly, for "synthesizer music") has become one of the more collectible, obsessed-over underground electronica labels, coveted as much for the Skam-esque enigma about them as the increasing exchange between the two labels' rosters (a connection the two sealed in 1997 with the release of the limited edition Mask series, a collaboration between the labels and their respective artists). Composed of Michael Fakesch and Chris De Luca (both barely into their 20s), Funkstörung's more recent excursions into dark, muddy, lo-fi electro and instrumental hip-hop were preceded by a number of relatively straight-ahead techno records on Bunker sublabel Acid Planet beginning in 1994. The duo were contacted soon after by none other than Aphex Twin's Rephlex label about releasing some material, but stalled plans and unanswered phone calls led the pair to forego the label-shopping route early on, and most of their most significant material to date (with the exception of a few compilation tracks and a single for Compost) has appeared through MAS. Although the Bunker singles far outnumber their later self-released material, MAS twelves such as "Zeit," "Breakart," and "Artificial Garbage" compose the group's more sophisticated, mature sound. The hotly pursued Mask series has also done much for the group's visibility; limited to between 100 and 500 copies per release (in successively increasing quantities), Mask releases to date have included tracks from Funkstörung and Skam's Jega, Bola, and Boards of Canada. In 1999, Studio !K7 released the remix collection Additional Productions, and Funkstörung returned one year later with their full-length debut, Appetite for Disctruction. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide