new EP coming june 14, 2023. see source of this element for preview.

bas relief is the music recording project of david mitchell and william osiecki. currently our genre keywords might evoke everything from drum and bass to ambient to emo. our music is often warm and sentimental, featuring guitar woven into a textured, bass music-inspired alt pop. by day, david books shows for blue skies turn black, a promotion company in montreal, and william does PR and other things at topshelf records. david is also a founding member of the band gulfer.

Winter ▸ 2018 (bandcamp)

produced by and written with nancy conforti in jan-feb of 2018. Winter is a brief ambient release filled with subtle tensions and odd combinations.

QTT8 ▸ 2018 (bandcamp, cassette, digital)

written and recorded from 2017 to 2018 and released on quiet time tapes. QTT8 marks a stylistic turning point for us, at which our production took on a cleaner, more intentional voice.

QTT8 stems: wav files, 0.79 gb

sample guide and credits: QTT8 saw us move even further from externally sampled materials. being perhaps our most collaborative work to date (that is, with other artists), this release's sample guide expanded on its original concept by merging with the album credits.

Inconditional ▸ 2016 (bandcamp)

written and recorded mostly in 2016. Inconditional is a raw and chaotic collage of plunderphonica interstiched with samples of home-recorded guitar, bass, and drums.

Inconditional stems: wav files, 3.15 gb

sample guide: compared to previous work, this release realized a deliberate, notable decrease in sampled materials.

The Inaccessibility of Innovation: essay published alongside the album in which we continued to messily explore digital divides in an attempt to thoughtfully contextualize our work, with a critical eye toward our previous writing.

Sent from my iPad ▸ 2016 (bandcamp)

written and recorded from 2015 to 2016. Sent from my iPad is our first full length album, originally released with an essay, sample guide, ten collages, and project files for every song.

Sent from my iPad project files: ableton live project files (.als), 3.47 gb

sample guide: the first of our varied attempts at attributing our cited works, so to speak. even includes drum samples, which we eventually stopped citing, for reasons unremembered.

track-specific collages and source images: ten collages, one per track, by charlotte forbes

Forfeiting Rights in Exchange for Access: the first essay to be featured alongside our music. it came together as we began to think about what it meant to be sampling and exploring the limitations and restrictions of copyright in the context of music industry infrastructure and platform capitalism.

Sent from my iPhone ▸ 2015 (bandcamp)

written and recorded in 2015 with xavier arocha. Sent from my iPhone is our first release, an unfiltered amalgam of all our favorite electronic and bass music-adjacent sounds, laced with upcut and recycled youtube samples.

"... Bas Relief have created a singular, personal statement that unfolds and breathes like a living creature ..."

-Exclaim on QTT8

"A warm, blissful, and fascinating project sitting at the crossroads of ambient experimentalism and indie pop songcraft."

-The Quietus on QTT8

"... unashamed sentimentality ... is all the more moving for bearing its heart so uncompromisingly on its sleeve ..."

-The Wire on QTT8

"... Bas Relief have conjured something wholly endearing and exploratory here ..."

-Gold Flake Paint on Inconditional

November 9 2019 @ Casa del Popolo w/ Good Fuck (Montreal)

November 2 2019 @ the Bog w/ Caracara & Riverbeds (Montreal)

September 28 2019 @ Theatre Fairmount w/ God Is An Astronaut & The American Dollar (Montreal)

July 18 2019 @ Diving Bell Social Club w/ Molly Drag, Nicholas Lussier & Will Orchard (Montreal)

April 21 2019 @ Brasserie Beaubien w/ The Jem & Liz Hogg (Montreal)

March 31 2019 @ Casa del Popolo w/ Another Michael, Sasha Slug & Manila (Montreal)

December 14 2018 @ The Bakery w/ The Emotron, TIME, Non Grata & Ginko (Atlanta)

December 4 2018 @ Bar le “Ritz” PDB w/ Mutual Benefit, Gabi (Montreal)

November 15 2018 @ la Vitrola w/ Peaer, Lockimara & Massolit (Montreal)

November 3 2018 @ Diving Bell Social Club w/ Syngia & Holobody (Montreal)

July 17 2018 @ Casa del Popolo w/ Mother Evergreen, The Most, Laps & Mia Verko (Montreal)

June 23 2018 @ Casa del Popolo w/ Pink Navel & H A U N T E R (Montreal)

April 1 2018 @ la Vitrola w/ Fog Lake & Town House (Montreal)

December 16 2017 @ Atomic Cafe w/ Milanku, Dianacrawls, Apes, Lourié & S’cuse (Montreal)

November 10 2017 @ la Plante w/ Friendship & Ouzkxqlzn (Montreal)

November 5 2017 @ Bar le “Ritz” PDB w/ Joni Void, Brandon, Still Kicking & Fog Drake (Montreal)

October 18 2017 @ Brasserie Beaubien w/ Jack Moves & Also Also Also (Montreal)

September 30 2017 @ la Plante w/ Sorry Girls, MPSO & Casual Decay (Montreal)

July 12 2017 @ la Vitrola w/ Vasudeva & Adjy (Montreal)

May 31 2017 @ Silver Door w/ Lily and Horn Horse (Montreal)

May 12 2017 @ Bar Robo w/ Emperor X & Animal Flag (Ottawa)

May 11 2017 @ la Vitrola w/ Emperor X, Animal Flag, Soul Glo & La Luna (Montreal)

May 10 2017 @ le Knock-Out w/ Emperor X & Animal Flag (Quebec City)

April 23 2017 @ Poisson Noir w/ Sea Beau, Wei Zhongle, Yao Guai Cave & Lyndsie Alguire (Montreal)

March 28 2017 @ la Vitrola w/ Half Waif & Bambi Lou (Montreal)

January 12 2017 @ Poisson Noir w/ Hartsfield Jackson, Girl Arm & Choroy Choroy (Montreal)

November 18 2016 @ la Plante w/ Gonima, Fade Runner, Fengir & CMD music (Montreal)

August 3 2016 @ la Sala Rossa w/ Sly Why, R. Ariel & Raveen (Montreal)

July 4 2016 @ Psychic City w/ Corridor, No Friends & Loess (Montreal)

June 17 2016 @ Madame Wood w/ Happymovie & Xavier León (Montreal)

May 7 2016 @ la Plante w/ Golden Python, Valeda, Common Holly & Mon Doux Saigneur (Montreal)

December 8 2015 @ le Divan Orange w/ Arms and Sleepers, smileswithteeth & Happymovie (Montreal)