***** Fiction Life – Basic Moves 17 (Basic Moves BM17 – 2023)

Recently at the formidable Crevette record store in Brussels, I asked for tips about Belgian labels and a friendly guy at the counter was glad to help. While De:Tuned and Nightflight Records were familiar to me, Basic Moves was a new acquaintance, and its first 2023 release found a place in my bag.

Behind “Basic Moves 17” is Reade ‘Truth’ White, who has been a techno’s pioneering force for about three decades. By reanimating the Fiction Life alias, previously used for a single EP in 1996, White lays out a diverse mini album for the label from Brussels.

The six-tracker travels through various areas of electronic music. For the start, Truth lands in Britain, the opener “Social Overload” being a song from the time when indie pop met electronics. The next one, “Soul To Soul”, turns the dial to bleep and pings M/A/R/R/S-ian synth strokes, while “Power Of Ideas” advances to classic Detroit sound imagery with grooves akin to the Belleville Three.

The second 12″ is a tighter package, when Cerebrum Crush” opens the body music section with psychedelic undercurrents and percussion from the “Robots” library, to be played aloud with no strings attached. “The Present Moment” is a peak time tool, a synthesis of UK and US acid house with dreamy inserts. The last track, “From The Ashes”, is the most memorable, guided by female vocals with dark wave verses and guarantees the energy supply with pumping beats.

Buy vinyl from Crevette Records (BE)
Buy vinyl from Juno (UK)
Buy vinyl from Decks (DE)

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