Reykjavík Grapevine - 23.09.2016, Page 40

Music 40The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 15 — 2016
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ICELANDIC
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6 COURSE
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T EMPL AR A SUND 3 , 101 RE Y K JAV ÍK , T EL : 5711822, W W W.BERGSSON. IS
Concert
Words SVEINBJÖRN PÁLSSON Photo DAVE WALKER
You can hardly overstate the ef-
fects of dub techno and minimal
techno on electronic music. These
two genres, originating in the early
90s, created musical ripples that
have, in time, extended from their
beginnings on Berlin dancefloors
through to budding satellite scenes
around Europe. They reached a mass
audience when minimal techno be-
came commercially popular, as a
reaction to the jarring sounds of
mid-00s electro, informing the lo-
fi aesthetics of artists like Burial.
At the heart of this explosion is
Moritz von Oswald. As one half of
a multi-monikered duo alongside
Mark Ernestus, the two musicians-
cum-DJs invented dub techno with
their releases as Rhythm & Sound.
Some also credit the birth of mini-
mal techno to their releases under
the name Basic Channel.
Going through their aliases on
their respective Discogs pages, and
rooting out the various points at
which the two added new ideas to
dance music culture, is a daunting
task. I can spend all day fabulating
about various threads between early
Basic Channel releases and later,
larger, more popular artists. Even
just their Round series of dub techno
releases is at the centre of a couple
of webs, from ‘Round Three’ (1996)
creating a soundscape that seems to
inform Massive Attack’s ‘Mezzanine’
album (1998), to ‘Round One’ and
‘Round Two’ laying the groundwork
for the deep house scene.
Endless disciples
The list of their later disciples is pret-
ty much endless. Many of them might
not even know that they’ve inherited a
sonic world based on the groundwork
of these two Germans, as is the case
with anyone who’s borrowed from
James Blake or Burial. Just looking
at the current Icelandic music scene:
traces of their influence can be seen
in bands like Samaris and Vök.
In a recent interview with Icelan-
dic music magazine Albumm, Tho-
rhallur Skulason—the founder of
Iceland’s most important electronic
label, Thule Records—stated that
Basic Channel is the main influence
for Thule’s whole roster. Artists like
Exos, Ozy, Yagya, Sanasol, Thor and
more carried the sound onward, in
Iceland and abroad. Gusgus pro-
ducer and mastermind Biggi Veira
states in the same interview that
discovering Moritz Von Oswald’s
music around 1995 was a watershed
for the band’s sound.
One of Mr. von Oswald’s most
vocal local disciples, Exos, has long
rued that this seminal artist has
never performed in Reykjavík, where
his influence has been so profound.
But now this is finally set to be cor-
rected, with a concert in NASA on
September 24. As fate would have
it, the concert will be significant
in more ways than one, as this is
the last concert in this much-loved
music hall, which is scheduled for
demolition soon after.
The incarnation he will present
in NASA is a live solo performance,
mostly based on his work with the
Moritz von Oswald Trio. With this
outfit he explores the boundaries
of techno, dub, reggae, jazz and
classical music. In his latest work
under this moniker he was joined by
Afrobeat legend Tony Allen for the
album ‘Sounding Lines’, released
in 2015. Exos (returning from the
South American leg of his world
tour), Thor, Octal and special guests
of Thule Records make up the lineup
for the rest of the evening. Tickets
are available at tix.is and start at
1,990 ISK.
LISTEN AND SHARE:
gpv.is/mo15
Discover the producer that
influenced generations
The Master Of
Rhythm & Sound