Thomas Leer - UK From pure pop and soul, via psychedelia and New Wave, Thomas Leer arrived at the end of the Seventies with his seminal indie release, Private Plane, to help jump start a movement still evident today. With shrewd invention often born of necessity, he blended conventional instruments with tape loops, electronic experimentation and treatments to forge a compelling pop with a dark heart, swooping seamlessly (or not) between the pretty and the (pretty) disturbing. A few years of indie cult status led inevitably to his recruitment to the major labels, where as reluctant synth boffin, he sought to challenge the listener, undermine or reinvent form, and playfully subvert expectation. It would never last. Finding what he hoped was a natural haven of like-minded souls at ZTT, Thomas formed and disbanded the finely honed but blissfully ignored ACT in little more than a year. Tired and a little bit jaded, Thomas took a (quite) long break from releasing any music to regroup and pursue some personal projects. In a business determined to pigeonhole, Thomas has been resolute in his doggedness to avoid it. It shouldn't surprise, then, to learn that if his latest offerings still draw on varied sources, they rely on none more than his own personal vision, as ever, striving to celebrate the eclectic in music creation. Having flirted at one time or another with just about every musical form in the book leaves him virtually impossible to pin down and for those in the know, just as difficult to ignore. Now, as ever, his desire to entertain us with his own (peculiar) brand has resulted in a new collection of genre busting recordings. For more information: http://www.thomasleer.co.uk/