Echocord, 2007
There have been a slew of records lately inspired by the Basic Channel sound. (It’s hard to believe the first Basic Channel releases are nearly fifteen years old!) I certainly don’t mind a resurgence of the style, as long as artists add their own ideas. Quantec is Sven Schienhammer from Nuremberg, Germany. He already has a 12-inch on Styrax Leaves, and he’s on the new Statik Entertainment EP My Music Is My Space. Both are available digitally.
This EP on Echocord is vinyl-only so far, but don’t let that stop you. Appropriately, “Lush” has a constant echoed chord pulsing in the background while a basic beat drives an alternating bassline. Synth notes reverb over the top in waves. The pattern is indistinct, as though Schienhammer is just playing with sounds. “Drowning” on the reverse is slow and deep, making it seem more experimental than the average German dub cut.
“Longwinded Edit” is my favorite track here, with hypnotic synthesized washes over another driving beat. As far as I’m concerned it could go on forever. Out of all of the dubby techno artists from this new wave, Quantec is definitely one of the strongest. Subsurface Structure is enjoyable throughout.