Eprom

Feldspar / Psycho Eprom

Coinciding with the third anniversary of their Berghain residency, the Leisure System collective from Berlin comes with the second release of their newly found label. While the label’s debut was an atmospheric and soulful take on UK-influenced electronic dance music by Russian producer Pixelord, this next offering crosses the ocean and comes with a simple agenda : to prove the soundtrack for a rave of epic proportions. Responsible for the bass assault this time is San Franciso based producer Eprom. After releases on labels like Warp and Rwina, and with one of the biggest tunes of 2010 (‘Shoplifter’) in his books, Eprom graces Leisure System with nothing less than full peak time anthems. A-side ‘Feldspar’ builds up a nearly unendurable tension throughout its intro, leaving the traditional trails of simple and mix-friendly build-ups and exploding into a cathartic tempest of screaming synths and bass. ‘Feldspar’ is like a 140 BPM wrecking ball, purpose-built for rewinds and dancefloor freak-outs. The flipside ‘Psycho’ brings the speed down, but keeps up with the raw energy. It plays around with a straight-forward 808-driven hip hop beat, a bouncing ‘80s electro bassline and a rough 8-bit melody, making it sound like something that a modern-day Alan Howarth could have written, if part of Snake Plissken’s mission would have been to rave. Instead of varying the same idea over two sides of vinyl, or being a functional (and short-lived in the memory) DJ tool, Eprom uses this 12” to show different and unique sides of his production gifts. It’s also proof that the minds behind the Leisure System collective are ever eager to push back the boundries of rave music in the 21st Century, while keeping the spirit of traditional dance music labels alive.