Catalunya Calling

Moritz von Oswald

Rhythm & Sound, Basic Channel, Berlin

Bassbins were practically born with Moritz von Oswald in mind. One of the few techno artists who can claim to have spearheaded a whole new movement, this enigmatic character has been in the shadows behind numerous influential records as a mastering and cutting engineer at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin. Long before that, he caught a glimpse of the pop star life while being the drummer of one of Germany's fine new wave outfits Palais Schaumburg. Von Oswald also co-founded the legendary Basic Channel Records (with Mark Ernestus), whose various releases were somatic echo-chamber washes of minimal techno. As part of the Berlin/Detroit axis, these seminal records are characterized by a 4x4 beat with dub-inflected syncopated synth pads, slowly modulated over time and time again. Under the Maurizio guise the duo produced cult collector platters as well as remixes of artists like Carl Craig that fused metallic delays with shimmering sunshine-coloured reveries, before they moved on to do deep house with their Round One to Five series and eventually reaching reggae as Rhythm & Sound. Fusing their interests in dub reggae and techno even further, where Jamaican vocalists sing or speak over stripped down techno beats and bass, von Oswald and Ernestus created a definitive and monolithic statement until they decided to put the project on a halt which drove people as crazy as their strict no-interviews-please policy. Currently Moritz von Oswald has been busy with remixing Tony Allen or recomposing Maurice Ravel's Bolero and Mussorgsky's Bilder einer Ausstellung together with Carl Craig. A natural mystic!