Album Review: John Tejada - The Predicting Machine

John Tejada
The Predicting Machine
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Austrian producer John Tejada's second album for the venerable German microhouse and minimal techno label Kompact is a surprisingly diverse set of tracks that smoothly segues between deep house workouts and more atmospheric excursions, even exploring some more electro-tinged areas. The Predicting Machine hits the ground running with the furious house of lead track "Orbiter," melodic tech house banger "A Familiar Mood," a spacier track "An Ounce of Perception." The only real snag on the album comes when Tejada slows things down with the back-to-back almost beatless tracks "Winter Skies" and "Radio Channel," which show his dexterity but tend to stop the flow of the album in its tracks.



From there however, the album kicks back into gear with a nearly flawless set of tracks. First single "The Function and the Form" throws down a pounding beat amid fluttering keyboards.



BPM's increase with the skronky dance track "Stabilizer," jumpy and jiterry "Horizon to Horizon," and the Orbital referencing "Glaringly Happy" with its cloudscraping synth melodies and hard-edged electro drum programming.



All ending with the gorgeous electro track "When All Around Us Is Madness" which glides Blade Runner synths over crisp, dark beats.



The Predicting Machine is a solid tech-house release that keeps things moving and interesting except for that one section of more ambient-esque techno that almost collapses the flow of the album. While not as stunning as releases this year from John Talabot, Scuba, Actress, and even Orbital, The Predicting Machine still gets the job done well, and is a frequently rewarding listen.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.