John Beltran

A producer's credentials for recording Detroit-styled techno don't come much better than John Beltran's. Based in nearby Lansing, Beltran worked with <a href="spotify:artist:0v6N0xV7AfHHKVcgUOjC51">Derrick May</a> (as <a href="spotify:artist:0IMf15dl7Vevi4cS2myjv0">Indio</a>) and released several records on <a href="spotify:artist:17dbJyUCrxh4I7iyUrjaHU">Carl Craig</a>'s Retro-Active label (as Open House, with Mark Wilson). And his ear for melody -- gained from a healthy enjoyment of world and new age music -- has given his productions enough of a bite to feature for such home-listening-slanted labels as <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Peacefrog%22">Peacefrog</a> and Dot (as <a href="spotify:artist:4OBt2MzBg9UmaACOI95QcX">Placid Angles</a>). After releasing singles for American labels <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fragmented%22">Fragmented</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Centrifugal%22">Centrifugal</a> during the early '90s, he recorded his debut album Earth and Nightfall for R&S Records in 1995.

The production on Earth and Nightfall was much more melodic than the usual R&S releases (or for that matter, the usual Detroit producer). One year later, Beltran's Ten Days of Blue LP for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Peacefrog%22">Peacefrog</a> arguably bettered its predecessor. For 1997, Beltran re-upped his <a href="spotify:artist:4OBt2MzBg9UmaACOI95QcX">Placid Angles</a> guise for an EP on the Swedish new-school electro imprint Dot, then followed with a <a href="spotify:artist:4OBt2MzBg9UmaACOI95QcX">Placid Angles</a> full-length, The Cry (also on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Peacefrog%22">Peacefrog</a>). Late in the year, Beltran released his fourth overall album, Moving Through Here, for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Apollo%22">Apollo</a> offshoot of R&S Records. In 1999, Beltran released a self-titled album on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Transmat%22">Transmat</a> as part of the production trio <a href="spotify:artist:0IMf15dl7Vevi4cS2myjv0">Indio</a>. He resumed releasing albums under his own name with two albums in 2002, Americano (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Exceptional%22">Exceptional</a>) and Sun Gypsy (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ubiquity%22">Ubiquity</a>), followed by In Full Color (also <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ubiquity%22">Ubiquity</a>) in 2004. A more ambient album titled Human Engine appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Milan%22">Milan</a> in 2006.

Following these albums, he retreated from the spotlight a bit, sporadically issuing 12"s such as 2007's techno single "Nolita" (Millions of Moments) and 2008's new wave-inspired "Here and Now" (Rhythmic Wave). He also collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:6rGRGPSHKXdM49YEcecYLB">Jeremy Ellis</a> on a 2010 7" single called "Return of the Sun," released under his Latin-influenced alias Sol Junkies. Beltran resumed releasing material under his own name in 2011, with the Beautiful Robots EP on Styrax Records as well as Best Of: Ambient Selections 1995-2011, a compilation released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Delsin%22">Delsin</a>. The label also issued his more IDM-leaning 2013 full-length Amazing Things, as well as a 2014 ambient compilation titled Presents Music for Machines, which was compiled by Beltran. Also that year, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Text+Records%22">Text Records</a> released Beltran's single "Faux," which was backed by a remix by the label's owner, <a href="spotify:artist:7Eu1txygG6nJttLHbZdQOh">Four Tet</a>. Beltran's next full-length, the ambient album Espais, appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Delsin%22">Delsin</a> in 2015. ~ John Bush, Rovi