ONE-ARMED BANDIT

I have heard few albums from 2010 but this is possibly the best of them. Although I have heard of Jaga Jazzist, this was the first album of theirs I have actually heard. This is instrumental music featuring many musicians and many different instruments. I like the mix of wind instruments and electric/electronic instruments. The sound is a combination of fusion, post- rock and electronica. A lot of the bass lines seem to be done on synth, which is cool because I'm a sucker for bass synth. It is possible that there is some fuzzy/distorted bass I'm confusing with synth.

The first time I listened to this, parts of it reminded me of Tortoise. Which is great because Tortoise is one of my favourite groups. It wasn't until I read the credits that I noticed that Tortoise drummer John McEntire helped with the mix. Makes sense now. I prefer whatever he did here to what he did on the latest Broken Social Scene album. I also prefer this album to the last Tortoise album as well. "Book Of Glass" is the most Tortoise-sounding song on the album. Jaga Jazzist may be one of the very few groups that sound similar to Tortoise. I'm only basing that on One Armed Bandit, as I have not yet heard their earlier material.

There is a part in the title track with sequencers that is really nice. Good distorted bass, whatever it is. "Bananfleur Overalt" is the standout track for me. There is a great melodic theme here which gets repeated. Nice twangy guitar in this song. "Toccata" is the longest song and can be almost hypnotic at times. "Prognissekongen" even has 'prog' in the title! I love when the trombones and other wind instruments come in. Cool part in the middle with distorted bass sound and string-synth. "Touch Of Evil" begins and ends with the sound of a helicopter. I like the main melody at the start of the song. Some good techno beats and handclaps along with some really rockin' guitar. Church organ near the end.

As with most newer releases I like, this album grows on me the more I hear it. I am definately interested in hearing the band's previous output. I may not like it as much as One Armed Bandit, but I could possibly like it even more than this. Will have to find out. I'm very impressed and it makes me happy knowing that there is still music as good as this being made in 2010. In the future I may consider this a masterpiece, but for now I give this a solid 4 stars.