Earth Leakage Trip

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙈𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬.𝘼 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙐𝙆 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚/𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥-𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙤 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙙.

It’s hard to overstate the all-time classic status of Earth Leakage Trip’s ‘Psychotronic EP’. Stamped with the fortuitous catalogue number Shadow 1, the EP is best loved for its foundational highlight ‘No Idea’, a template-firming collage of samples from a novelty record and the film Poltergeist, set to oozing subs, gull squawks and thee nattiest bleep rhythm of its time.
It’s a sterling example of the shift from original, utopian acid house of ’87 to a more fucked embrace of the dark side by ’91, balancing dummy-sucking naïvete with a grimmer UK edge that would come to infiltrate rave music over the coming years, perhaps reflecting a paranoiac mindset that came hand-in-hand with the comedowns of guzzling high grade eccies.

No doubt it’s a sort of turning point for ‘90s UK dance music, precipitating reams of darkside hardcore and brooding dance music in its wake. Let’s be honest, the other two tracks aren’t that great, but ‘No Idea’ more than makes up for them.