Porter Ricks

Named after a figure from the 1960s television series Flipper, Porter Ricks focus on subaquatic dub techno whose closest reference point lies in the static hum and fuzzy beatwork of their near-labelmates Basic Channel. The project unites ambient specialist Thomas Köner with beat specialist Andy Mellwig, who first appeared via three 12-inch records issued on the Basic Channel offshoot Chain Reaction across 1995 and 1996. Stripping away the more aggressive elements found in Detroit techno and Plastikman while evoking undersea sonar tones and wind-tunnel atmospheres, those tracks gained traction within the expanding experimental techno community of the mid-1990s and, in turn, left an impression on Plastikman. Around the release of the 1996 compilation Biokinetics on Chain Reaction, the pair shifted to Force Inc., delivering the double-pack Redundance EP along with the singles “Spoil” and “Exposed.” They also cut a lone single for Barooni before assembling their Force Inc. output into a self-titled 1997 album. Two years afterward came the collaborative album Symbiotics with Techno Animal. After that record, Mellwig issued a full-length under the Continuous Mode moniker while Köner maintained a steady stream of forward-thinking ambient work on Mille Plateaux, Touch, and Die Stadt. Type reissued Biokinetics in 2012, and the duo appeared at Unsound Festival in Krakow, Poland the next year. Live shows persisted over the following seasons, culminating in the 2016 release of the Shadow Boat EP—their first new material in seventeen years—on Tresor. The album Anguilla Electrica followed in 2017.