(Ninja Tune)

Jazzheads from Norway blend the experimental and electronic

Jaga Jazzist blend traditional jazz instrumentation (horns, vibraphone, Rhodes piano, drums, guitar) with electronica. The resultant Scandinavian hybrid combines the austerity of European jazz with the Chicagoan soundscapes of post-rock. In an underground rock world with a firm grasp on key instrumental artists and their works, One-Armed Bandit isn’t necessarily a great reinvention.  That said, the polyrhythmic percussion, accessible melodicism and textural placement of synths and electric piano makes for an impeccably arranged suite of songs, from the title track’s giallo-like cinematics to the epic Toccata which melts into Phillip Glass-esque noteplay, evocative of his Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack. The album is an agreeable example of what happens when a gang of hungry music heads find themselves with a shedful of amassed equipment – hence founding member Andreas Mjøs tinkers away on vibraphone, guitar, glockenspiel, Korg synth and percussion. With a collective of similarly well-stocked musos, the music clatters busily, occasionally locking into hypnotic grooves and haunting melody. Simultaneously organic and crisply aloof, One-Armed Bandit ultimately delivers the prize-money. 

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MATT THROWER

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