djgylend, Nov 24, 2006
Kind of hard to believe that no one has commented on this seminal midwest label as of yet, including individual releases (with one exception). But Analog deserves its place in history, right up there with its next door neighbor Drop Bass and fellow compatriots Labworks, EXperimental, Direct Drive, Djax, Dj.ungle Fever, etc. Early releases, mainly by Freddie Fresh, are sublime, true hardcore brace yourself acid madness with Blinky & Hud being the absolute cream of the crop (and probably the only acid record crazy enough to make me shut it down half way through). First 5 are super limited too, no more than 400-500 copies were pressed. Things were solid up through 94 but the 10th release really marked the end, not only for the label, as far as innovation and creativity goes, but for the techno scene in the US and especially the Midwest. Freddie and Woody, whose last collaborative effort produced the classic Psycapocalyp tracks on Adam & Eve and Cabin Rave, manage to turn single-handedly turn out one of the dullest, drearist, boringest tracks ever (Psychopocalyptic 95) and basically spell the end of and era in musical experimentation. Some other releases worth noting include Patchcords one (Dred's track definitely stands out) and the Riesen releases (especially the first one) but after that the 303 sound is completely abandoned in favor of something that is probably best left unmentionable. What I know is that if I'm ever in the mood to have my brain scrambled by an industrial-sized blender and fed into an open-hearth furnace and spat out the other end, I reach for Analog 1-5, and they never disappoint.
