Various. Artifacts II: 1990 - 1994. CD.

As a producer, Cracknation Records founder Jason Novak began building tracks in Chicago as early as1988. Influenced by local industrial lynchpins like WaxTrax! Records, Medusa's and Exit nightclubs, and the Jourgensen camp, Novak began to sow the seeds of Acumen and Acucrack via harsh, 4/4 electronic dance music.

As guitars, breakbeats and jungle barged in over the years, these early tracks were abandoned by the time Acumen was signed to Fifth Colvmn Records in 1994 and DJ? Acucrack reared its head in 1997. However, the power of this early music (which caught the ear of WaxTrax! founder Jim Nash just before the label fell on hard times) remains fresh to this day, and we are proud to finally release 12 tracks of it, remastered.

So as time has eroded the magic of the distorted, snarling, processed sounds of early industrial dance music, as we say goodbye to Ministry and eulogize WaxTrax finally with the closing of TVT, we offer this collection of dark nostalgia, created in Chicago at a time before guitars infiltrated the mix and Hot Topic homogenized the scene... Get ready to stomp! Released on CrackNation and available July 8th, 2008.

Tracks by Acumen Nation and DJ Acucrack!