ONE-ARMED BANDIT

It's been a while since the last Jaga Jazzist release, especially considering the highly active first 10 years of their career. Following the release of What We Must the members of the took some time off to collaborate with other artists while Mathias Eick and Lars Horntveth released solo albums of their own.

It seems to me that the members of the band weren't all that content with the stripped down style that their music was going towards and decided to, once again, spice things up with the sounds of electronica blended into the mix. The result was One-Armed Bandit, an album that might not be as Post-Rock oriented as What We Must nor as electronica-heavy as The Stix. Instead it marked a definite comeback to the style that Jaga Jazzist showed off on Magazine EP and especially on A Livingroom Hush. But make no mistake, Jaga Jazzist isn't the same band they were a decade ago meaning that they come off a bit more mature and conventional in their delivery this time around.

To me, One-Armed Bandit is easily the best recording that this band has made since A Livingroom Hush. In a way, this was the style that I was expecting Jaga Jazzist to move towards in the beginning of the previous decade and it's nice to see that they finally found their way back! The only real drawback here is the experimental aspect of the sound that seems to have been conveniently exchanged for beautiful melodies that lack a real punch. With the exception of the wild ride displayed on 220 V / Spektral this is basically a safe release that is sure to hit it off with the already established fan base while making a few new followers along the way.

One-Armed Bandit is a great comeback from Jaga Jazzist that really makes me feel enthusiastic about the future development of their style. Hopefully they'll get even more creative with their next release and show once again that Jaga Jazzist is a serious player in the development of jazz music!

***** star songs: 220 V / Spektral (7:03)

**** star songs: The Thing Introduces... (0:23) One-Armed Bandit (7:07) Bananfluer Overalt (6:16) Toccata (9:10) Prognissekongen (4:33) Book Of Glass (6:49) Music! Dance! Drama! (5:31) Touch Of Evil (6:40)