Robert Leiner

Unlike the majority of electronic artists, who can flip-flop between hardcore tracks and more downbeat material but rarely excel at both, Robert Leiner recorded excellent uptempo acid tracks as Source and (later) the Source Experience, meanwhile releasing under his own name one of the best ambient-techno albums of the '90s, Visions of the Past. Born in Sweden in 1966, Leiner began DJing at the tender age of 15 and set up his own studio just a few years later. After recording tracks for several different labels in his homeland, he moved to Ghent, Belgium, and began working for R&S Records as a technical consultant and sometime artist. Leiner's first release on R&S, an ultra-rare twelve-inch recorded in 1992, was followed by his appearance on In Order to Dance, Vol. 4 as Neuromancer. The following year, he issued his debut LP as Source, Organized Noise. After releasing a masterpiece of pure acid techno in keeping with contemporary work by the Aphex Twin and others, Leiner threw a curveball: Visions of the Past, released as himself. The LP alternated between passages of ambient warmth echoing the Orb with more disturbing elements which signalled a turn in the flavor of electronica. Other than a single for the album though, it was the last work Leiner released as himself. Instead he began recording as the Source Experience in 1994, issuing Different Journeys on R&S and undertaking a grand DJ tour of Europe during 1995. Two additional twelves appeared during the year ("Synaesthesia" and "Zyklus") but Leiner kept much closer to the underground than during his early career. [See Also: Source]
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