Vinyl Vault Entry #16: Electronica Boom with Funkstörung's Additional Productions LP

While the late '90s electronica boom saw artists breaking modern rock radio, experimental duo Funkstörung "thumbed their noses at convention and elevated the groundbreaking achievements of predecessors like John Cage and Christian Marclay." For the sixteenth installment of the Vinyl Vault series, we spoke with Kurt B. Reighley (aka DJ El Toro) on Funkstörung's experimental dance remixes and unconventional record packaging.

​Album: Additional Productions (1999)
Artist: Funkstörung
Label: !K7
Genre: Electronic/dance/remixes
Favorite song: “All Is Full Of Love (In Love With Funkstörung Remix)” by Björk

Why did you choose this record?

The unconventional packaging brings me joy. 

Give us some background on this record. What does the album sound like?

​This is the double-vinyl version of a compilation of remixes by experimental German duo Funkstörung, who were especially active around the turn of the century, during the so-called “electronica” boom. Very glitchy. Features reworks of Wu-Tang Clan, Finitribe, War, and two takes on “All Is Full of Love.” (Björk tried to sign the duo to One Little Indian but was unsuccessful.) 
 
Unconventional packaging fascinates me. As an adolescent in the early ‘80s, I remember my friend Laura raving about Metal Box by PiL (Public Image Ltd.), which originally was released as three 45 RPM 12-inch discs packed in a metal film canister; according to Laura, you couldn’t open the box without damaging the records inside. Cool! In eighth grade, this struck me as the ultimate in art as an act of disruption and rebellion. Later I learned that around the same time, the Durutti Column had released their debut LP, The Return of the Durutti Column, in a coarse sandpaper sleeve intended to damage the jackets of records filed alongside it. Covered in textured gray foam reminiscent of sound insulation, the vinyl edition of Funkstörung’s Additional Productions (which has a slightly different track listing from the compact disc) playfully tweaks this tradition without making the other records in my crate nervous about abrasion. 
 
This record came out during a period in my life where I was working full-time as a DJ and music writer. Some kind soul in New York sent me a promotional copy. While I try not to fetishize records - they’re tools to be used, not collectibles to hoard - this particular disc evokes everything weird and wonderful about those years when underground dance music was being scrubbed up to sell to straight white people (again). I still can’t believe I got paid a living wage to play records like this and Autechre’s Basecad,EP in public spaces where people drank and flirted. 
 
I keep this record filed next to my copy of Composition 11 - Audio Roulette For Three Turntables by The Audio Janitor, released the same year. While Chemical Brothers and the Prodigy were breaking at modern rock radio, these two albums simultaneously thumbed their noses at convention and elevated the groundbreaking achievements of predecessors like John Cage and Christian Marclay. These days, I rarely play Additional Productions (and when I do, I stream it) but just seeing the sleeve poking out of my collection never ceases to bring me cheer.