- In its original incarnation from 1993 to 1995, Basic Channel—the Berlin-based production team and record label of Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus—was very much a label of mystery. In short, not only was the label itself a different beast, shrouding its releases in an anonymous, ever-disintegrating shell, but the music world itself was a different place then, too. The Internet was still in its infancy and so information about who was behind these records and where they came from was very hard to come by. The labels were barely legible and devoid of artist information, songwriting credits, or any other standard piece of information. Absent today’s computer-driven hype machine, no one saw the releases coming; no bloggers or critics analyzed them from release to release. The music itself was, in a word, alien: minimal (before it was a dirty word) techno vaguely in the hard Detroit style that evolved substantially across the life of the imprint. While the debut 12-inch release had clear printing and a recognizable remixer (Jeff Mills, whose stint in the equally shadowy Underground Resistance was clearly an influence), over the life of the label both the artwork and the sounds contained therein mutated and dissolved, injected with more and more dub echo, space, noise, and ambience until it resembled a ninth-generation Xerox of the (relatively) straightforward early releases.
These factors worked in confluence to ensure that Basic Channel would live on far beyond its (admittedly hefty) sphere of influence not only because of the otherworldly dubbed-out techno and ambient excursions contained on those nine original pieces of vinyl, but because of the very manner in which they were presented. No one had heard sounds like these before; no one had seen records like these before. The rest, as they say, is history.
The release of the original Basic Channel CD in 1995—originally packaged in a cardboard cover that you had to destroy to open, complete with a sticker on the back cheerfully reading “buy vinyl!”—shed some light on their intentions, but also helped to muddy the waters. While spread the label to a wider audience, it also featured many edits, remixes, and otherwise unavailable versions. The music succeeded on its own account, but it didn’t really paint an accurate picture of the Basic Channel sound either; it was more like a fuzzy reflection. Appropriately, the song titles were printed on the front cover in mirror-image.
After keeping Basic Channel more or less in mothballs for the last decade or so (a couple of reissues of some related work for Planet E aside), suddenly, with no fanfare or even much notice, a second CD arrives. This time, however, the tracks are full-length versions arranged in chronological order and packaged in a simple black digipak with titles clear on front and the BC and Maurizio catalogs detailed in the center spread (the “buy vinyl!” message remains on the back). Maybe the years have softened Ernestus and Von Oswald, because this CD is about as definitive a label comp as one could fit on a single disc. The chronological arrangement suggests that the original releases were in fact planned in order for a reason, as they now make a perfectly paced disc. The journey starts with a metallic, minimal stomp (“Enforcement,” “Phylyps Trak”), evolves into a ghostly dub image of itself (“Inversion,” and both sides of the “Octagon” single), and finally gets spit out again at the end as a new version of the original (“Phylyps Trak II/II”) that remains eerily similar. If you didn’t know better, you might think the pair were working with the same basic track the entire time, merely rolling it over in their hands and looking at new ways for the light to catch its many facets. In fact, that sounds like as good a theory as any.
Whether the sound of Basic Channel still packs the wallop it once did after all these years and all that dub minimalism in between is up for debate, one probably better had by those with younger, fresher ears. Regardless, this compilation now serves as the definitive article for those looking to experience Basic Channel, whether for the first time or the 500th. A word of warning, however: if you start here, chances are great that you’re going to go ahead and buy all nine singles anyway.
Tracklist01. Enforcement
02. Phylyps Trak
03. Inversion
04. Octagon
05. Octaedre
06. Phylyps Trak II/II