Jaga Jazzist

Here at Contact Towers we're always fascinated by the multi-various uses of the word "Interesting" when referred to a new release, often it's a nudge-wink metaphor for it being rubbish, over hyped or just plain weird: In short these days it's the last domain of the sarcastialist.

Well, today our campaign to restore the real meaning of interesting to the world of rock criticism begins. It's going for context to be fought on the grounds of sanity and tradition, a bit like the activism carried out in the name of those folks who're after the restoration of Christmas, but we promise you that it'll be much more, uhm - well, interesting than that.

'Starfire' is Jaga Jazzist's fifth proper studio album and the main reason why we want the I-word returned to its normal place in the British public lexicon. There are other adjectives we could use to describe its quintet of pieces - fascinating, absorbing, even exhilarating - but we don't get paid by the word here, and the Norwegian octet (By the way we've also been DYING to use that word for years) deserve to be recognised by the most meaningful handle for their music, which we're not ashamed to tell you is the epitome of that undoubtedly appropriate adjective, interesting.

Continue reading: Jaga Jazzist - Starfire Album Review

Sometimes, technical dexterity and a virtuous striving for perfection don't always necessarily endeavour to produce the most pleasurable of experiences. Bearing that in mind, it makes a record such as 'One Armed Bandit' extremely difficult to listen to even in the most comfortable of environments whilst making it equally as painstaking to harbour criticism on its protagonists either. Jaga Jazzist, you see, are something of an elite force when it comes to creating music. To call them anything short of proficient would be a massive injustice, as there complex arrangements and diverse assemblages come across as being labours of practiced perfectionists. Indeed, it would be hard to imagine a group so conscientious to their art as this lowering themselves to producing anything that conjures up ideas of pleasure or entertainment in mass consumption.

Continue reading: Jaga Jazzist, One Armed Bandit Album Review