Category: Magazines

FEATURED ARTICLE – BASEMENT RECORDS

PROFILE by THE WARLOCK

It began in the basement of a Dentists practice, bass for your tooth ache they said, but now 4 years on the Record Basement shops plan to expand their operation from 2 to 5 outlets in 1993. And the proof of their success? One of the most acclaimed British labels in an otherwise stagnant and unadventurous market, Basement records plays host to such luminaries as Loftgroover, Wax doctor, Jack Smooth, Kev Bird, and Top Buzz to name just a few. Eager to know more we spoke to Basement Phil for the lowdown.

“Basement first started in April 1992, a time when the Hardcore scene had gone because the Belgian sound had died, the piano scene was dying rapidly and all you had left was the ferocious drumbeat tracks with no feeling in them anymore. The Techno element had gone completely apart from the odd sound and now you are left with only a handful of classics whereas before it would take ten pairs of hands to count them all. Nowadays, there are too many people making records, some are good but too many are just bad examples that chop up 20 of the latest records to make a track and at Basement we have one simple rule and that is not to sample unless its inventive”.

Basement recordings have the cutting edge when it comes to advanced quality sound production, an absent factor in so many tunes, but how do they forsee the sound of the ravescene for 1993?

“Hard music this year, much more Techno, I think the Belgian sound will come back, the pianos will return in a big way and the Progressive House scene — which is really what the ravescene was three years ago — will get harder so that both will join up and restore the missing unity in the music and this is why our new label ‘The House Department’ has been set up to release what we regard as Trance right in the middle of House and Rave.”

In addition to two labels and two record shops, the boys (and girls) at Basement also find time to run a national record distribution company. Phil explains, “we set up Vinyl Distribution because we weren’t getting justifiable sales on Basement’s records. Hearing our tracks 27 times at a rave of 16,000 where everyone was going nuts to them doesn’t compare with a 1,000 sales on one of these records especially when we know the buzz is good because we get thirty DJs a day phoning up asking to be part of the mailing list. It was for this reason we set up the company — as a vehicle to push the Basement label.”

Basement Records will be releasing a DJ friendly double LP of 12 tracks from some of the top DJs in the UK for not much more then the price of a 12 inch as a way to say thank you to everyone who has supported Basement over the year. Don’t say you haven’t been warned!

ADVERTS

• Snoosh, The Valentines Monster Mash-Up – 12th Feb 1993 @ 5 Christina Street, London EC2
• In-Ter-Dance Productions @ Sterns Nightclub, Highdown Hill, Worthing
• Every Picture Tells A Story – Every Saturday @ 12 Dalston Lane, London E8 6DY
• Labrynth – Every Friday @ 12 Dalston Lane, London E8 6DY
• E-Zone – Mixtapes – Milton Keynes
• Wax City Records, 306-308 London Road, Croydon
• Hear Dis Records
• Pyramid Promotions / Innersense – Every Saturday @ Lazerdrome, 267 Rye Lane, London SE15
• De Underground Records, 18 Sebert Road, London E7

RAVE LISTINGS

All Our Yesterdays (Labrynth) Saturday January 30th. Club Labrynth, 12 Dalston Lane, Hackney, London E8.
Love Of Life Kelsey Kerridge Sports Hall, Gonville Place, Parkside, Cambridge
Fusion Friday 5th February. Portsmouth Guild Hall, Portsmouth, Hants
Eclipse Saturday 6th February. Cambridge Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Happy Sundays From Sunday 31st January. Heaven, Under The Arches, Charing Cross Station, London WC1
Rush Saturday 30th January. Ashwin Street, London E8
Mama B Productions No 1 Friday 12th February. Bath Pavilion
Return of the Warehouse Concept (Vision) Friday 12th February. Unit A+B, Salters Way, Wisbech, Cambs
Justice – A New Dimension Saturday 6th February. The Tasco Warehouse, 138 Nathan Way, London SE28
Love Fever Saturday 13th February. Oceans, Goswell Road, London EC2
Snoosh Friday 12th February. 5 Christina Street, London EC2
Dream Zone Saturday 6th February. Atomics, Hart Street, Maidstone, Kent
In-Ter-Dance All Nighter Friday 12th February. Poole Arts Centre, Kingsland Road, Poole, Dorset
Orgasms Without Danger Every Wednesday from 27th January. Sarbour Tropical, 1 Broadhurst Gardens, London NW6

CHART

Great Asset current top 10 hardcore/techno sellers in the UK.

1. Dr Octopus – Tentacle EP – Whitelabel
2. Babylon Timewarp – Durban Poison – Intense
3. Yolk – Sunnyside Up Remix – Ruffbeat
4. Intense – Drowsee EP Remixes – ULR
5. XVXI – Illuminatae
6. House Pimps – Zulu Nation – ULR
7. Carl Cox & DJ Phantasy Remixes – Eternal – ULR
8. Rabbit City 1 – The Cutter – Rabbit City
9. UK Remixes – Subwoofer Agte – ULR
10. Edge 6 – The Structure – Edge