Basic Channel Records ... Educate Me, Please.

it’s cold af here (63F) and completely cloudy, i want to die

perfect bc weather imo

25 years ago I was really into this stuff but always preferred the Chain Reaction side of things. And of that, only still listen today to the Porter Ricks Biokinetics album. When I sold the bulk of my CD collection the buyer didn’t want my BC or Chain Reaction CDs so I have it for free to Wonder Book in Frederick Maryland for some lucky person to find.

“I gave it for free”

bc-04 quadrant

i think of this one as the pop one now. partly because it’s the sampler, short tracks for diverse moods. classic dub techno (1.1.i) broken chain reaction stuff (1.1.iii) total zonk (1.1.iiii). but also because it has the funkiest track of the whole series (1.1.iii) ultimate dj weapon for any club, warehouse, party, wine bar, video stream, whatever

bc-09 phylyps trak ii

like m-04, m-05, m-06 and maybe m-07 this one is also in the pop category because if the tempo is right you can magically make it work in just about any house / techno set, you can pop in and out at any point or play the whole damn thing and it will sound good. absolutely perfect record.

and that’s just the b-side! the a-side is maybe just another mix of phylyps trak but with this relentless chord hit that pushes it to the edge of hysteria. not quite as versatile plus there’s a break you got to look out for at 8 mins that stops things dead in their tracks

you’re missing out, you should revisit these

bc-06 quadrant dub

okay so this one is the whole reason i revisited this thread. idk why but i never really gave this one a good listen. in my mind it sits very much in the middle of the series. it’s not as immediate as the club bangers (quadrant iii, phylyps trak ii, octagon, phylyps trak i) and it’s not meditative as the deep space drifters (presence, radiance, lyot reshape)

on the other hand there’s a few in the series that for whatever reason make no impression on me, either too monotonously tracky (enforcement), too big room trancey (hyperprism / infinition), too billowy and formless inna echocord stylee (basic reshape), too much a rehash / retread of what was done before (q “loop”)

unlike those, something kept bringing me back to quadrant dub. the warmth, maybe? so when the recently repressed most of these, i grabbed fresh copies of 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 (for some reason “radiance” was not repressed, but this is the other reason i am revisiting this) … i put on and … there’s voices? is that singing?

when i first put it on i’d had the windows down, there were kids leaving a game at the high school across the street (lacross playoffs maybe?) and i thought it was the music from their cars maybe mixing with my music? but no, there’s definitely a male diva down in the mix below the chords.

this is a revelation! how did i never notice this? has this always been here? obviously it has, but who is this singning? is it from a chez damier track? is it andy caine? was i only ever hearing the a side and ignoring the b side? or was i only ever hearing the b side (the vinyl sides i/ii seem reversed compared to how they’re presented on apple music)

anyway wow. just goes to show never know when you’re going to be surprised by something you never noticed in a track you’ve thought you’ve “known” for 25+ years

really really really really reaaaaaaaallly good

bc04 q1.1
bc06 quadrant dub
bc09 phylyps trak ii

really really really really good but sometimes not in the mood

bc03 lyot rmx
bc05 inversion / presence
bc08 radiance

merely really really really good

bc02 phylyps track
bc07 octagon / octaedre

i never listen to these

bc01 enforcement
bcbr basic reshape
bccd q loop
bcqd hyperprism / infinition
cd compilations and mixes

to sum up, i would say my respect for the classics has only increased and although on balance i still probably love maurizio singles and select chain reaction singles more i am ashamed for ever having criticized any aspect of basic channel releases #2-9

M series is so timeless, I was bumping those in the car really loudly during the last winter time

i am never not in the mood for m4, m5, m6

Great (re)assessments of BC tracks! Quadrant dub: there really are vocals among the haze, as the 12" is versioning Round One's "I'm Your Brother" 12" on Main Street, another BC offshoot label, that has vocals by Andy Caine.

ah excellent thx. i actually have that one and always play the ron & chez “chicago twisted mix”, must be why i figured it was either a chez damier track or an andy caine track (it was both!)

It's been a long, long time since I listened to the entire BC series (or the M-series for that matter). I think that Octagon/Octaedre would still be my jam (as it was 16!?! years ago), but I guess I should hear everything again to be sure.

I always thought that Phylyps Trak was overrated. I assume they wanted at least one, no doubt, peak-time club banger to come out of this project, just to prove they could do it while being faithful (kind of) to their overall aesthetic. Phylyps Trak II is much better.

Re: Presence and not always being in the mood to stare into the void: I totally get it. These days, I feel that way about some of these tracks too.