Robert Leiner

While most electronic producers toggle between aggressive, high-velocity cuts and subdued compositions yet seldom master either realm, Robert Leiner distinguished himself by crafting first-rate fast-tempo acid material under the Source alias and, later, as the Source Experience, even as he delivered Visions of the Past—one of the decade’s standout ambient-techno albums—credited to his own name. Born in Sweden in 1966, Leiner started DJing at age 15 and assembled a private studio within a few years. After supplying tracks to various domestic labels, he relocated to Ghent, Belgium, where he joined R&S Records as a technical consultant and occasional recording artist.

Leiner’s debut R&S twelve-inch, an exceedingly scarce 1992 release, preceded his contribution to In Order to Dance, Vol. 4 under the Neuromancer guise. The next year he issued his first album as Source, Organized Noise. Having produced a pure acid-techno landmark comparable to contemporaneous Aphex Twin work, Leiner then surprised listeners with Visions of the Past, released under his own name. The LP moved between passages of ambient warmth recalling the Orb and more unsettling textures that foreshadowed shifting electronica aesthetics. Apart from one single drawn from the album, Leiner issued nothing further under his own name. From 1994 onward he worked exclusively as the Source Experience, beginning with Different Journeys on R&S and completing a major European DJ tour in 1995. Two further twelve-inches, “Synaesthesia” and “Zyklus,” surfaced that year, yet Leiner remained closer to the underground than in his earlier phase.