Album: Thomas Leer, Contradictions (Cherry Red)

Thomas Leer was the original one-man bedroom band, his pioneering 1978 own-label underground hit “Private Plane” prefiguring many subsequent developments in synth-pop.

Featuring Leer’s haunting, uncertain vocal – recorded quietly, so as not to wake his girlfriend in their bedsit! – crooning over a minimal bass pulse and discreet whines and washes of primitive Wasp synthesiser, it retains its peculiar lo-fi magic three decades on.

The rest of this compilation reveals a talent maturing perhaps a little too rapidly for his own good: the spiky, angular guitar and squelchy synth of “Dry Land”show Leer making tentative incursions into avant-jazz territory.

“Soul Gypsy”, meanwhile, features electronic-soul innovations only now being taken up by the likes of Jamie Lidell. A true original, well worth reassessment.

"Contradictions" from Contradictions features in this month's Independent Audio Player. CLICK HERE to listen.

To order any CD previewed here, call the Independent Music Service on 01634 832 789.