Karsten Pflum

Karsten Pflum, a Danish musician of restless inventiveness, assembled an extensive body of rhythmically intricate and melody-driven electronic work that stands alongside the strongest releases on Skam or Rephlex, even if wider acclaim has remained elusive. Originally named Jacob Helverskov Madsen, he first issued material under Slaphead Faun before adopting the Karsten Pflum alias for his debut outing, the 2002 7-inch “Lire Skuffe” on Snake Eyes, a Worm Interface sublabel. His first full-length, the 2003 album Tracks issued by Worm Interface, presented a striking collection of buoyant IDM and drill’n’bass. The following year brought the Dogcatcher EP on Tender Productions. In 2005 Jenka Music released both his second album Flugten Fra År 2000 and a split 12-inch shared with breakcore artist Puzzleweasel. Rump Recordings put out his third album Idhax in 2006 along with the limited-edition 7-inch single “God.” Bohnerwachs Tontraeger issued the mildly jazzy Fuck Music, Easy EP in 2007.

Following a period of reduced activity limited to occasional remixes and compilation appearances, and after moving to Berlin, Pflum resurfaced in 2010 with Slaphead Faun on Mindwaves Music, an anthology of previously unheard pieces recorded between 2002 and 2007 and titled after his earlier alias. That same year Ad Noiseam released the 12-inch EP Nemo Loon, an outsider perspective on British dubstep. He then joined the Ant-Zen sublabel Hymen Records, which issued 2011’s No Noia My Love, fusing his established drum’n’bass leanings with pronounced dubstep bass elements. The Austrian imprint HalloWien Creativity put out the 2012 7-inch “Boxer,” a collaboration with DJ Scotch Bonnet, also known as chiptune artist DJ Scotch Egg. Pflum’s next Hymen album, Sleepwald, largely dispensed with beats in favor of ambient territory. The 2014 digital EP Toffyland Tracks appeared on Merry Ex-Mas Records and leaned toward acid techno and electro, while 2015’s Dode, his third Hymen release, gathered concise ambient-electro pieces shaped by role-playing games.