Comprised of a DJ and a producer working together to bridge the dancefloor and the studio, Crane A.K. emerged at the end of the '90s just in time to serve as the flagship artist for Force Inc's Force Tracks subsidiary. The Berlin duo's remarkable synthesis of house's dancefloor utility and minimal techno's nuanced cerebralism made them a perfect foundation for Force Tracks, a label with an identical aesthetic that would go on to host such luminaries as Llumo and MRI. Markus Gniech functions as the group's link to the dancefloor, as he also happens to spin records as DJ Knigge with much acclaim in Europe and, in particular, Germany. The duo's other member, Michael Friedrich, functions as the group's studio mastermind, having started experimenting with synths and samplers in the late '80s and having began producing in 1990. The two began their partnership in winter 1998, fashioning minimal tracks that were heady as well as rousing, most comparable to the Köln-based tech-house artists recording for Kompakt in the late '90s. After a series of celebrated 12" EPs for Force Tracks, the duo's first full-length appeared in early 2001, Pink Eyed Pony. ~ Jason Birchmeier