i mean it is literally impossible to talk about house and techno in a broad context w/o evaluating the impact of those guys, nobody else on the list can claim that (you could easily sub in any number of hardcore and bleep artists for 4 hero and lfo and drexciya is non pareil but also sort of in their own world)
― the late great, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 23:37 (eleven years ago) link
i'm not saying i enjoy basic channel more than drexciya necessarily but that's not really what these polls are about, are they?
― the late great, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 23:41 (eleven years ago) link
like i'll take lfo (leeds warehouse mix) and sea snake and tied up an black sea over any individual basic channel track (not counting maurizio) but not over the entire genre of "hardwax techno"
― the late great, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 23:45 (eleven years ago) link
TBH Basic Channel's specific appeal has been kinda run down a bit by the emergence of the entire genre of "hardwax techno" as a permanent side-serve to detroit.
But I get your point and think this poll is theirs to lose (esp. if one includes Main Street Records and Rhythm & Sound).
versus 4 Hero who are less obviously the sole ancestors of the styles and sub-styles they fostered, but maybe fill a "patient zero" style role - it's likely that darkside hardcore, artcore, atmospheric/jazzy d&b and broken beat would have happened without them but nonetheless everything that actually happened in each of those moments can be traced back to their pivotal role.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 23:53 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUD4RaRSSio
― elan, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 01:21 (eleven years ago) link
yeah but that's just arguing that 4 hero sparked a fad several times in a row, mr kirks nightmare was the anthem and maybe it was even the one that sparked the trend but it was hardly the only stab anybody had taken at darkcore or whatever you want to call it
similarly i'd say guy called gerald re: their ambient leanings etc
also you know i love then most for their jacobs optical stairway project
― the late great, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 03:47 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah I was agreeing with your distinction though.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 03:54 (eleven years ago) link
er, sorry, the side serving joke put me in death to false techno mode
― the late great, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 04:19 (eleven years ago) link
god 'phylyps trak' is just like transcendentally brutal
― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Wednesday, 4 April 2012 04:24 (eleven years ago) link
come on it's obviously basic channel, these guys cast a bigger shadow over techno than anybody since derrick may and mr fingers
The poll is about the "best", not the "most influential" though. The BC stuff that I've heard is okay, but there are other 90s minimalists (Emmanuel Top, Burger & Ink, Khan & Walker, Plastikman, etc) I like more.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 07:03 (eleven years ago) link
Basic Channel entirely passed me by
― THIS TRADE SERVES ZERO FOOTBALL PURPOSE (DJP), Wednesday, 4 April 2012 12:41 (eleven years ago) link
basic channel: get into it!
― the late great, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 15:33 (eleven years ago) link
start with quadrant dub xp
― tanuki, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 15:36 (eleven years ago) link
huh, somehow I knew about Porter Ricks and Monolake, tho
― THIS TRADE SERVES ZERO FOOTBALL PURPOSE (DJP), Wednesday, 4 April 2012 15:57 (eleven years ago) link
One thing I've always wondered about Basic Channel: were many people actually into their tracks at the time they came out? Because I can't remember hearing anything by them, or about them, until the late 90s, and even then it was Rhythm & Sound that I first heard. By the time I got to hear the actual BC stuff, I'd already been listening to other artists influenced by them, like Monolake, who I thought did the same thing better. So that's why I've never been that impressed by them.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 15:58 (eleven years ago) link
(haha, x-post with Dan)
yes, many many people were into basic channel when they came out. it made a *huge* impact.
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Maurizio#t=Appearances_Mixes&q=&p=1
― the late great, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:09 (eleven years ago) link
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh duh, Basic Channel = Maurizio
okay yeah now the impact argument makes sense
― THIS TRADE SERVES ZERO FOOTBALL PURPOSE (DJP), Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:11 (eleven years ago) link
i should say, a huge impact on the field of "serious techno"
― the late great, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:13 (eleven years ago) link
I dunno if that's supposed to prove it, if you look at the Discogs entry for Air Liquide, for example, they appeared on about the same amount of mixes in the 1990s, and you can hardly say they had a huge impact even then:
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Air+Liquide#t=Appearances_Mixes&q=&p=1
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:17 (eleven years ago) link
Compare Maurizio to Emmanuel Top:
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Emmanuel+Top#t=Appearances_Mixes&q=&p=1
He has more than three times as many mix appearances in the 1990s, but these days few people credit him as a minimal techno pioneer, even though he totally was.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:20 (eleven years ago) link
I thought the point of that discog link wasn't the number of appearances but who Basic Channel actually were
― THIS TRADE SERVES ZERO FOOTBALL PURPOSE (DJP), Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:22 (eleven years ago) link
actually IIRC air liquide / rising high did have a big impact on german techno, esp in terms of germans adopting breakbeats and giving rise to stuff like khan and walker, etc
also i realize things are different in finland and america but over there is 15 the same as 30?
― the late great, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:23 (eleven years ago) link
also tuomas yr question was about "back then"
"back then" emmanuel top was getting 5/5 reviews in mixmag
but here's the thing: those basic channel appearances are much higher profile than those emmanuel top appearances
― the late great, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:24 (eleven years ago) link
yeah I was gonna say Air Liquide was huge at the time IIRC but got lazy
― THIS TRADE SERVES ZERO FOOTBALL PURPOSE (DJP), Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:26 (eleven years ago) link
No idea what anyone is on about or what that list of random artists at the top is all about but Basic Channel is the answer
― coal, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:27 (eleven years ago) link
emmanuel top *was* high-profile then, for example it was kinda the centrepiece of one of the chem brothers big mixes
― the late great, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:28 (eleven years ago) link
Haha, you realize Walker is one half of Air Liquide?
I count 14 mix appearance for Maurizio in the 1990s (plus 3 for Basic Channel). Did I miscount?
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:29 (eleven years ago) link
Who else was getting remixes like this from UR?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qptCcKCB1c
― elan, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:45 (eleven years ago) link
oh duh, walker was in liquid, you're totally right. anyway, they were a big influence on that
xpost you didn't miscount, i think you just didn't count stuff like phylyps and rhythm & sound, they had a ton of aliases, right?
― the late great, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 16:55 (eleven years ago) link
tuomas have you ever analyzed your overweening desire to always be right?
― tanuki, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 17:28 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x48HJpCuK-o
speaking of maurizio ploy remixes,
though i am tempted by MAW, my vote has to go the Orb.
― dsb, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 17:32 (eleven years ago) link
Basic Channel belongs with the knob twiddlers, but clearly is the most important of these. I voted Lamb for sentimental reasons.
― Sanpaku, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 19:43 (eleven years ago) link
still not choosing between Lamb and Moloko (but if pressed, would pick Lamb)
― God, Music and Romeo and Juliet (DJP), Wednesday, 4 April 2012 19:44 (eleven years ago) link
gotta say dubby minimal is sounding kind of boring to me these days
― Chris S, Wednesday, 4 April 2012 19:51 (eleven years ago) link
4 Hero
― Jessie Fer Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Wednesday, 4 April 2012 20:06 (eleven years ago) link
I just wanted to say, I'm not denying Basic Channel were influential from the turn of the millennium onwards, when the German minimal techno scene became popular, it's just that I don't remember them being very infuential before that. In my recollection, the minimal scene in the 90s was less about dubby, "deep" tracks and more about harsh, dry tunes, like Emmanuel Top or Richie Hawtin or Panasonic, or German Schranz, or what was known as "monotrack" here in Finland. But of course it might've been different elsewhere in the world.
― Tuomas, Thursday, 5 April 2012 06:59 (eleven years ago) link
no pre-95 it was exactly as you describe but it's tricky because one bleeds into the other when you look at people like hawtin and dan bell
― the late great, Thursday, 5 April 2012 07:10 (eleven years ago) link
or baby ford or force inc etc etc
― the late great, Thursday, 5 April 2012 07:11 (eleven years ago) link
tuomas reads very well in eeyore voice
― preternatural concepts concerning variances in sound and texture (contenderizer), Thursday, 5 April 2012 07:27 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, but that was the exact reason I asked whether the Basic Channel tracks were influential when they originally came out, since that was in the early 90s.
― Tuomas, Thursday, 5 April 2012 07:35 (eleven years ago) link
My introduction to Basic Channel, Chain Reaction, Maurizio etc. was with their feature in The Wire which I think was Aug '96. It was at that point I saw them as superior in terms of sound design to a lot of German and European techno that preceded that time. They release the iconic metal boxed CDs around that time also I think. I remember people who I admired like Carl Craig were bigging them up in interviews. This was obviously a few years after they had released the first 12"s.
― mmmm, Thursday, 5 April 2012 12:39 (eleven years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Sunday, 8 April 2012 00:01 (eleven years ago) link
the very first promo pile that arrived @ ireallylovemusic hq happened to be the back catalogue of eat static.while the odd track was fun for 10 minutes, have to admit i never got to the end of an album.same goes for the secret knowledge album to be honest .. /
my vote may be boring, but it has to be the orb.
― mark e, Sunday, 8 April 2012 00:13 (eleven years ago) link
Lamb without any hesitation.
― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 8 April 2012 03:12 (eleven years ago) link
basic channel v. lfo v. mouse on mars for me
mouse on mars fell off pretty hard, but god, i love their glam/instrumentals period so much.
basic channel 'radiance' also extremely beautiful.
all the lfo lps are quite good too. even have a lot of love for 'sheath'.
tough call.
― original bgm, Sunday, 8 April 2012 05:42 (eleven years ago) link
Where's 2 Bad Mice?
― gawagai, Sunday, 8 April 2012 15:19 (eleven years ago) link
Whether to vote Burger/Ink for one perfect album or Mouse on Mars for at least five near-perfect ones...
― instant coffee happening between us (a passing spacecadet), Sunday, 8 April 2012 20:03 (eleven years ago) link
Alter EgoBasic ChannelBurger/InkMasters At WorkMouse On MarsShut Up & Dance
I think I'll go for Shut Up & Dance... never fails to get me going...
― mmmm, Sunday, 8 April 2012 20:19 (eleven years ago) link
Burger/Ink are restyled as Mohn with a new album out very soon..!!
― mmmm, Sunday, 8 April 2012 20:20 (eleven years ago) link
4hero, for Parallel Universe alone.
― ablaeser, Sunday, 8 April 2012 23:16 (eleven years ago) link
Finally got around to voting, decided on MAW just shading Basic Channel and Drexciya.
― Chewshabadoo, Sunday, 8 April 2012 23:20 (eleven years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Monday, 9 April 2012 00:01 (eleven years ago) link
photo finish.
― Boo-Yaa Too Rough International Boo-Yaa Empire (Merdeyeux), Monday, 9 April 2012 00:07 (eleven years ago) link
LOLLLL
― the late great, Monday, 9 April 2012 02:22 (eleven years ago) link
basic channel records were massive on the underground when they came out, those 12"s had a huge mystique iirc in terms of sound design and even the pressings themselves. dave clarke would routinely award them five dancing men in his Mixmag Update reviews.
― second only to popcorn (or something), Monday, 9 April 2012 04:01 (eleven years ago) link
i would have voted for MAW tho, tbh.
"The slammer" ices the rest of this boring egghead shit
― neutral sequence for flute (blank), Monday, 9 April 2012 04:15 (eleven years ago) link
I thought of including them, but apparently they had three members, despite the name.
Interesting that Moloko got only one vote, I thought they might win. I guess people don't listen tho them that much anymore, especially since Roisin Murphy has had such a strong solo career?
― Tuomas, Monday, 9 April 2012 09:03 (eleven years ago) link
i like Moloko fine but vote for them over BC or Drexciya??? fucking mentalism
― red is hungry green is jawless (Noodle Vague), Monday, 9 April 2012 09:09 (eleven years ago) link
Non, non, non, non-non-non, knob!Non non, non-non-non, knob!Du-o...
― beachville, Monday, 9 April 2012 13:52 (eleven years ago) link
Best 90 electronic music duo: THE FINAL BATTLE
― Tuomas, Monday, 9 April 2012 17:51 (eleven years ago) link