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Walking a fine line between being leftfield and hook-laden, Jaga Jazzist have delivered another selection of epic, psychedelic sojourns through electronics, brass and beats that consistently engage and excite.
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Ultimately, this is what more bands should be striving to achieve: to thrill us, inspire us and confuse us - often all at the same time; to utiliize technology for the betterment of the whole rather than for technologies sake; and to allow multiple talents to merge and shine without a sense of the intrusion of personal ego.
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While "Toccata" is lengthy, it never loses its thrust or ability to captivate--and excepting a mismatched moment or two on “220 V / Spektral,” the same can be said for all of One-Armed Bandit.
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On One-Armed Bandit they’ve mutated into an even stranger beast; a chimera constructed of parts from wildly different musics that somehow work as a whole and which should only really exist in the most fevered imaginations.
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Jaga Jazzist transforms potentially icy sonics into warm, clever outbursts with apparent ease.
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Few records in 2010 will contain songs quite so mind-bogglingly broad, playful, beguilingly pretty and intense as these slowly unfurling ensemble pieces.
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Big layers of instruments dual with and complement each other via weird time signatures, and inspired, complex riffs that sound like they’re scoring a car chase from a cult Seventies film, mixed with bursts of electronic futurism--perhaps best displayed on the album’s title track--a manic, brilliant piece of instrumental songwriting that shows Jaga Jazzist to be at the top of their game.
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MojoThere is a pinch of prog too, manifested in kaleidoscopic intricacy rather than anything unnecessarily tricksy - their sound remains muscular and funky. [Feb 2010]
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It is no accident; Jaga Jazzist is trying to blow your mind. It is supposed to feel like a masterpiece.
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Bandit is a smart album made for smart people, and something that garnered them critical acclaim in the past is lost. So yes, One-Armed Bandit is a good record. But Jaga Jazzist can do better.
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JJ continue to build on the promise of their early albums with an eclectic sound which appeals to devotees of many different musics including jazz, rock and beyond.
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One-Armed Bandit occasionally overshoots the mark, but when it doesn't, the scenic route it took to get there proves worthwhile.
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One-Armed Bandit dazzles early on... Later portions of the album are larded with so many graceless, attention-deficit hazards that it’s unknown exactly what the band (or is that “groop”?) was attempting to accomplish.
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Q MagazineInstead of setting alarm bells ringing, One-Arm Bandit manages to be both playful and innovative in a '70s prog-rock kind of way. [Mar 2010, p.110]
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UncutIn danger of becoming a Loose Tubes for the ATp generation, this once fleetfooted group have blundered into a vat of fudge. [Feb 2010, p.89]