Mark Ernestus, the man behind one of the most influential electronic record labels of all time, plays for Sub-Culture at The Shelter this weekend. In 1993 he set up Basic Channel along with fellow Berliner Moritz Von Oswald. Their 10 releases on this publicity-shy label still cast a shadow over techno, dub, house and minimal recordings to this day.

The pair went on to found a string of other labels–Chain Reaction, Burial Mix, Main Street–each fusing dissonant techno with dub, reggae and dancehall influences, and all launching genres and defining new sounds wherever they were played.

MySpace fan pages here, here, here and here for a taste of their hypnotic, chugging, sublime sounds.

Their Rhythm & Sound imprint (VPN required) brought a number of reggae legends out of obscurity to collaborate on crackling dub releases, and saw Ernestus’s first collaboration with Dominican vocalist Tikiman (Paul St. Hilaire). The pair continued to work together, with Tikiman founding False Tuned, his own label within the same stable and collaborating on a number of other tracks.

Ernestus gave almost no interviews and refused to be photographed for most of his career. He remains camera-shy and reluctant to venture out of Europe. That Sub-Culture have lured him and Tikiman over to Shanghai for an exclusive set is testament to the growing reach and respect this local party crew has in the reggae and electronica world.

Expect an epic night of the deepest dub and reggae with live vocals from Tikiman and dissonant glitches spun by Ernestus. B6 plays a one-off dub-techno set (our recent interview can be found here) and there’s more support from Deville, Drunk Monk, dji, ChaCha, Didje, Esia and Arminda. RMB60