- The incredibly prolific John Tejada returns to Steve Bug’s Poker Flat label with 'Big City Music', serving up two tracks for the dancefloor. Listeners hoping for a pair of dancefloor destroyers akin to Tejada's previous Poker Flat release 'Sweat (on the walls)' or the Palette released 'Mono on Mono', however, may be somewhat disappointed.
Title track 'Big City Music' starts with a bubbling bouncing melody that is quickly joined by a high hat, and then handclap beats. The melody continues, being fed through filters as the track progresses, rising and expanding, fattening out and slimming down again. This mutating melody is the main focal point of the track, and is carried along by deep, minimal beats and bleeps. It gets its groove on nicely, and will prove useful to DJs who want to maintain a deep groove on the dancefloor. However, the track has no particularly strong kicks or high peaks, so will be best used by DJs to help build or sustain a minimal mood.
'Asanebo' kicks off quickly with a high lilting melody, accompanied by chirps, a whirring clicking sound (like some kind of wind-up toy), and then a wonderfully deep bassline. Before too long the main melody comes in, a high echoing melody that rises and falls up and down the register. A deeper, bass-heavy line is then introduced to mirror this melody, giving the track some serious dancefloor swagger. Just like 'Big City Music', 'Asanebo' has no strong kicks (the introduction of the bass-heavy line halfway through the track is the closest it comes), so while it will keep a dancefloor moving, it won’t get a dancefloor screaming.
'Big City Music', then, is a solid EP for DJs who are looking to build or sustain a deep minimal groove on the dancefloor. Those looking for peak time material, however, are advised to look elsewhere (or just slap on 'Mono on Mono' again).