Johnny Fiasco can work the 303 like a motherfucker and has probably released more great acid tracks in the last decade-plus than anybody. That’s not his reputation – I’m not going to guess why, since trying to figure out the fickle and phony world of music industry hype is about as interesting as watching cardboard age – but Johnny puts on a clinic on his three track EP I Want It.
It’s hard to describe, but there’s something some elusive quality here that just seems to be lacking in the grimey tech that’s currently reigning as the flavor of the day. Maybe it’s that you can hum along to these machines as they’re beaten down; maybe it’s that Johnny never falls so in love with the sounds that spit out of his primitive machines that he sacrifices musicality in favor of self-indulgence.
Whatever the case, “I Want It” is something you would expect to hear beaten in rooms big & small, from basements to big rooms. I just love the hi hat shuffle that leads it off and hides behind big chords and keys strangled to within an inch of their lives. The Dub edit is a fearsome piece of tech, stripped down to its basic elements and played out like some crazy mathematical simulation.
“On & On” is the real treasure here – pounding drums, tribal beats that bring to mind the gritty sawdust of abandoned warehouses, dayglo in dirty pubs and crawls up and down fire escapes through a rave tour of Chicago circa 1994. It builds naturally, the drop makes you catch your breath and spit out fire. Highly recommended for those that fetishize the word chicago but are ready to move off the cheat sheet to one of our true heroes.
