While much of what's considered classic can start to sound clunky or dated too many years later, Basic Channel's output sounds surprisingly fresh, even ahead of the curve, well over a decade after its original release. Many of these genre-defining tracks make a lot of what passes for modern dub techno sound tame and unadventurous in comparison.
After setting up shop in 1993, the duo began releasing a series EPs, available only on vinyl. With releases like the brutal "Enforcement" (boasting a remix by Jeff Mills) and "Phylyps Trak", the group announced a radical new intent - stripping the techno sound that was developing in Berlin down to the most raw, reduced form possible, while incorporating the techniques and sound palette of dub music producers from the 60s and 70s.
It was a sound that was utterly alien, somewhat akin to hearing the music from the main room of a rave while in the next room over so that the beats are muffled to the point of sounding completely different.
While these cuts were both ready made for the dancefloor with their pounding beats and endlessly echoing chords, "Lyot Remix" (a Basic Channel remake of a track by fellow German artist Vainqueur) showed a even more intriguing side of the band - taking the catchy, narcotic riff of the original, as well as the beat of the track, and completely submerging it while bringing strange, tweaked sounds to the fore.
Basic Channel released 9 EPs in this format, identifiable only by their famous logo, while grew more and more distorted and unreadable with each release. As they were also concerned with audio engineering and mastering, the duo created a recording studio in Berlin, which would eventually morph into a full-fledged mastering studio, Dubplates & Mastering, now known as the best in the industry. The building would also come to house legendary record shop Hard Wax.
