5 out of 5

Label: Analogical Force

Produced by: Various

Looking back now, on several years of collecting Analogical Force… damn. The late 2010’s shifting musical landscape – or perhaps just the inevitable what’s-old-is-new stylistic cycling – seemed to bring about a whole new generation of 90s-era IDM appreciators and practitioners, which meant a small bundle of labels throwing their hats into the ring, dedicated to that sound. As a fellow appreciator, I’ve flirted with some of these labels, and while digging them, fell out due to various reasons. Analogical Force was kind of kicking around in the background for me, luring me in by starting out with D’Arcangelo, but then going towards (comparatively) newer acts, or kitschy things like nameless releases, who / which I had negative biases towards. In short: to me, a lot of AF’s roster felt like they were doing surface level tributes, or simply not mining much new territory.

This occasionally still happens – as it does with any adjacent electro label, as it’s hard to shake the marks of big daddy Aphex – but I turned around at some point and realized that Analogical had become the place I turned to to highlight existing talent, or spot new ones – with the caveat that of course this is all framed by my tastes… though they are aligning with those of AF’s boss pretty damn well. And now we’re 60 releases deep, which kind of explains part of how / why I was able to turn around and reflect: that’s a number achieved over about eight years, which is less than a record per month (and maybe it gets up to a record per month with sublabels and whatnot), and that’s just about a perfect cadence. Not only for my wallet, but for the care it suggests, with every record getting full curation attention. Can output happen more frequently and still be quality? Of course, but I think, realistically, you want to give your listeners actual time to absorb your stuff, and AF’s flow is absolutely optimized for that.

With that patience, not only has AF’s sound gotten more “confident,” but my ears have grown as well, with a lot of those artists who may’ve initially triggered my bias now on my playlist. I’d argue that their sounds have matured, but who knows – maybe I’m just a fanboy.

Only: listening to this 17-song runthrough of existing and (maybe) forthcoming AFers underlines for me how far the label has come, able to cover icy acid, slick electro, blistering breaks, and just the outright weird with equal skill, even this collection itself perfectly curated to guide our ears – from the well-rounded smooth beats of James Shinra to the club rattling Voiron; Rolando Simmons’ bouncy funk to Fasme’s synthwave nibbles; centered around what has to be RTR’s most mind-blowing track to date.

The last time we did this – thirty releases ago – AF was still kind of playfully stepping out, putting their artists on remix duty. I love that release sixty offers up originals (or at least new mixes / edits), and that not a single track feels like wasted space. Again, I know that’s subjective, but anyone who’s been playing in the IDM / electro trenches for a while knows the tics these creatives often reuse, and I swear that none of them appear here, Even when someone is playing in familiar waters, it’s a part of the pool they’ve come to own; every track is identifiable.

Yeah, that’s two short paragraphs of actual review, and a lot of upfront blabber. My apologies, but this is an ideal compilation – give it to noobs to give them a banger playlist; give it to longtime listeners to celebrate their label and these artists’ bests – and I was struck with how much I’ve come to look forward to every single Analogical Force release, inclusive of this set.