basic house: oats

Basic House is the solo electronics project of Stephen Bishop, a mainstay of the DIY scene in the UK's North East and the brain behind the label Opal Tapes. Bishop works with equipment both rudimentary and highly technical which become aligned together without bias to create a singular sound that focuses on decay, stagnation and apathy towards clichés within the current climate of electronic music. Oats is his new full-length record with six deep compositions woven together to create seamless transitions between them. "AR II" opens the record with fragile and haunted electronics before developing into something almost melodic with an imposing 4/4 kick. "Child Confession" follows with dead electronic hums, whispered samples and a sluggish half-speed techno thud which gives way to a collage of cruddy noise and scalpel-sharp bursts of clatter and a crude non-rhythmic bass pulse before ending in the buzzing maelstrom of "Interiors," which is equal parts Florian Hecker and Andy Stott at his most visceral. "Est Oan" begins the second half of the record ominously with slightly absurd farmyard groans that eventually melt into hypnotic machine music. The industrial lurch of "B.G. Feathers" is the closest Bishop comes on this side to hitting anything resembling a groove and instead evokes the grinding power of Maurizio Bianchi's best '80s material. Mastered by Stephen Bishop with vinyl cut by Grammy Greg at Masterpiece. CD version contains 40 minutes of bonus material, re-worked from previous cassette releases. Photography by Traianos Pakioufakis.