Rhythm & Sound

Dub, from Berlin

Rhythm & Sound is a project of Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald, the Berlin duo behind Basic Channel, formed in 1993; their other aliases include Maurizio, Cyrus, Quadrant and Round One to Round Five. Von Oswald had been an in-house producer at the Berlin label Tresor, and the project grew around Hard Wax, the record shop Ernestus opened in 1989. Wikipedia lists Rhythm & Sound as founded in 1997 and defunct in 2002, though the Burial Mix series issued under the name ran from 1996 to 2006.

The Burial Mix series started in 1996 with the 10 inch "Never Tell You", with Paul St. Hilaire, known as Tikiman, on vocals; Test Pressing says it shifted the duo's emphasis toward dub and more followed the path of traditional reggae. The Rhythm & Sound 12 inches began in 1997 with "Music A Fe Rule", and later singles include "Mango Walk" and "Mango Drive" (RS-02, 1998), "Roll Off", "Smile" with Savage, "Carrier", "Trace" and "Imprint" and "Aground" and "Aerial" (2002). The Burial Mix albums are Showcase (1998), Rhythm & Sound with the Artists and The Versions (both 2003), See Mi Ya (2005) and See Mi Ya Remixes (2006). Vocal collaborators included Paul St. Hilaire, Cornell Campbell, Savage, Shalom, the Chosen Brothers, Love Joy, Jennifer Lara and Jah Batta.

The pair also founded the reissue imprint Basic Replay, whose first release was Keith Hudson's Playing It Cool in 2003, and the mastering house Dubplates and Mastering. The Quietus said of the Basic Channel releases that they spawned a legion of imitators and earned the duo legend status among those in the know.