Headphone Highlights – Barker & Baumecker: Trance not Trance

Although Berghain played a big role in bringing Sam Barker and Andreas Baumecker together – the former was the venue’s booker for many years, the latter a founder of Leisure System, which throws its parties at the esteemed Berlin nightspot – the music they make as Barker & Baumecker rarely adheres to the dark and driving techno the club is known for. The pair’s 2012 debut album *Transsektoral* explored a variety of styles and sounds, ultimately winding up as one of that year’s most celebrated releases. Their most recent album for Berghain’s in-house label Ostgut Ton, *Turns*, sees them regenerate their mutual interests in live hardware jams and exploring the melodic sentiments of the original techno sound. While they’re known for their techno output, though, their tastes reach across the electronic music spectrum – and off the dancefloor, too.