For over two decades, Anna Logue Records has been a beacon for those who understand that the early 1980s represented a golden age of electronic music – a brief, brilliant window when artists armed with synthesisers, drum machines, and raw creative vision crafted something genuinely revolutionary.
Founded in 2005 by a collector-turned-curator who spent the mid-90s buried in the minimal synth scene, swapping tapes and haunting eBay for privately pressed 7″s and forgotten cassettes, the label emerged from a simple desire to rescue and celebrate the melancholic yet melodic treasures that deserved far better than wanton abandonment and obscurity. We’re happy to admit our ignorance of the label until being alerted via the reissue of Join The Car Crash Set. But having been turned on via that channel we delved deeper… a lot deeper.
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What began with Camera Obscura’s debut vinyl LP (through three problematic pressing rounds) has blossomed into a catalogue that honours both the artists of yesteryear and into the contemporary that are keeping the analogue flame alive. The label’s ethos is refreshingly purist – this is music made before the digital age smoothed off all those beautifully rough edges and that bleakness when electronics were raw and honest.
Anna Logue Records isn’t part of the ‘music industry’ – it exists in deliberate opposition to it. Non-exclusive agreements respecting artists’ autonomy, every release is treated as art or memorabilia rather than product, lovingly designed with original band materials, lyrics, photos, and the meticulous attention of someone who still remembers receiving multiple parcels a day in pursuit of the perfect sound.
Sister label Nadanna (a playful portmanteau of founders “Mr. Nader” and “Mr. Anna”) extends the mission into contemporary territory, releasing danceable works that blur the lines between minimal synth, Italo disco, and Electropop. Together, they form a small but vital operation – self-financing, fiercely independent, and still run by that same collector was too busy discovering bottomless pits of forgotten electronic to pay too much attention at college.
The mix you’re about to hear traces the label’s journey in reverse, alternating between Anna Logue and Nadanna releases, from timeless classics like League of Nations’ “Fade” to previews of what’s next. It includes what the label’s founder calls “the perfect electronic pop song” (Blipblop’s “Ögat som ser”), features a performance from Rational Youth’s Tracy Howe on Techniques Berlin’s “Cold War”, and closes with the achingly beautiful “Zara In The Stars” – written by Quieter Than Spiders’ Leon Zhang in memory of a beloved dog at a sanctuary, a reminder that these endeavours carry real meaning beyond the music.
Twenty years in, with projects like Delayscape’s double album and new Twins Natalia material still in the pipeline, Anna Logue Records continues doing what it’s always done; unveiling music that should be heard, released with passion by people who genuinely love it, for those who understand that sometimes, the best technology is the one that came before everything got polished to death.
Best get that mix on and have a chat hey…
Interview here: https://www.theransomnote.com/music/featured-music/anna-logue-records-a-flavour-of-the-label-mix/
@annaloguerecords