Huge Chrome Cylinder Box Unfolding

The flowering of digitally processed origami on the cover of Aaron Funk's seventh Venetian Snares full-length for Planet Mu signals that Autechre is a reference point for the music inside. Far from being a slavish imitator, though, Funk is not only able to crunch the same high-volume numbers as Autechre (something few producers can manage), but also create tracks that expand the duo's straitjacket-tight musical aesthetic. Like Autechre, Funk's productions quicken or slow according to an internal rhythm, and he creates his productions from innumerable byte-size chunks of toneless digital percussion that together sound as though they've been sampled from thousands of different sources. There's always at least one line to hold the production together, functioning as a melody (sort of) and allowing the rest of the production to move as far afield as possible without deserting form entirely. Lengthening Funk's impressive track record on Planet Mu, Huge Chrome Cylinder Box Unfolding is the best recording Autechre never made, and it's better even than most of the ones Autechre have made.