by Jason BirchmeierAfter starting the Raster label with Olaf Bender in 1996, prolific German artist Frank Bretschneider went on to release various strains of experimental music under a number of monikers, including Komet and Produkt, among others. In 1999 he joined forces with fellow experimental German producer Carsten Nicolai, who ran the Noton label, to form the Raster-Noton collective. Later that same year, he released his debut full-length, Rand, under his own name on renowned German label Mille Plateaux. Similar to his Raster label, this album found Bretschneider embarking on a highbrow, almost academic affair, where he applied a philosophic backdrop to the music. A year later he returned with a second album under his real name on Mille Plateaux, Curve, which found him relying less on cerebral elements and more on listenability.