ANALOG

Having the last studio album "Pomaknuto" (1983) showed serious signs of creative crisis, Mlinarec retired from music business. After the 20th anniversary reunion concert of his old-time beatsters GRUPA 220 in 1987, he also retired from public life and moved to live in the peaceful countryside near the Slovene-Croatian border, surrounded by stray dogs and cats (he developed a sort of animal refuge centre at his house) and computers.

In 1994 the Slovene underground label FV issued a tape called "Analog", which presented Mlinarec as an author of music largely unrelated to his known career of an acoustic laid-back singer/songwriter - the electronica! However, he was anything but a novice to digital equipment. Even on "Pomaknuto" one could hear certain studio manipulations with electronic sounds, while in a recent interview he explained his passion for electronics had dated back to early 1970s when he acquired his first 16 KB memory computer!

Sidelong "Well You Know... Okee" will surely remind you of some FLOYD/TANGERINE DREAM aspects, starting from introductory natural sounds of birds and roosters to mixing of voice hums and radio speech to later rhythmic sequencers of trance-like sensation. Of course, the minimalist ambient aspect of Brian Eno also comes to mind, which is particularly evident in the closer "C'est" with its sea waves emulation, gentle percussions and electronic bass.

Mlinarec as a singer can be heard in two remaining tracks, "Predvecerje puno skepse" (eng. An Evening Full of Scepticism) and "Dijana u gradu" (eng. Diana in Town), recalling his best-known period. This time, however, he used lyrics written by Miroslav Krleza, a famous Croatian author from the Yugoslav era. Both songs are very nice and can match some of his earlier and most popular works from the past.

Since the sound of this tape is largely digital (including the electronic drums and percussions), the cassette title may be read as a paradoxical twist, but is nevertheless an interesting issue that should be listened to, not only by Drago's fans.

PERSONAL RATING: 3,5/5

P.A. RATING: 3/5