Article
Pursuit Grooves

Albums
Vieo Abiungo
Ada
Alias
Anklebiter
Sigbjørn Apeland
Arandel
Black Eagle Child
The Caretaker
Collections Colonies Bees
Colour Kane
Displacer
DJ Phono
Every Silver Lining
Jefferson Friedman
Gus Gus
Robin Guthrie
Helvacioglu & Bandt
Robert Hood
Seth Horvitz
Human Greed
Richard A Ingram
Jóhann Jóhannsson
Marsen Jules
Loscil
Myrmyr
Teruyuki Nobuchika
Now Ensemble
Popol Vuh
Pursuit Grooves
Quasi Dub Development
Rant
Jannick Schou
John Tejada
Tobias.
Trickski
Turtleboy
Yamaoka
Winged Victory For Sullen

Compilations / Mixes
116 & Rising
Our Little Prayers
Craig Richards
Henry Saiz

EPs
Absent Without Leave
Abyss
Simon Bainton
BNJMN
Ceremony
Corrugated Tunnel
Dead Leaf Echo
Go Hiyama
Josco
M.A.D.A. & Plankton
Monseré and Youngs
Semtek
Sharma + Krause
Soundpool
Sparkhouse
Vahagn

DVD
Barbara Lüneburg

John Tejada: Parabolas
Kompakt

John Tejada, who surely belongs in that rarified “needs no introduction” category, adds a new wrinkle to his professional trajectory by issuing his latest full-length on Kompakt rather than on his own Palette Recordings, a move that should surely expose his music to another set of listeners. Not that he has anything left to prove at this stage of his journey, but Parabolas nevertheless exudes a vitality and spark that reveals why the California-based DJ and producer is still such a creative force after two decades of recording activity.

The collection exudes the meticulous tech-house style which we've come to associate with Tejada, even if it does branch out into other less club-centric zones. “Farther and Fainter” strikingly manages to sound like both a prototypically sleek Tejada production and a Kompakt track, which boasts a fresh and innocent vibe one associates with the early days of the Berlin label. In this case, keyboards sing gleefully as they work through serpentine melodic syncopations, while the lithe beat pattern lends the track an elegant propulsion. There's a dreamy quality and a heightened melodic emphasis that makes it an ideal entry point for the hour-long album. Representative of Tejada's style, “The Living Night” and “A Flexible Plan” offer creamy blends of radiant synthetics and exuberant techno and house swing (Tejada even sneaks a hint of Latin into the latter track's hard-grooving pulse).

Parabolas isn't a non-stop club collection, as Tejada occasionally moves into other stylistic areas. “The Dream” and “The Honest Man,” for example, are beatless ambient settings one could imagine functioning as lounge breaks for the album's otherwise dancefloor-focused material. Tejada isn't afraid to wear his influences on his sleeve either. “Subdivided” lifts a funky beat pulse from Kraftwerk's Computer World, while the bleepy, labyrinthine surfaces of “Mechanized World” and “Unstable Condition” suggest ties to early Warp-styled IDM. Rolling out a slippery funk groove, claps, and chiming keyboard melodies, “Timeless Space” even slows the pace for a downtempo excursion into a head-nodding fusion of IDM and hip-hop.

It's not inconceivable that some listeners might find Tejada's material too polished and lacking in emotion—his tracks certainly eschew the outpouring of raw intensity one hears in deep house, for instance—but the sophisticated gleam of Parabolas nonetheless succeeds on its own terms. Tracks such as “Farther and Fainter” and “The Living Night” alone make the trip one worth taking.

August 2011