In a message dated 2/23/00 1:34:28 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< could anybody give this beltran novice a bit of a career overview or perhaps point me to some decent interviews or a discog online? i dig the new indio album..... brian >> John Beltran is a small-town Michigan producer who first appeared with Open House on a 12" for Carl Craig's legendary Retroactive imprint in 1991. He did two more 12"s with Open House before falling off the radar for a few years before reappearing with the stunning "Earth & Nightfall" full-length on R&S. He then released the equally amazing "Ten Days of Blue" full-length on Peacefrog and under the guise Placid Angels (which sums up his sound quite well) released one of the most acclaimed aesthetic deep tech-house full-lengths ever, "The Cry" also on Peacefrog. He then began to branch out in much the same way as Carl Craig or Kirk "Detroitio" did (towards jazz and fusion) with the "Moving Through Here" disc on R&S and also on the Indio disc on the Transmat label. Much like the response to both Planetary Folklore and Programmed the hardcore fans (like me) of Beltran's early sound generally appreciated the new releases but found they lacked the emotional depth and the consistency of his earlier stuff. If you like Indio (not a bad record) I'll venture a guess that any of his first three albums will just blow you out of the water, especially "The Cry" which at one point I had on tape in my car and listened to (no other full albums) for about six months in a row. There is a really good Beltran bio at the R&S site (much better than most of the rest of their bios). Matt
