Basic Moves Chronicles: Peace, Love & Broken Subs
'Kids' today collecting 90s techno can only imagine what the raves were like back then. Basic Moves gives us a rare glimpse in four new music videos made up of 20+ year old VHS footage to accompany tracks on their label produced during that time - tracks that could have been played at those very moments.
Belgian label Basic Moves, run by Ailsa Cavers and Michiel ‘Walrus’ Claus have had an encouraging first year, earning followers with an impressive run of club-ready 12”s. Their philosophy revolves around finding that perfect confluence of old and new influences and contexts – promoting music from leaders of the contemporary scene like Evan Baggs, alongside underground gems from techno history, striving for the moment when, in their own words ‘yesterday’s unloved tune is transformed into a secret dj weapon.’Their respect for past masters moves beyond paying homage. For the inaugural part of their new ‘chronicles’ project, Basic Moves deliver a lesson in Belgian techno history and four new music videos. A new article on their page tells the story of techno outfit BWP, or ‘Bad Woofers Posse because – as legend has it – wherever they went they broke all the sub woofers’. Formed around producers and DJ’s Mike DMA and Christophe ‘Deg’ De Groote in the early 90s, BWP’s numerous members contributed a wealth of music and threw legendary parties across Europe.
BWP lives on in the memories of those present at the parties, and in 15 hours of recently unearthed VHS footage recorded by BWP member Seal Phueric. These images make up the source material for four new videos released by Basic Moves to accompany the tracks on BM02 by Circadian Rhythms (one of Deg’s aliases) and BM03 by Caustic 14, a duo of more BWP associates.In the hands of video artist Eva Claus, who has edited the footage skilfully but in a way that shows respect for Phuric’s own raw and experimental filming style, these videos become an intimate testament to a special moment in European dance music history. In Claus’ own words: ‘The VHS tapes exposed a visual explosion of colours, places, faces, clothes, and sounds… I started slowly editing through the images and sounds, giving them space, looking for a form and rhythm, trying to find a balance.’
It's easy to get a contact-high watching the videos, which radiate the wild energy of the 90s rave scene. They leave a bittersweet taste in the mouth as well, because they give us a glimpse of a time of greater freedom, fewer inhibitions and a much more fluid sense of what constituted a party – it could be a packed out warehouse with a crazy lightshow, or five people dancing in a field. Clubbing today can sometimes seem sanitised, pretentious or reserved in comparison. But as clubs in London and elsewhere are forced to shut their doors or introduce harsh limitations on entry, there’s signs that the growing underground and illegal party scene is rediscovering the values and re-contextualising the obscure and 'unloved' music that made the 90s such a special era.
You can read the article and watch all the videos on Basic Moves website: http://www.basicmoves.be/chronicles/