- Berlin's Leisure System parties have a wide remit: a single lineup might feature veterans from breakbeat hardcore, UK techno and IDM alongside rising stars of bass music and artists working at the fringes of the dance floor. Co-founder and resident DJ Sam Barker (one-half of Ostgut Ton's Barker & Baumecker) puts that eclectic spirit into play on his first release for the Leisure System label—sometimes, in the space of a single track.
"Like an Animal" begins with a whirring rhythm circling a mid-rangy 4/4 kick, like an unmanned drone that Autechre sent out to spy on techno; then, two minutes in, those sounds melt away and the track twists into half-time dubstep. "I Feel," likewise, begins with skipping house rhythms before a classic breakbeat fades into earshot, and the groove morphs into something like ambient jungle played at 33. Barker really shows his skill as a sound designer here, balancing organs, choral samples, chiming DX7s and a bassline that tunnels from Jamaica to Chicago, first plucked and twangy, then twinged with acid.
The first two tracks are paced for 130 BPM sets, but "Hot Lover" pushes the tempo closer to 150, albeit with a buoyant, half-time feel. Brilliant colors and sizzling timbres morph gradually into sub-bass rumble and gritty squelch, like one of Bibio's most cheerful tracks being turned mercilessly inside out, tendon by tendon.
Tracklist A Like An Animal
B1 I Feel
B2 Hot Lover