John Tejada

With a deep history (and back catalogue) of producing techno and electronic music, John Tejada certainly has enough skills behind the machines to make unique, forward-thinking material. On this full-length release, Tejada mixes vintage electro-pop with a more experimental style of techno, which results in the variety of sounds that comprise Daydreams In Cold Weather. Standout tracks like "Young" or "Count The Seconds" show off how this can work: stripped down and funky breaks mixed with synths, akin to old Detroit electro or current IDM labels like Morr Music or Toronto-based Suction Records. Tejada's friend Divine Style (from Mo' Wax) makes an appearance by contributing vocals on the track "The Silence Of Us," which is a nice change of pace. With his classical music training, he even goes so far as to create genuine songs for the head, rather than just programmed tracks for the dance floor. This can work against him and, indeed, some of the material on the album sounds too busy; at its worst like it sounds like a new age artist trying hard to make modern dance music. Still, the overall sound and nature of the material is progressive and interesting enough to merit a closer look.