(04.27.04) I’m Not A Gun is a collaborative project for prolific electronic music maveric John Tejada and his talented multi-instrumentalist companion Takeshi Nishimoto and marks the fist release in 2003 for the always reliable City Centre Offices Label. Anyone who has heard Mr. Tejada’s previous works will be surprised to hear that this record owes most to the Chicago post-rock jazz sound than to classic house or early electronica records. It is a surprising move for Tejada, but as soon as the needle hits the wax and “Jetstream” kicks it’s sun-bleached guitar-funk into the speakers, it is very obvious that you are listening to something very special indeed. The track is an unexpected introduction to an album which is, for the most part slow and internal, but it brings the listener into a bright and carefree state of mind before launching the melted vocoder dream of “Frequent Syndrome”. This is the perfect soundtrack to a sunny spring day, lying on the soft grass with a cocktail, sitting under a blossoming tree waiting to meet that special someone. As the wonderfully emotive guitars ring over crisp and airy live drums in standout-track “These Thoughts Break” it is difficult not to feel like the weight of the world has been lifted from your shoulders.
By the time we reach the center-point of the album, Tejada and Nishimoto have another surprise in store for us in the shape of “Make Sense And Loose”, which takes a deep, minimal house influence and successfully adds this to the post-rock guitar jangle explored on the rest of the album. It works in a sublime and subtle way, and makes a perfect interval in the record. Just as “Jetstream” worked so well as a fast and brash introduction, “Make Sense..” is the next marker, introducing part two of the opus.
The second half of Everything At Once is a more laid back ride than the first, but still just as engrossing. We are greeted with Opiate-esque crackles and clicks in “Search For Sleep” which shows yet more scope and diversity before returning us to the melodic guitar workouts that have become the staple of the record. Before long we are hit with another of the album’s (many) stand out tracks “Flash Bang Imagery”. This slightly erratic track built around a simple live drum loop, and what sounds like improvisational guitar over the top, seems to drift and build without ever descending into pop indulgence. Another fine example of the restrained genius of I’m Not A Gun, never moving into the excess, always keeping the goal in sight, and always successful in achieving it.
Fifty minutes later and the album is over, but do not worry, this is not a record that after elapsing will sink deep into the record collection never to be seen again. This is something that will have you reaching back again and again. The merits of Everything At Once do not lie in specific tracks, but in the power of an album without time for filler, an album where each track plays against the other and needs every single one to work perfectly. A rare occurrence in today’s throwaway mp3-littered music scene, but it makes a welcome and long overdue appearance in these parts.
Everything At Once is out now on City Centre Offices.
