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Basic Channel

 
Artist: Basic Channel

Group Members:

Mark Ernestus, Moritz Von Oswald

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Formal Connection With:

Moritz Von Oswald
  • Formed: 1993, Berlin, Germany
  • Genres: Electronica
  • Representative Albums: "BCD-2," "BCD"

Biography

Basic Channel has become synonymous with a brand of stripped-down, ultra-minimal techno almost devoid of musical substance or intent. Both artist and label, Basic Channel was established by Berlin-based producers Mark Ernestus and Moritz Von Oswald (aka Maurizio) in 1993, and the pair have unhurriedly developed a slim but adored catalog of releases under such names as Cyrus, Phylyps, q1.1, Quadrant, Octagon, and Radiance -- working a single-minded concept of nearly featureless machine music ("nearly," of course, being the key to the music's success). Like many German techno artists and labels (Tresor, Studio 1, Mike Ink), Basic Channel harbors a reverence for early Chicago acid and house and first-wave Detroit techno, the latter of which in particular is manifested in Mark and Moritz's ultraconservatism with respect to rhythm and composition. Releasing under a dozen 12-inches since their inception (a few of them, however, nearing album length), Basic Channel issued their first CD-release in 1996 (the group otherwise remain staunch vinyl addicts -- they even assembled their own pressing facility) in 1996. Titled simply Basic Channel, the disc was a continuously mixed taster of their 12-inch releases, which continue to trickle out at a rate of only a few per year. Basic Channel is one in a network of artists and labels also including Thomas Koner/Porter Ricks, the Chain Reaction label (more avant experimental techno), M (Moritz's personal label and home to his Maurizio releases), the Main Street label (pop house), and Imbalance (a CD-only experimental music label). ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Basic Channel
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Basic Channel

Rhythm & Sound performing at MUTEK in 2007
Background information
Also known as Rhythm & Sound, Maurizio, Round One-Round Five
Genre(s) Electronica
dub-Techno
Years active 1993 - present
Label(s) Basic Channel, Basic Replay, Chain Reaction, Rhythm & Sound, Main Street, M Records
Website http://www.basicchannel.com/
Members
Moritz Von Oswald, Mark Ernestus

Basic Channel is a dub techno production team and record label, composed of Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, that originated in Berlin, Germany in 1993.[1] The duo released a number of vinyl-only tracks under various aliases, each of which employed their signature brand of dissonant dub techno. The nine original releases were each primarily identified as Basic Channel productions by their catalogue numbers, as the Basic Channel logo on the label became more distorted and unreadable with each subsequent release.

The duo set up a studio in Berlin on Paul-Lincke-Ufer, in a building which was eventually to house Mark Ernestus’ distributing company and shop Hard Wax, and the label's mastering studio Dubplates & Mastering, set up to ensure a desired dynamic quality for the vinyl[2].

The Basic Channel imprint ceased business in 1995 (apart from two releases almost a decade later that were originally issued on Carl Craig's Planet E label), but were followed by a string of similar labels. Among the most important were Chain Reaction, which released non-Von Oswald/Ernestus productions and helped launch the careers of dub-influenced minimal techno producers such as Monolake and Porter Ricks; Basic Replay, which specialises in reggae and dancehall re-issues; Main Street, for house-related releases; and Burial Mix and Rhythm & Sound, which saw the duo's sound move away from the Detroit blueprint and closer to vocal-lead dub and reggae. Their With The Artists album, released as Rhythm & Sound and featuring celebrated reggae and dancehall vocalists such as Sugar Minott, featured in the top 50 records of the year for 2003 in The Wire magazine.

Basic Channel also run a comprehensive programme of re-issues for the American reggae label Wackies.

The label artwork for releases BC-02, 07 and 08, showing the progressive distortion of the Basic Channel logo

Contents

Discography

Basic Channel

  • Cyrus Enforcement (BC-01, 1993)
  • Phylyps Trak (BC-02, 1993)
  • Vainqueur Lyot (Reshape) (BC-03, 1993)
  • Quadrant Q 1.1 (BC-04, 1993)
  • Cyrus Inversion (BC-05, 1994)
  • Quadrant Dub (BC-06, 1994)
  • Basic Channel Octagon / Octaedre (BC-07, 1994)
  • Radiance I / II / III (BC-08, 1994)
  • Phylyps Trak II (BC-09, 1994)
  • Basic Channel BCD (BCD, 1995)
  • Basic Channel Basic Reshape (BCBR, 2004)
  • Quadrant Infinition/Hyperism (BCQD, 2004)
  • Basic Channel BCD-2 (BCD-2, 2008)

Selected Burial Mix Releases

  • Rhythm & Sound w/ Paul St. Hilaire Showcase CD (BMD-1, 1996)
  • Rhythm & Sound w/ The Artists Rhythm & Sound w/ The Artists CD (BMD-2, 2003)
  • Rhythm & Sound The Versions CD (BMD-2, 2003)
  • Rhythm & Sound See Mi Ya 7" box set (BMD-14-20, 2005)
  • Rhythm & Sound See Mi Ya CD (BMD-4, 2005)
  • Rhythm & Sound See Mi Ya Remixes CD (BMXD-1, 2006)

Other Related CD Albums

  • Various ...Compiled (Chain Reaction, CRD-06, 1998)
  • Round One - Round Five 1993-99 Main Street Records (Main Street Records, MSD-01, 1999)
  • Rhythm & Sound Rhythm & Sound (Rhythm & Sound, RSD-01, 2001)
  • Scion Scion Arrange And Process Basic Channel Tracks (Tresor, Tresor 200, 2002)
  • Maurizio M Series (Maurizio, MCD, 2003)
  • Various Basic Replay (Basic Replay, BR-1, 2007)

Paul St. Hilaire

Paul St. Hilaire (aka Tikiman) is a reggae vocalist from the island of Dominica in the Caribbean, and was the second vocalist (after Andy Caine) to collaborate with Von Oswald and Ernestus, steering their sounds away from 4/4 techno. In 2003 he set up the Basic Channel subsidiary False Tuned. His vocals have appeared on many electronic releases, including those by pioneers Modeselektor and Stereotyp. Two self-produced CDs have been released by him - "Unspecified" and "Adsom".

References

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Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Basic Channel" Read more

 

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