Vangelis, Van Man, The Vangelis, The-Bearded-Chap-Who-Was-Here-Earlier-In-The-Week, Vanlengis (that one’s often shouted through an open Phonica office door) – all wonderful names for the man we simply refer to as Van. As a walking library of club wax and Phonica mainstay, Van’s pretty spot-on for selecting, as well as being an overall legend of a nice guy.
An ex-metal head of the darkest order, it was some minimal soundtracking (forget the actual record) that turned Van on to electronic music way back when. And as it happens he’s also the London record store heads go to man for reggae and dub. Not surprising then that Basic Channel’s Rhythm & Sound workings would hold a special place for him.
In 1996 Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald first released as Rhythm & Sound, an alias for them to explore and record dub reggae while somehow remaining tied to the minimal techno vibes that they were already pioneering. The Burial Mix label was set up as an imprint to release the Rhythm & Sound output, initially only on 10″ format and more often than not featuring Paul St. Hilaire on vocals. In the early 2000’s the releases really started flowing, now also in the smaller 45 form guesting various other vocalists.
Despite it’s ongoing influence and cult following that sees sporadic represses , the label stopped producing new music in 2005 (ignoring the remix series the following year). And that brings us full circle to a recently uploaded Rhythm & Sound mix from Vangelis, recorded in 2005 and recently rescued from his old hard drive.
If you don’t know, then now’s the time time to get acquainted with R&S in the best way possible. For the existing heads this is an essential listen of tracks you’ve probably not listened to in a long-time.