The SECT3000 Basic Moves 08

When I was on a trip through Switzerland a while ago, I was tipped off by a shop owner in Bern about his old friend who made music back in the mid-nineties. His name is Remco, the younger brother of the synth player from Swiss new wave band Les Rêveurs Artificiels/Die Künstlichen Träumer. Once in a while, he would make a sporadic tune on his brother’s gear, recording it on 8-track tape, without ever mixing it down, then just archiving it in a closet at his parent’s house. He only played his tracks a couple of times to close friends, but it was hard to get a real idea of the sound since there was no mixdown. They had to be awkwardly played back on the 8-track player.
Of course, this brought my excitement level to boiling point, so the shop owner put us in touch and I asked Remco if I could have a listen to his “secret” or, rather, “private” music as I learned he likes to call it. He told me that the tapes were at his brother’s place in Zurich and he hadn’t listened to them since late nineties, but Basic Moves was welcome to check them out if we promised to give him a proper digital rip. The next time I played in Zurich I caught up with Remco’s brother. He handed me the ¼” 8 track reel to reel, with “THE SECT3000” scrawled on it in black marker. I carefully brought it back to Brussels, restored it and listened to it while mixing it down at the same time, alongside our in-house engineer Chris “Funk” Ferreira. We were blown away by the musicality of this visionary music. Chris had to deal with parts full of reverb especially on “Blaupause”, as no dry sounds were available. He did a great job, as did Stefan, our mastering engineer.
In “Plastic Dream”, the track with muffled, mysterious vocals, islas, who runs the label with me thought she could hear Remco saying “Basic Moves” repeatedly. I was keen to prove her wrong because that would be crazy, so I asked my only Swiss German speaking friend Walid from Les Points (who is also making amazing music) to do a quick translation of the lyrics. It turns out this is a love song. Some might say BM08 strays into unknown territory for Basic Moves. Looking in different genres and being open minded and imaginative led us to THE SECT3000, Remco the 8-track wonder.