Browse by Artist: I'M NOT A GUN

Artist:	I'M NOT A GUN
Title:	Everything At Once
Label:	CITY CENTRE OFFICES (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	CCO 011CD

"I'm Not A Gun are John Tejada and Takeshi Nishimoto. Techno's best kept secret, John Tejada (Playhouse, Palette, 7th City etc.) has decided to take a break from his usual (strictly electronic) productions. Together with his friend Takeshi Nishimoto he sits back on the veranda of postrock-instrumentals and relaxes. Tejada on drums, guitar and electronics, Nishimoto on guitar and bass dream away their day -- and make ours. With airy gestures and a sunny state of mind, they jam themselves into textures which have learned their lesson from the best records of the Chicago school: jazzrock does not have to be a pretentious monster, but can sing a poem of the utopia of unhierachical communication. As soon as structure wins over the solo, dialogue over technical skills and the lightness of swing over the pathos of improvisation. With I'm Not A Gun, everything seems to be structure, dialogue and lightness. In a cheerful dizziness, these instrumentals seem to plan themselves, accepting no control from the outside world. Tejada and Nishimoto are just following that stream. Everything At Once is music of the inner ear, floating sessions full of trust in a higher sense of justice. Music which finally arrives at itself, unfolds, blossoms and stretches out its feelers. Here, work has got nothing to do with effort, and producing nothing with reason."

Artist:	I'M NOT A GUN
Title:	We Think As Instruments
Label:	CITY CENTRE OFFICES (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	CCO 033CD

We Think As Instruments is John Tejada and Takeshi Nishimoto's third album, and the title perfectly describes the duo's journey, exploring the possibilities of a two-piece band, bringing together delicate electronics and free-floating acoustic instruments. Floating is one of the keywords here. Tejada, most and best known for his dancefloor-influenced productions, is the head of the flow research department by definition, Nishimoto, whose favorite guitar is a custom-built 7-string, is a dedicated music lover, fascinated by genres and styles too numerous to mention. The tracks here push the hybrid of digital tightness and soulful playfulness into a new dimension. "A Letter From The Past" incorporates minimal drum programming and lush chords from the sarod, a classical Indian instrument he has been practicing with for years. We Think As Instruments allows the various instruments to have more room, managing to make the tracks sound more spacious yet more detailed. I'm Not A Gun is not a recreation of a smoky jazz club, nor the soundtrack for a late-night drive, where a certain relaxed dizziness is the motor... it is a very special effort by two of the most gifted and reliably surprising musicians around.

Artist:	I'M NOT A GUN
Title:	Mirror
Label:	PALETTE
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	PAL 052CD

I'm Not A Gun is a collaboration between John Tejada and Takeshi Nishimoto, and this is their first release for the Palette label. The two have gained worldwide acclaim with their three albums for Berlin-based City Centre Offices (CCO). Tejada is an internationally-established electronic artist who has received critical acclaim the world over for his electronic productions, while Nishimoto studied the classical tradition from some of the world's premiere guitar players such as James Smith, Scott Tennant, Bill Kanengizer, and Brian Head. He also had the jazz guitar legend Phil Upchurch as his mentor. I'm Not A Gun is an organic combination of a captured acoustic performance and experimental electronic composition. Mirror marks Palette Recordings 52nd release as well as I'm Not A Gun's fourth full-length release. After many years recording for CCO, Tejada and Nishimoto bring the project home, where they had always envisioned it should be, on Tejada's own Palette Recordings. Mirror expands on the ideas the two have been honing over the past few years, combining acoustic elements with electronic production to capture that magic take. This album features more of Nishimoto's acoustic 7-string guitar work than ever before, reflecting his solo effort Monologue, as well as his work on 7-string electric guitar. The accompanying atmospheres created mostly from processed granular guitar add a synthetic acoustic backing for the lead guitar work. The combination of the acoustic and synthetic guitar textures envelops the listener in a pulse backed by Tejada's drum playing or at times, synthetic drum programming.

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