Blake Baxter - Brothers Gonna Work It Out

The self-proclaimed 'prince of techno' with a set of remixes on the Logic label from 1992.

At the time I was convinced that the 'Red Planet' remix was the work of UR (and duly bought the record), but it was the European wing of 3MB who were responsible instead. This was around the time of all the Tresor Berlin/Detroit Alliance stuff. I can't fuckin believe that these first three 'Planet' remixes on this are done by Maurizio and Thomas Fehlman! Obviously way before the Basic Channel sound/studio setup was developed. By the way, there's a great article about Basic Channel in The Quietus that you should check out.

If I'm being honest I can take or leave the A1 mix - certainly not a classic (a wee bit Gypsy Woman on the intro?), but A2 has a very Cajmere-esque production and vocal so it's a winner with me. B1's much more techno, and combines the best riffs from the A-side mixes with a right good hard squelch. I'll give you two out of three for them, Mr Von Oswald.

B2 has a remix from Mr Baxter himself which concentrates on his spoken words over a nice bouncy beat with synth stabs and his own backing vocals up in the background.

Here's a great idea for the B3 'Brothapella' track - why not make a big-beat record with the title vocal sample slowed down and repeated ad nausea for five minutes? You might even get a hit single. Oh...



Blake Baxter - Brothers Gonna Work It Out
A1 - Red Planet
A2 - Blue Planet
B1 - Black Planet
B2 - Pump Da Bass Mix
B3 - Brothapella

Buy it here

Erosion - 1 / 2 / 3

It's been a while since I posted any Basic Channel / Chain Reaction stuff, so here's a minimal-as-hell EP from 1997.

The producer of this trio of tracks is Torsten Pröfrock, the same guy who was Various Artists and Traktor from previous posts. But - this one was also mastered by a certain Mr Von Oswald, and you can hear his influence across all three tracks.

The A-side is a 4/4 12 minute hypnotic trip into a dark place, then the beats are put right to the back of the mix in favour of some right haunting noises for B1. Things get even more spaced out for B2, as the beats are done away with completely in favour of, well I don't quite know how to sum it up but I imagine it would be good for those moments when you just need to zone out but your mind's AWAKE AS HELL - should help do the trick.

Any Maurizio fans should check out this album form earlier in the year - looks like he's back on form...

Erosion - 1 / 2 / 3
A - 1
B1 - 2
B2 - 3



Buy it here

Basic Channel - Q 1.1

This is the most accessible Basic Channel 12" I've got, which kinda makes sense as I'm assuming the 'Q' stands for Quadrant. There's a great review on Discogs which describes this release in more detail than I ever could.

Regular viewers may remember that I put up a competition a couple of weeks ago to win my spare copy of the M-6 12". The task tied in with me being a lazy bastard and requesting Spotify playlists to listen to at work. Well, my inbox hasn't exactly been overflowing with entries. Fuck all, to be precise. So, the winner is the anonymous person who said they'd enter if they could get Spotify in the USA. Send me your address and I'll fire it in the post for you. I'll still take your playlists at the usual address if anyone wants to share one...



Basic Channel - Q 1.1
A1 - Q1.1/I
A2 - Q1.1/II
B1 - Q1.1/III
B2 - Q1.1/IIII

Buy it here

Maurizio - M-6

This is another slice of killer dub techno from Maurizio, definitely a headphone jobby. If I was pushed, I'd go for the B-side (dark text with light border). No titles of course, but that's all part of the magic.

Competition Time:
I've been doing a bit of a tidy-up so I can swap a load of the records I've ripped with the next batch from their hiding place, and realised that I've somehow managed to acquire two copies of this 12". If anyone wants it I'm quite happy to post it off for you. Here's how to get it: email me a Spotify playlist and the one I dig the most gets it. Send your playlist to moggieboy (at) gmail (dot) com. If no-one enters then I'll charity shop it in the Victoria Road Oxfam Shop...



Maurizio - M-6
A - Untitled (light text with dark border)
B - Untitled (dark text with light border)

Buy it here

Round Three Feat. Tikiman - Acting Crazy

Maurizio in dubby-as-fuck mode here, this features Tikiman on vocals. It's got all those Basic Channel noises, genuine 'dub house' for anyone who dares to question that such a sub-genre exists. Someone on Discogs reckons that if you mix this into Laurent Garnier's Acid Eiffel you're onto a 'special moment'. I've yet to take the plunge but lemme know if you try it.

Only the one post today as I'm off to get Ripped In Brighton for a long weekend, and need to get my shit together tonight. Typically the one weekend where everything seems to be happening up here: The Horrors, Patrick Wolf, Truffle Club at Club For Heroes, The Wee Chill and hunners of other stuff which I've forgotten about. Ah well, it's a special occasion.
C U Next Tuesday...



Round Three Feat. Tikiman - Acting Crazy
A - Acting Crazy (Club Vocal)
B1 - Acting Crazy (Instrumental)
B2 - Acting Crazy (Edit)

Buy it here

Quadrant - Infinition / Hyperprism

Long-time R-i-G viewers will be aware that I've been chasing this one for ages. Classic Maurizio from 1993. Finally took the plunge and bought a reissue in Rub-A-Dub today. It's no Planet-E original, but the key track is there.

My best memory of hearing 'Infinition' is from an illicit boat party organised by the notorious Pussypower brigade from Glasgow. You had to meet up at Granton Pier in Edinburgh at midnight, before sailing off and returning at 8am. The boat got delayed in leaving, as someone had forgotten a turntable and they had to go and borrow one from The Venue! Very makeshift, with slipmats made from Budweiser box cut-outs. Anyway, the boat ended up circling under the Forth bridge to create waves, then floating all over the place. At this moment, Terry the DJ stuck this tune on and the place went completely bonkers. One of the best nights of my life! Nights like these are ingrained in my memory - can't believe I can remember such minute details despite the nick I was in at the time (about 15 years ago), mind you as any ex-clubber knows it's all about the short term memory loss...



A - Infinition
B - Hyperprism

Buy it here

Round One - I'm Your Brother

... where Maurizio goes vocal house!

The third (fourth?) offshoot from Basic Channel was Main Street records, home of Moritz & Mark's house adventures. This features the title sung inna 'Caravan-Of-Love' stylee over a great uplifting house groove.

Check out Chez & Ron's darker, twisted take on things on the flip - they do away with the main vocal in favour of a few wee snippets.

A bit different from yer average Basic Channel release, no???

Well worth checking out...



A1 - I'm Your Brother (Club Version)
A2 - I'm Your Brother (Edit)
B - I'm Your Brother (Chicago's Twisted Mix)

Buy it here

Basic Channel - Phylyps Trak II

Quite possibly my favourite Basic Channel release, both sides of this are absolutely stunning. Sometimes my favourite track is the one with black text/silver background and other times it's the silver text/black background. The one that I always heard in clubs/DJ sets was the silver text/black background one. At first I thought it was just a repetitive hi-hat for 13 mins. Tsk tsk - what was I thinking?

Here's what someone said on Discogs, put better than I ever could:

"You could easily sum this track up with one word: hypnotic. It's the kind of track you hear on the dancefloor and you just don't want it to end. It has a perfect rhythmical structure that just keeps your body moving; whether that's your head nodding, your feet tapping or your hips swinging.
It's got the dub/reggae bassline, the techno hats and bundles of clipped spacey reverb that alters minutely thoughout the track (and not forgetting those brief moments where a metallic stab/double tap is fired into the mix).
Combining dub sensibilites and aesthetics with techno is commonplace nowadays, but when I listen to 'Trak II' it never ceases to fill me with wonder how Mark and Moritz managed to create a track that is unique; in every sense of the word."

Go check it oot:



Basic Channel - Phylyps Trak II

Buy it here

Cyrus - Inversion

This was the first Basic Channel record I bought and to be honest I wasn't sure at first. The first time I 'got it' was round at a mate's house one day with a homemade bong, and whaddya know it suddenly all made sense. I couldn't get enough of them from there on in. The B-side's still an endurance test, but I've just managed it no problemo. Oddly enough there's a story here as well:

Picked this book up at Fopp for £2 for m'lady, as she'd started reading it round at someone else's while I was sleeping and had got quite into it. I always thought the guy was a cunt (had never seen him but the name alone was enough), but turns out there's a recipe for 'hash' brownies in it (can't see Oliver or Ramsay doing THAT!?). So, I'm on holiday this week and have come down with the lurgy, which is pish. Haven't done anything much since Saturday due to feeling like shite and was getting a tad pissed off. Remembered about this book, discovered I had all the ingredients so hey presto! Sampled the goods just as I started ripping 'Inversion'. The 20min 'Presence' that followed was a joy to behold!

Ah, it's like being 22 again. Ripped in Glasgow indeed...



Cyrus - Inversion
Cyrus - Presence

Buy it here

Maurizio - Domina

Is this the best Maurizio release of all time? Surely must be a contender, with the sublime Carl Craig mix on one side and Moritz' own floorfiller on the flip. Nice yellow vinyl as well. 1993?? Mental...

This record blew me away when I first heard it. Not a word of a lie - I am getting goosebumps while keying this in, waiting for the Maurizio mix to do its cheeky fade then killer comeback. It happens about 7:40 in - I'm punching the air!

After a shitty Monday, this is just the ticket for putting a smile on yer face. Hallelujah!

Just found out that it is a remix of track B2 on this 1981 release by Die Dominas. I see there are a few not-very-cheap copies to be had on the Discogs marketplace. Phew!



Maurizio - Domina <-- new linky
A - Domina (Maurizio Mix)
B - Domina (C. Craig's Mind Mix)


Buy it here

Scion - Emerge

I always thought this was Maurizio, but no, it's another couple of dudes who are also Vainqueur (who I also thought was Maurizio - get with the program ya fud). Must be the same studio gadgetry then, as there's definitely a similar sound to them all.

This was the first release on the Basic Channel offshoot, Chain Reaction. A nice stiff single brown cardboard sleeve here, with grainy bits on it. These things MATTER.

Right. Time to go and put my face on before braving the bus through to Edinburgh...



A - Emerge0
B1 - Emerge1
B2 - Emerge2

Buy it here

Model 500 - Starlight

Juan Atkins gets all minimal here, accompanied by an even minimaler mix by Maurizio on the flip. A nice wee white vinyl number, this was wrongly labelled with which one was which. Fuck's sake - it's not rocket science - a 50/50 chance, just like playing, ripping and uploading a 12" at the right speed. Oh...

While we're on the subject of Model 500, John Hospital (he of Bis, Data Panik and Dirty Hospital fame) has done an analogue-spotter-tastic cover of classic "The Chase" which is over here on YouTube. Go check it out, it's marvellous!



Model 500 - Starlight
Model 500 - Starlight (Moritz Mix)

Buy it here

Maurizio - M-5

This is a killer slice of dub-techno, which is subtle as hell off the bass. I didn't used to 'get' Maurizio records right at the start of the Basic Channel period, but with a little 'concentration' it soon all made sense.

As with the previous Maurizio posting, this is on the 'M' offshoot. I've got plenty of Basic Channel and Chain Reaction stuff as well, it's just a matter of laying my hands on 'em.

Dunno how the fuck he managed to get these records pressed so LOUD - damn I wish I'd made it along to see him in action at some point.

Just to be different, the A-side plays at 33rpm and is 9:30, and the B-side plays 45 and is 5:50. Track titles? Get tae fuck!



Maurizio - Untitled (9:30)
Maurizio - Untitled (5:50)

Zipped on Sendspace

Buy it here

Maurizio - M-4

This has the dubious honour of being the first record that I ever played on my SL1210 decks. I got it on the same day back in 1995. What can I say? It's got that Basic Channel sound but not actually on the Basic Channel label. This was on the even more obscure 'M' label. Two untitled tracks just to make things difficult. An awkward cunt for the ID3 tags if you ask me.

I've heard he's no well these days, so get well soon Moritz.



Maurizio - Untitled (6:34)
Maurizio - Untitled (9:36)
(new links)

Buy it here