From Nuutti-Iivari Merilainen Sent Fri, Apr 23rd 1999, 10:03
From Nuutti-Iivari Merilainen Sent Fri, Apr 23rd 1999, 10:03
// John Tejada: Little Green Lights and Four Inch Faders
// A13 Productions AA004LP/CD (3xLP/CD)
// L.E.D. // In Control // Pasadena Shuffle
// Caspa // Prism War // Streamer
// Disruption // Torque // Green Fingers
// Solar Eyes // Umbilical // Journey Home
// Emotion Factor: 0.90
// Dance Factor: 0.95
// Accessibility Factor: 0.95
// Required Purchase Factor: 0.80
John Tejada has been one of my favourites for quite a long time. He
has the ability compose well-balanced, emotional tech-house that
elevates the listener (at least in my case) and keeps the feet moving.
"Little Green Lights and Four Inch Faders" is not an exception to this
rule. 12 tracks of pure emotion and energy.
About two years ago, before summer, Lucid Dream's "Pure Punk" was
one of my favourite records and it kept its place in my favourites
throughout the whole summer. "Pure Punk" was a summer record, bright
and emotional; this album works the same. Although it is now very
bleak and rainy outside (in Finland), listening to "Torque" makes me
feel that the sun is shining and I driving down from San Francisco to
Los Angeles. The view is staggering, Pelicans are flying past and I do
not have a thing to worry about.
This album will be one of my most played records for the following
summer. Very much alike to early Pure Plastic releases with just
rhythm and strings, a hint of melody and a relentless groove.
On the substance abuse side, if Nightmares On Wax's "Smokers Delight"
feels like lighting up a huge spliff, "Little Green Lights and Four
Inch Faders" is like necking a very good E and just going with the flow.
// Push Button Objects
// Skam SKA011 (12")
// A Day In A Life // Nocturnal Device // Apple Sauce
// Twisted // FM Science // The Hamocks
// Emotion Factor: 0.65
// Dance Factor: 0.60
// Accessibility Factor: 0.65
// Required Purchase Factor: 1.0 for us Skam freaks, 0.70 for others
The Skam releases are always events in their own right. I have not
heard Push Button Objects before, so I have no preconceptions of what
this EP could be. It is not very clear whether I should play the record
on 33 or 45, but I am defaulting to 33 as there are three tracks on
both sides. Judging from the first track, "A Day In A Life" (I am
writing this review in real time whilst listening), the material is
rather ominous and gloomy. Scrunchy drums over a dark string layer.
"Nocturnal Device" has almost a hip-hop-ish feel to it, transforming
to a more difficult rhythm after a few bars. Reminds me a lot of some
Repeat tracks on "Repeats". Smooth string layer on the background, but
the main emphasis is one the jazzy breakbeat rhythm track. A strange
chord accompaniment, too.
"Apple Sauce" starts off with string plucking, accompanied by a
silent string layer. A clicking rhythm joins in. The plucking fades,
and after a while an Autechrean rhythm begins to give more structure
to the track. In the end, the string layer fades off.
"Twisted" has a sort of a muzak quality to it, but a beautiful track
nonetheless. The middle part transports me instantly back to the "Tri
Repetae" phase of Autechre. So far, I like this track the most.
"FM Science" begins with a rhythm track accompanied by very dry FM
sounds, but transforms to a beautiful piano melody with a string layer.
The string layer fades, and the FM droning begins again.
Nearly without missing a beat, the track jumps to "The Hamocks". A
very jazz-houseish feel at first, then an autechre-like plucking sound
enters the stage. A low bass on the background. This track is starting
to sound very much a Gescom track (Keynell), but with a twist of its
own. Very jazzy in the end.
(Sorry about the fragmented nature of the above review, I did it
real-time whilst listening to the EP for the first time :)
All in all, this EP is slow in rhythm, high on Skam. It is one of
those releases that requires a few listens to get acquainted with.
Rather difficult, but accessible and enjoyable after giving it a few
spins.
(I will point out that the factors can not be used to determine
whether the records are good or bad, they are just my subjective
opinions on various aspects of the records. Also, the factors can not
be combined or averaged to get an overall "Goodness" factor. To clarify
a bit, the emotion factor is how much emotional response I get from
the record; the dance factor is how much the record is suited for
dancing; the accessibility factor is how easy it is to "get in" to the
record, and the purchase factor is a sort of a guideline whether the
record should be purchased by anyone else :)
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