John Tejada

Musically, John Tejada has always worn his heart on his (LP) sleeve. Showing his love for both Detroit techno and Warp Records, the Vienna, Austria producer has released a decade's worth of post-minimal-minded instrumentals that always come off as affectionate and playful despite their stainless-steel facades. On The Predicting Machine (his ninth LP and second for Germany microhouse institution Kompakt), Tejada focuses on extraditing these thematic, dramatic sounds rather than blending them. On tracks like "An Ounce of Perception," "Winter Skies" and "Horizon to Horizon," he explores the pulse of Italo disco, the crackle of electroacoustic improv and the robotics of 8-bit house, respectively. Although much of The Predicting Machine follows the same juddering rhythm, allowing rounded keyboard accents and snapping drum beats to swell, Tejada has done a fine job of giving each track its distinctive personality without sacrificing the flow of the album as a cohesive piece.