After a brush with late-90s mainstream music industry success via a deal with Festival Records, Clan Analogue felt the need to re-establish its cutting-edge credentials when the 21st century rolled around. So in 2001 a new distribution deal was signed with groovy indie Sydney label Creative Vibes, home of funky and hip artists including Gotye, Spoonbill and The Bird. For the following six years Clan Analogue released a series of albums which are amongst the most popular and enduring in its back catalogue.

Clan Analogue have now made available for the first time on Bandcamp this collection of much-loved releases, spanning the years from 2001 to 2007. Download in the format of your choice or take a listen via streaming and enjoy the sounds of Clan Analogue’s Creative Vibes years!

Solid Gold: Cognition Four (CA028) was the last release compiled by Clan Analogue’s then Label Manager Gordon Finlayson before he retired from the independent electronic music scene to become a jet-setting intellectual property lawyer. As Gordon had a plane to catch some of the proofreading on the artwork was a bit rushed, so if you have one of the original CDs you may spot some amusing typos. Other than that, this is classic early 2000s electroclash with some legendary tracks by Artificial & DJ Toupee, Andy Rantzen & General Electrik, B(if)tek, Itch-E & Scratch-E, Bleepin’ J Squawkins, and more. Still sounds great in the clubs!

An Englishman In Ibiza (CA029) by Disco Stu somehow became Clan Analogue’s closest thing to a commercial hit single, getting high rotation airplay on Triple-J and becoming the station’s most-requested song for a fortnight or so. Disco Stu was the alter-ego for experimental sounds artist Ian Andrews and this was the follow-up to the first Disco Stu album Adult Themes which we had released a few years earlier. The track “An Englishman in Ibiza” had actually already been released by Nicole Skeltys on her Stoner Classix label but it took the Clan Analogue and Creative Vibes partnership to get this some wider attention. We don’t question the tastes of the record-buying public and were happy for this rare moment of mainstream popularity!

Habitat: Environmental Sound Research (CA030) was originally intended as the follow-up to Clan Analogue’s Aphelion One release of the late 90s. Exploring the ambient and abstract areas of Clan Analogue’s artistic output this fairly leftfield release from 2002 was nonetheless nominated for Best Compilation in the Australian Dance Music Awards. Some of the notable artists included were Sydney sound artists Kazumichi Grime and Shannon O’Neil, Adelaide’s indietronica duo Pretty Boy Crossover, and Melbourne’s legendary industrial psychedelic rock group Clowns Smiling Backwards.

During this era we usually paired compilation albums with a complementary artist release, so in 2002 we also released Any Number Can Play (CA031) from Adelaide indietronica duo Pretty Boy Crossover, a collaboration between Jason Sweeney and Cailan Burns. This was a mini-album with four tracks and four accompanying remixes by some interesting leftfield artists including Kazumichi Grime.

Defocus: Low Res Productions (CA032) continued the exploration of electronic music styles quite removed from club and rave cultures. Released in 2003, this compilation explored lo-fi, glitch and indietronica styles, so was a fairly diverse collection but certainly an interesting one! Some notable artists featured include Deepchild, Dark Network and Two4K.

Late Set (CA033) from Dark Network is one of the most-loved releases in the Clan Analogue catalogue, continuing to attract new fans with its chilled hypnotic grooves made with classic analogue gear. A mainstay of Clan Analogue’s chill-out rooms Dark Network often played lengthy sets in the late hours and they go deep into that sonic territory with this album.

Clan Analogue returned to the dancefloor with the compilation Doppler Shift: Electro Selections (CA034) released in 2004, but with a cheeky 80s synth-pop influence coming to the fore. New Clan Analogue artists Valley Forge and Lunar Module made their first appearances here, joining some great long-time Clan contributors such as Itch-E & Scratch-E and General Electrik.

After they won an inaugural B(if)tek WINK Award Clan Analogue recognised Sydney electro duo Bleepin’ J Squawkins as an act to watch. In 2004 we released their debut album Floppydisco (CA035), featuring a batch of short and sharp electro-pop tunes. “Minerva Moog part 1” even made it onto Triple J’s daytime playlists with its catchy electro groove and enigmatic narrative.

By 2006 the age of iTunes and legal downloads was upon us, so Clan Analogue started releasing singles and shorter EPs along with compilation albums and artist releases to take advantage of this new-found format freedom. The first such release was the single Over & Over Dub (CA036A) by Dsico, an advance track from the forthcoming compilation Clan Analogue In Version. The single included a catchy post-punk-flavoured “B-side” called “Stone’s Throw”.

Clan Analogue In Version: Dub Selections (CA036) is one of the rare releases in Clan Analogue’s catalogue which actually includes the name of the collective (although it is often shortened to just In Version). Executive Producer Scot McPhee (Victor X-Ray) sent out MIDI files of classic reggae basslines that artists could use to develop their dub tracks, in classic soundsystem style. The result is a unique combination of dub innovation and classic reggae tradition which sounds just as contemporary today. In Version includes some great contributions from Andy Rantzen, Winduptoys, Kazumichi Grime and others.

Originally put together as a promo collection to try to secure a distribution deal with a Hong Kong label, Inverted: Further Dub Selections (CA036B) became a limited edition companion CD for those who bought Clan Analogue In Version in physical format. The EP was another dub release, however these were more dub-influenced tracks rather than purist in their style, with artists mixing dub elements into their music in their own way.

An advance single in the leadup to the forthcoming release of the Winduptoys album, Melbourne’s psychedelic dub duo released Switch On (CA037P) in 2006 with a bunch of alternative mixes and obscure rarities which brought their exotica influences to the fore.

The debut Winduptoys album Double Exposure (CA037) released in 2006 was Clan Analogue’s last release through Creative Vibes. An experimental electronic masterpiece, Double Exposure mixed elements of dub, psychedelia, exotica, industrial music, found sound and general sonic weirdness. Enjoy!

The Promise EP (CA036K) from  KOshowKO was released in 2007 at the tail end of our time with Creative Vibes. KOshowKO’s track “Promise” had been included on the Clan Analogue In Version compilation and the EP collected this track along with a bunch of alternate mixes and remixes plus an otherwise unreleased “B-side”. Although CDs were pressed, the release emphasis was moving towards iTunes and other platforms for digital downloads by this stage.

101 Lock Groves (CA-LG101) was not a Creative Vibes release as it was released completely independently, however we include it here because it belongs in this era. This was originally a vinyl-only release coordinated by Nathan Elliot-Watson (Null Object) featuring 101 locked grooves by 28 different artists – very useful for some extra sonic spice in late night DJ sets! These loops have never before been available in non-physical format. We have made them available under a Creative Commons license so use as you will, although we would appreciate attribution please!

And finally, something that was never released at all. In 2002 Clan Analogue prepared to release the long-awaited debut album from Sydney industrial techno artist Null Object. But the abrasive qualities of Null Object’s uncompromising sound proved too much for the gentle ears at Creative Vibes and they didn’t want to release it. However while the “to release or not to release” debate was going on, one of the tracks was pressed onto a Creative Vibes vinyl promotional EP, which also included tracks by Disco Stu and Pretty Boy Crossover on the Clan Analogue side and some tracks from Sydney label Groovescooter on the other. If you have a copy of this rare release, count yourself lucky! In the meantime, enjoy this rediscovered hard industrial gem created with Null Object trademark vintage analogue gear and distortion aesthetic, the track “Stan Astad Is My Dad” which we are now releasing as CA03X.

Volunteers wanted to test Future Security Agency audio – are you eligible?

Do you have the aptitude to hear the decrypted Future Security Agency data? Assessment criteria include musical awareness, psychological resilience & physiological stamina

Take our eligibility test to check your suitability. Click here to apply.

Clan Analogue have finally completely decoded the mysterious Future Security Agency Partial Decryptions into its purest form.  A small number of musically-competent volunteers are required to “test listen” to these fully decoded, and potentially hallucinogenic, audio snippets.

In 2021, Clan Analogue were contacted by an anonymous source asking for assistance in decrypting a unique dataset. Despite their scepticism, our IT team agreed to look into it, assembling an entirely-airgapped rack server constrained within a Faraday cage so as to safely examine the data without risk of wider network contamination.

The patterns that emerged matched those of audio encoding frameworks, in an as-yet unencountered ultra-high resolution quantum audio format. Remarkably, certain recurring temporal patterning within the data indicated a correlation with music. 

Before vanishing, our source left us a warning that the data could be dangerous, hinting at possible retribution from an unknown source due to the effects these sounds could have on listeners. 

During the decryption process a piece of corrupt tri-code was initially discarded as noise. After applying several Fourier transform equations, it was realised that this was actually some kind of metadata stamping algorithm. The name Future Security Agency emerged, along with an image, possibly a key to the data’s original source.

A handpicked team of Clan Analogue artists worked at decrypting the data, reconstructing the waveforms within the perceivable audible frequency spectrum. These select artists, Chamberz, Tim Marcus Moore, Kable54, Reductionist and GJ Hannah, were each given a discrete portion of the data to reconstruct as best they could. In 2022 we made these reconstructions available as the Future Security Agency Partial Decryptions. 

In January this year our IT team were stuck, making no further progress in decoding the data. A breakthrough occurred when we managed to sneak some time with a CSIRO hyper-qubit quantum computer, on the pretext of developing the perfect reverb plugin as an Australian export opportunity. Utilising the processing power now available, we realised the sidechain noise contained an encrypted blockchain. Running it through proprietary cryptocurrency decoding software gave us the breakthrough we needed. We now believe we have in our possession the completely-decrypted Future Security Agency audio.

We are however, hesitant to make this audio more widely available as yet, due to both the warnings given when we received the original data and some strange experiences reported by Clan Analogue’s team of decrypting artists. 

Hallucinations, hyper-real dreams, visions of alternative social structures,… these mental experiences became familiar to our audio technicians.

Because of these dangers, we are not yet making this significant audio available for all to listen to. 

Instead, Clan Analogue are looking for capable volunteers to “test listen” to some short snippets of the pure audio.  Prior to listening, volunteers will be assessed for their suitability, according to criteria of musical awareness, physical stamina and psychological resilience.

If you believe you are able to hear this audio, click here to access our diagnostic online test.

In the early years of the twenty-first century various Australian music distributors sadly wound up their operations as the music industry continued its journey into the era of downloads and streaming. Clan Analogue’s long-running relationships with distributors such as Mushroom, Festival, Creative Vibes and MDS drew to a close. Once again Clan Analogue began operating completely independently, just as it had when the collective was first formed in the early 1990s.

Clan Analogue have now made available on Bandcamp all the releases from this period of its history – the independent 2000s. These releases were originally released as CDs available on mail order. Now they have been made available for the first time for download or streaming from the Bandcamp platform.

The Neurosis EP (CA021C) was actually a collection of tracks recorded by the Melbourne duo Continuum in the late 1990s, including the track “Neurosis” which had originally been released on the late 90s Clan Analogue compilation Pre Sense. The Neurosis EP was released in 2010 as a teaser EP, making most of these tracks available for the first time, leading up to the release of the Clan Analogue retrospective collection Re Cognition.

We Think You’re Dishy Remixes (CA039B) EP by B(if)tek was a second teaser EP for the Re Cognition Clan Analogue retrospective collection released in 2010. The release included two new remixes of B(if)tek’s classic track “We Think You’re Dishy”, one by Melbourne act KOshowKO, the second by Sydney electro duo Bleepin’ J Squawkins. As well as the two new remixes, the EP featured the original version of “We Think You’re Dishy”, first heard on the Clan Analogue compilation Twenty Disco Greats released in 1999. The fourth track “We Oscillate” was originally heard on the 1996 Clan Analogue cassette release Schizmatrix.

The Lunar Module self-titled EP (CA039L) was one of a collection of EPs by different Clan Analogue artists released in 2010. Sydney’s Lunar Module were first heard on the 2004 Clan Analogue electro compilation Doppler Shift, with a style influenced by the classic sounds of 1980s new wave, industrial electro and synth pop. This EP featured seven retro-futuristic tracks as a mini-album release.

Theme From Tiatto (CA039T) was another in the collection of 2010 Clan Analogue EPs, the first release from Melbourne act Tiatto, whose sound was inspired by the sounds of garage, breakbeat and 2-step emerging from the UK. Andy Rantzen joined the party to add a great remix to this collection of epic psychedelic groovers.

KOshowKO’s The Truth In Me (CA039K) was also one of Clan Analogue’s 2010 EP collection, a follow-up to the earlier Promise EP. The Truth In Me contained tracks that are both haunting and euphoric with an opulent production aesthetic perfected by Martin K on this release.