Superpitcher

As with a lot of other producers on Cologne, Germany's Kompakt label, it's nearly impossible to predict what Aksel Schaufler, aka Superpitcher, will do next. He debuted in 1999 with a 7" in the Kreisel 99 series, then made his first appearance on Kompakt proper a year later with "Shadows" -- an eerie trip-hop production seemingly designed to soundtrack a 3 a.m. drive down a foggy urban alley -- on the label's Total 2 compilation. In 2001, he contributed a track to Kompakt's first Speicher 12" and released Heroin, a three-track 12" with three different sounds; "Tomorrow" was later included on that year's Total 3. Released in 2002, Total 4 included yet another track from Schaufler, a straightforward electro-pop cover of Brian Eno's "Baby's on Fire." Soon after that, Schaufler released his second 12", Yesterday, which featured reworkings of "Tomorrow" and "Heroin." Schaufler has handled steady remixing work for the likes of Dntel, Carsten Jost, Contriva, Phantom/Ghost, the M.F.A., and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Two production albums, 2004's Here Comes Love and 2010's Kilimanjaro, as well as the 2005 mix album Today, were issued on Kompakt. He has also teamed up with Kompakt don Michael Mayer as SuperMayer. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi