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  • 5 OUT OF 5 IN THE CRITICAL HIT

    Jaga Jazzist – One-Armed Bandit Review
    Five long years after their last highly regarded album “What We Must” stunned audiences with beautiful melody and cohesive songwriting, Jaga Jazzist see themselves once again reinventing the wheel, combining rock and jazz in ways that seem like a soundtrack for intergalactic space travel.
    Everything on “One-Armed Bandit” makes sense. Every melody, transition, and stylistic choice seems carefully planned out and it shows through the rich textures and vibes the songs carry. According to the two main songwriters and brothers of the Norwegian nine piece (Lars Horntveth and Martin Horntveth), the inspiration behind “One-Armed Bandit” was focused around the vision that the lights, sounds and euphoria you get from being in a casino is a certain feeling that is everlasting and loud. This is one of those albums that must be heard loud. I feel that way about most music, but there are many intricacies within “One-Armed Bandit” that can be easily ignored.
    The first of these intricacies appears after the short 25 second intro track “Thing Introduces…, The” on the title track “One-Armed Bandit.” The song is filled with wild synthesizers, warm horns and woodwinds, and a driving bass line that burrows its deepest tones in the roots of your ears. It has been referenced previously when the title track was released that it was very Zappa-esque and I fully agree, but the track detracts away from that style of songwriting through various synthy breaks that give the main melody a sense of belonging.
    The next track, “Banafleur Overalt” features some great rhythmic drumming, smooth pianos, and cool guitar ambiance that is much in the style of the work on their previous album, “What We Must.” The track also has a more unpredictable nature that a lot of the rest of the album encompasses. The next track “220 V/Spektral” follows in grand tradition, with complex rhythmic styling through heavy synth pads that rise and fall, dissipating in the background, accompanied by light horns and what I believe to be an oboe. It is certainly one of the most interesting tracks on the album and its brilliance won’t probably strike you immediately.
    “Toccata” is the song for when you realize you’ve suddenly reached a new planet and there are new opportunities and problems you may face. It begins with a simple two to three note appregiating pattern that eventually is accompanied by large, booming horns as a sign of what is to come. It kind of acts as an interlude track, breaking the album up in half, and while it isn’t the strongest track, it’s certainly mesmerizing.
    The most proggy and mathy song of the album has to be “Prognissekongen.” With its angular guitar line opening its stage for the moody vibraphones and chimes, it probably is my favorite track on the album. The drumming doesn’t hold back either, drummer Martin Horntveth gracefully catches every note and attack with precision. It all comes to a sudden realization at 3 minutes and 21 seconds where the bass rapidly scales to a large piano crash, followed by an absolutely mesmerizing synthed and horned progression that is one part dancey and one part jazz.
    Things heat up in the melodic “Book of Glass” which reminds me of one of my favorite tracks by Jaga Jazzist, “Stardust Hotel” off of “What We Must.” While “Book of Glass” maintains a certain level of springiness with hard hitted accents and a middle section that successfully borrows from vigor and experimentation of the post-rock blueprints that Tortoise created in the 1990s. The song ends with heavy bass and scary tones that set the atmosphere they have been crafting so far with this album.
    The last two tracks, “Music Dance Drama” and “Touch of Evil” are probably my least favorite of the rest, but that doesn’t mean that they have no redeeming qualities. I guess my dislike from them stems from my tastes in melody and progression. While both these songs have a fluid progression and don’t derail what is already a fantastic album in terms of mood, they just lack a real form of remembrance with me.
    Overall, “One-Armed Bandit” is a milestone in progressive, instrumental music. It surpasses my expectations and opens up doors in my head to the kinds of music I like and disliked before. It will change your perception and notion of what an album must and can be. It’s melodic, driving, heavy, quiet and everything in between. It’s definitely got something for everyone and is highly recommended.
    Score:
     out of 5
    11:21 午前

  • SUPERCOOL REVIEW BY CLIVE ONION

    Jaga Jazzist have been a fucked up favourite of mine for many a moon and it is always with a little trepidation that I approach an album by someone who has already set the bar to world record heights. Can they nail it again? Is One Armed Bandit going to scale the giddy heights?....

    ....


    Contrary to my misguided thoughts, Jaga Jazzist don’t even bother trying to get over the bar. They go away and try a different sport altogether and that is precisely what they have done with One Armed Bandit. It is still very essentially them, but this album is like a retro future spy chase down the canals of Venice in 2036, which not too many other albums can claim. It is a bizarre and twisted ride into the imagination and one with heart and fat measures of headnod.....

    There is a lot going on in each song instrument wise, all subtly blended and bedded down into the mix with great aplomb. To accompany the mass of flute and piano, drum and fuzzy low down bass there is amazing use of synths on the album. The amazing part is that the synth sounds are the ones that you would normally click past when looking for the right sound were one a synthy player type. Odd outdated sounding synth are used to the most devastating effect and despite their unusual sound they work so incredibly well. I imagine if someone were to grab my headphones they would simply be confused, not by its outlandishness, but by its strange normality, something that should not work, but does so well.....

    The retro spy feel courses throughout the album with its over the shoulder chic, but then with the next track you feel like you are listening to incidental music, the music that things happen to. It is an immersion into total fantasy. Whatever the mood of the song there is alway the strong hook which makes the songs compelling and carry a drive and desire to repeat time and time again. It all culminates in the glory that is Touch of Evil, which is even aptly named for the grand finale to the big spy chase. The song chops between styles, filling the mind full of elation, creating the wild foot stomp with a seriously full 4/4, whisking you off to giddy heights.....

    One for the stockpile my friends, of this there is no doubt. Get it in your earphones and chase yourself through your local city and praise to One Arm Bandits fierce powers of escapism.....


    http://cliveonionpresents.wordpress.com/2010/03/24/jaga-jazzist-one-armed-bandit/

    9:17 午後

  • AWESOME LIVE REVIEW FROM LONDON IN MUSIC OMH

    "Having seen their latest album score them another Top 10 chart placing in their Scandinavian homeland, Norwegian nine-piece Jaga Jazzist have seen their stock rising on these shores too.

    The band's increasing popularity away from Norway, buoyed by latest long-player One-Armed Bandit, is exemplified perfectly by the crush of bodies inside the Islington Academy tonight, which is so rammed it's almost uncomfortable.

    But when the band, masterminded by composer Lars Horntveth, do strike up, it's clear to see how they've built such a healthy momentum. Taking over the whole stage and filling it with their presence, the nine members synchronise, breaking into their latest material. They artfully manage to concoct a musical cocktail that combines jazz with prog rock references but is drenched in melody and movement and, thankfully, lacks any self-indulgence; rather, they produce jazz with a modern twist that successfully avoids being overly noodly or pretentious.

    As another evolving, hook-filled epic twinkles and squirms out of the speakers, each member of the band looks lost in the moment. From the intense closed-eyed reverie of keyboard player Øystein Moen, to the ear-to-ear grin of trombonist Erik Johannessen, to madly bearded drummer, Martin Horntveth who sits at the front of the stage directing, it's this clear passion that makes Jaga Jazzist such an exciting prospect live.

    With each member successful in their own right, instruments are swapped, at times mid-song, betraying the clear talent and musicianship that runs throughout the band. Visually they may dance along the blurred boundaries between geek and cool but their music transcends all of that. From sax to keyboard to maraca to tuba, countless instruments are thrown into the mix, resulting in a full-bodied sound that's sometimes intense, at others fragile.

    Together they create and share an energy that washes in waves from the stage, engulfing the audience. The gentle, piano-led beginnings of Toccata gradually build and then burst like an aural firework display over the crowd. Each tightly choreographed track comes across like an organised cohesive jam, as cheery twinkling funk mixes with jazz and post rock. One richly layered jam gives way to another extended brass workout complete with a strobe-lit wigout midway through.

    Back catalogue favourite All I Know Is Tonight receives a fantastic response from the audience before another new offering Touch Of Evil, which flits from dark atmospherics to jaunty electronics in a stroke, whips the heaving crowd up further. The encore comes in the form of Prognissekongen (which loosely translated means King Of The Prog Gnomes) and while the second encore may stretch proceedings just a little too far (with each composition lasting well over five minutes), this is the sound of a confident, creative and original band on the cusp of wider success and acclaim.

    As the whooping, sardined audience would no doubt agree, Jaga Jazzist's star is in the ascendant." - by Ian Roullier, 4 out of 5 stars
    9:05 午後

  • FANTASTIC ALBUM REVIEW IN ALL ABOUT JAZZ

    "After a five-year break from recording, Jaga Jazzist is back. The Norwegian group's Molde Jazz 2009 performance—its first in four years, barring a single 2007 date in Singapore—provided clear evidence that the touchstones defining this sibling-run group remain intact (multi-instrumentalist Lars Horntveth writes all the music; percussionist Martin Horntveth is the onstage spokesperson for the band; and sister Line Horntveth, in addition to tuba, flute and vocals, acts as the publicity face for the group). But there have been some changes afoot as well. Performing much of One-Armed Bandit at Molde, Jaga Jazzist's mélange of rock energy, jazz vernacular, minimalistic tendencies, episodic composition, expansive instrumentation and electronic manipulation has never sounded better. Not since 1970s British progsters Gentle Giant has there been a group combining so many multi-instrumentalists, playing music so complex and ever-shifting that it's a paradoxically exhausting yet exhilarating experience just trying to keep up with who's playing what.
    The comparison to Giant is superficial at best, though Jaga Jazzist shares its ability to couch detailed writing with visceral rhythms that ground even the most byzantine tracks. This may be music for the mind in its challenging metric shifts, elaborate counterpoint and textural expansiveness, but it's also music for the body. Even as trumpets, trombones, saxophones and tuba coincide and alternate with angular guitars, vibraphones, harps and keyboards, it's almost impossible to experience propulsive tracks like the riff-driven, near-blues of "Bananfleur Overalt" or the Frank Zappa-esque title track—even the irregularly metered "Music! Dance! Drama!"—without engaging in a little booty shaking.

    There have been some personnel shifts in the group, even as it trims down from the tentet of What We Must (Ninja Tune, 2005) to One-Armed Bandit's leaner nonet. Most significant is the recruitment of guitarist/harpist/percussionist Stian Westerhus, who returned to Norway after a number of years abroad and has done a terrific job of finding his way into everything from the big band free improv of Crimetime Orchestra and Monolithic's equally extreme Black Science (Vendlus, 2009) to his beautifully packaged solo LP, Galore (2009), on Rune Grammofon's The Last Record Company imprint. He plays far more arrangement on One-Armed Bandit than he did in performance at Molde; a sonic explorer who lends a vital new edge to Jaga Jazzist.

    But longstanding JJ'ers, including vibraphonist/marimbist/guitarist/keyboardist Andreas Mjøs and trumpeter/bassist/keyboardist/French hornist Mathias Eick—whose own career as a leader has been on an upward trajectory since the release of The Door (ECM, 2008)—keep momentum and color moving forward on tracks like the synth-laden, densely guitar-driven "220 V/Spektral" and tuned percussion-heavy "Toccatta," which suggests how Philip Glass might sound, were he to add a kick-ass drummer to the mix.

    Jaga Jazzist's international success has been something of a remarkable confluence, but proves that music needn't be dumbed down to find an audience. With the unfailingly exciting One-Armed Bandit, Jaga Jazzist continues to make music as deep as it is danceable, with a revised line-up that will only get even better with more touring under its belt." - John Kelman
    1:13 午後

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