Polski opis

Wytwórnia :	Palette (PAL-042CD)
Gatunek :	Electronic, IDM, Techno, Minimal, Experimental
Rok Wydania :	2006
Jakość :	WavPack
Okładki :	Tak
Ripper :	a-one

Opis:
Co za tytuł! Już jego wybór świadczy o pomysłowości autora. I rzeczywiście - nowy album Johna Tejady potwierdza, że ten amerykański producent wyrwał się przed peleton producentów startujących w wyścigu o palmę pierwszeństwa na światowej scenie inteligentnego techno i house'u.

Pierwsze dźwięki dochodzące z płyty zaskakują: bity są wyjątkowe lekkie i zwiewne, momentami klikające, a wspierają je miło kumkające klawisze i cicho brzęczący loop o wyraźnej melodii ("What Happened To Manners?", "Clever Bunch"). Bardziej chmurne tony pojawiają się nieco później - ale te zbasowane motywy nie niwelują organicznego ciepła bijącego z nowej muzyki Tejady ("Mutation"). Jej kwintesencją okazuje się być "The End Of It All" - genialny w swej przejrzystej konstrukcji i przebojowej melodyce tech-house o wręcz baśniowym klimacie. Dawno nie było w tanecznej elektronice tak cudownie urokliwego nagrania. Kontrastem dla tego utworu jest mała dawka twardego techno, które amerykański producent serwuje w "Science, I Think" i "Paper Jet". Z głośników atakują tu słuchacza soniczne akordy syntezatorów, podbite agresywnymi przesterami i mocnymi rytmami. W finale płyty czeka nas znów powrót do klikającego house'u. Daleko jednak tym kompozycjom od schematów typowych dla tego gatunku: pingpongowe dźwięki przeplatają się tu z nowofalowymi basami i rozmarzonymi klawiszami o ciepłych melodiach ("Calculated Time", Panorama"). Świetnie wypada również w tym zestawie próba połączenia rytmiki electro i techno w "Folding Room" - będąc zupełnie nowym słowem w twórczości Tejady. "Cleaning Sounds Is A Filthy Business" to spełnione marzenie wszystkich fanów tanecznej elektroniki.

PAWEŁ GZYL

 English description

Label :	Palette (PAL-042CD)
Genre :	Electronic, IDM, Techno, Minimal, Experimental
Year :	2006
Quality :	WavPack
Covers :	Yes
Ripper :	a-one

Description:
Born the son of a Vienna composer/conservatory teacher and an opera-singer mother, John Tejada joined Cosmic Baby and BT as classically trained techno changelings. Unlike those producers however, Tejada's recordings for Plug Research and A13 emphasize the rougher, more melancholy aspects of techno inspired by Detroit icons like Juan Atkins and Derrick May. Raised on the West Coast, Tejada played piano and drums as a child, then began listening to hip-hop and electro, beginning his DJ career by playing out in those styles. After hearing the Detroit techno blueprints courtesy of recordings by Atkins and May, Tejada began producing; during 1996 alone, he recorded two singles for A13 Records (as Lucid Dream) and an EP for Electric Ladyland (as Autodidact). Early the following year, his debut Lucid Dream album Pure appeared, followed by a single for Plug Research as Mr. Hazeltine. After the 1997 Plug Research & Development compilation earned kudos around the home-listening techno community, Tejada formed his own label Palette Records, collaborated with Joe Babylon of Plug Research and Allen Avan as Frankie Carbone and recorded on his own for Organised Noise, Ferox, and 7th City. His first album Little Green Lights and Four Inch Faders appeared in 1999 on A13 Records. Backstock, a wrap-up of his Palette label recordings, was released in 2001, and his second full production LP (Daydreams in Cold Weather) followed one year later on Plug Research.

John Tejada's latest album is, by his own description, an attempt to recapture the feelings he first felt when encountering techno in the late '80s and early '90s. A full-on nostalgia fest would have been a little much, though, and so Cleaning Sounds finds a good balance between earlier and more recent styles that again demonstrates his skill at exhibiting both perfect taste and the ability to cut loose a bit. If too much of what got stuck with the label of progressive house was dull-as-dishwater nth-generation Jean Michel Jarre meets Euro-disco, Tejada approaches his particular blend here differently, finding ways to let the sheer exhilaration of the earliest days drive his compositions but letting them be tempered in the mix, turning down the volume but never the intensity. The result is something rare: a joy to dance to as much as it is a joy to just listen to. Hearing what's almost a classic Joey Beltram riff turned into understated melody -- but without losing that compelling edge that made it so great to start -- is part of what makes songs like "Mutation" and "Clever Bunch" so good, for instance. "What Happened to Manners?" sets the tone elegantly between microhouse minimalism and hitting the dancefloor, while "The Zone" proves to be the album's centerpiece, it's simplicity recalling the immediate early efforts of the past while have a sleek up-to-date kick all its own. If the future is now the past when it comes to so much electronic music, Cleaning Sounds still demonstrates the power it can have in the right hands. (by Ned Raggett)