"What is this shit?" my friend asked me when he clicked on Basic Channel in his iTunes library. Around this time, I did not have access to my own high speed internet, so I'd (rather selfishly) take advantage of his to download music I was dying to hear. Basic Channel was one of the first albums I was desperate to cop at any price; I was going down the list of 5-star AMG electronic albums, trying to educate myself and hear the "essential stuff" when I came across this title. Maybe it was something about Steve Huey's AMG description ("ultraconservatism with respect to rhythm and composition"), or perhaps it was the enticing, mysterious 30-second snippets, but something made it become a must-have release for me.
My friend simply did not understand. "It sounds like the most generic techno I could imagine," he complained. At first, I could see where he was coming from: the CD is practically the definition of minimal, with little more than standard 4/4 house rhythms with subtle, dub/ambient/noise distortions constantly weaving in and out of the mix with restrained, hypnotic precision (hell, some tracks, like the aptly titled "Mutism," don't even have a beat). One of the best descriptions I have ever heard of this album was on an amazon.com review in which the reviewer states "...I believe Basic Channel actually sounds more like you are OUTSIDE of a club, hearing the muted electronic kick pulse through the wall, but the echoing, wabbling synth tones seep through the ventilation cracks enough to entice your interest." This pretty much sums it up.
The ultimate irony is that while my friend harshly and unfairly labeled Basic Channel as generic electronic music, he was hyping CD's to me by the likes of producers like the Donkey Rollers and Shotek. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind hardstyle, but it would be difficult for anyone to say that the genre was innovative, original, or non-generic: its sole purpose is to rave and thizz to. "That music is shit if you're not on ecstasy," another friend of mine said concerning the Donkey Rollers (their name gives away what they are aiming for).
Mark Ernestus, one half of the Basic Channel project, said in an interview with Wire, "[...] There is a seriousness about the reggae that I’m talking about, or the dub. It’s not a trial and error thing, it’s not something you do to get famous or rich. You know your audience, you’re on a level with the audience, and that I would see as the same in serious club music..."
Maybe that's why I like Basic Channel so much. The intensity and focus of their mixes is extraordinary, and really does come across to listeners as serious dance music. As for the Donkey Rollers...
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