Anthony Rother

Anthony Rother began his recording career in the late '80s. The Offenbach-based producer made his name on the German electronic scene with his first two releases, "Sex With The Machines" (1997) and "Simulationszeitalter" (2000). In 1998 he founded his own label, Psi49Net, which allowed him to preserve his artistic independence and showcase his vision of electronic music, defined by a uniquely narrative approach driven by dystopian, futuristic visions of the social changes brought about by technological progress. The vocoder-driven voice and the dark, dystopian synth sound paired with mechanical rhythms became Rother's trademarks even before he gained international recognition as a sci-fi avant-gardist with the virtual electro-pop project "Little Computer People" (2001) and his third solo LP, "Hacker" (2002).

In 2004, Rother set up the label Datapunk to develop a more direct, song-oriented language, built on simple melodies and even autobiographical anecdotes gathered on "Popkiller". Regarded as one of his boldest ventures, this stylistic shift nonetheless had a decisive impact on the careers of many artists: The Hacker, Boys Noise and Terence Fixmer all released material on Datapunk early in their careers. Meanwhile, some of the experimental ambient recordings made for Pete Namlook's famous label Fax +49-69/450464 reflect Rother's prolific output, as over the years he has also collaborated and co-produced with several prominent artists, including former Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos, Sven Väth and DJ Hell. (From the artist's website)