Juan Trip

b. July 1969, France. Versailles-based DJ Basil, who, after an itinerant childhood, developed his muse playing live at parties and raves in the early 90s, and promoted the hugely successful Fantom nights. Following a 1993 single, ‘Extasy Is God’, on the tiny Rave-Age Records label, Basil met F Communications’ Eric Morand. His next release, 1994’s Masterpiece Trilogy EP, contained the controversial track, ‘Louis’ Cry’. This used a sample of a particularly unhappy one year old of the author’s acquaintance who died shortly after the record was made. One of his screams was used, alongside a loop of organist Jimmy Smith, to puncuate the track. When the newshounds rang round to confirm the existence of the ‘dead baby track’, Basil confirmed its origins (though it was conceived more as a tribute to the child’s life than anything more exploitative). Many DJ’s refused to play it because of the unsettling nature of the scream, including Darren Emerson, who even asked permission to re-record the masterful backing track without it. Subsequent Juantrip releases, including 1996’s Interstone EP, veered away from straight techno to incorporate a more eclectic approach. This vision was fully realised on 1999’s debut long-player, Balmy Under The Stormy, an astonishing piece of psychedelic electronica.
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