Basic Moves welcomes Chicago-born artist Dana Kuehr onto its roster this October with Basic Moves 18, comprised of six original compositions to make up her debut release dubbed the WTRTMPL 2×12’’ EP.
Originally hailing from the south of Chicago before venturing further afield to New York, Oakland and eventually Belgium’s Brussels, Dana Kuehr has been gradually forming her own unique vision of electronic music over the years. As a DJ, Kuehr’s sets on Brussels’ Kiosk Radio traverse through everything from jungle to hip hop, IDM, ambient, House, Techno and much more. Here though, Dana marks the beginning of a new chapter with her debut release coming via the Basic Moves imprint, helmed by producer and DJ, Walrus, out of the Belgian capital. BM18, known internally as the WTRTMPL 2×12’’ project, is Dana’s homage to a beautiful lake of pure, clear water. Dan Piu (Moto Music, Cartulis, Childhood Intelligence) delivered warm and punchy mixdown work from his Zurich studio for the release.
Opening the release is ‘How Do We Continue’, a hazy journey through ethereal synth pads, throbbing bass, crisp percussion, and bubbling arpeggios before ‘Almagest Slide’ shifts focus over to bumpy breaks and dreamy atmospherics alongside intricately processed samples and gritty bass stabs. ‘Cloud B’ follows next and edges back into deeper realms courtesy of woozy, haunting pad lines, robust drums, and subtly nuanced delays throughout.
‘Great Lakes Empty Branches’ then kicks off the C-Side of the double pack, embracing an electro leaning aesthetic courtesy of crunchy claps, sturdy drums, a chuggy arpeggio bass hook and dynamic, resonant leads though. ‘Realm 8’ follows, exploring some jungle and hip hop influence with heavy doses of sub bass, choppy broken rhythms, and hazy Moog like synth melodies. ‘BECAUSE’ rounds out the release next with euphoric vocals and textural atmospherics gliding above swinging percussion and mesmeric, circling synth lines to complete the package.