Lapre - Banzai: Elektronische Musik aus Berlin 1985/87

"Rudolf Langer (formerly of Tyndall) and Peter Preuß teamed up to create Lapre as a vehicle for their adventures in sonic experimentation. They set about capturing their nocturnal rehearsal room sessions on tape, Langer on synthesizer and Preuß on guitar. With the exception of a solitary single and a few extremely limited cassette runs, Lapre released no further material during their active phase. It was not until 2018 that their works became accessible to a wider audience, when Bureau B released the Auferstehung retrospective (BB 302CD/LP), drawing on tracks from 1983 to 1984. Banzai, the second collection of Lapre recordings, follows up by concentrating on their creative output from the years 1985 to 1987. The eponymous centerpiece of the album, 'Banzai I', first appeared on a 1987 sampler issued by Pirol -- its inclusion on Berliner Elektroniknacht caused quite a stir amongst connoisseurs, with the disc changing hands as a sough-after rarity. Here, the track is accompanied by five previously undiscovered gems from the Lapre archives. Banzai documents the duo's impressive latter phase, moving on from their earlier cosmic collages into an altogether more playful state of mind. Light streams through synthesizer compositions suspended in reverie, driven forwards by rugged drum machine beats as Peter Preuß weaves shimmering guitars into the mix. The needle on the dial sweeps from abstract rapture to exuberant pop in an instant. A well-kept secret at the time of its inception, this music was barely audible beyond the borders of Berlin's underground scene. It thus gives us great pleasure to give these tracks the attention they ultimately deserve, more than 30 years later." --Daniel Jahn, January 2020