A Living Room Hush

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Judging by recent performances, quite what they're putting in the water supply in Norway is anyone's guess, but if the distillate of mad jazz, high level musicianship and wigged out electronics that has made recent records by Wibutee, Kim Hiorthoy and Bugge Wesseltoft so fine could be bottled, someone would be on to a bob or two.

Jaga Jazzist, an Oslo-based supergroup (in the sense that they're a 16 piece with a fluid membership that includes many of Norway's current finest at some point or another) have obviously been drinking some of the same stuff, and now have their debut given a wider distribution by the apparently faultless Ninja Tune, while their second LP "The Stix" is already waiting for the wider world.

"A Living Room Hush" has a distinctive sound worked out between hyperkinetic drumming and percussion (electronic and acoustic) and breathy woodwind tones backed up by occasionally parping brass and some floorshaking bass, topped with Fender and Farfisa and a few electronic pings and glitches. It's not really anything like what has become known as "nu-jazz" but may possibly be called "post-jazz" (a new genre for labelling freaks, along with labelmates Cinematic Orchestra), taking elements of jazz but reassembling them in ways hitherto unheard, alternately acknowledging lounge music, big bands and classic jazz textures mixed with some fantastic ensemble and solo playing, and feeding it all through an electronic and sampling filter. "Animal Chin" and "Cinematic" bookend this record, the first stuffing winding sax, clarinet and organ figures, spiralling jazz'n'bass percussion, booming double bass and a section which sounds like your CD player's packing up into three breathless minutes, giving you an idea of what's to come, while the closing track pits a plaintive, almost lackadaisical piano figure against some queasy electronic warbling.

The homogeneity of this very distinctive sound makes it difficult to pick out particular highlights of a totally fine record, but the acoustic guitar on the gently-building "Going Down", the distorted rocking guitar on "Real Racecars Have Doors", the almost Latin shuffle of "Made for Radio" and the swaying wind and brass on "Lithuania" create a sheer emotional involvement in the music which draws the listener in, going over and above the intellectual admiration you may also feel for the sound made and the way it is created.

"A Living Room Hush" is one of those rare recordings that makes you get up and hit the play button all over again as soon as it's finished. Keep drinking the water, boys.

responses

A Living Room Hush

[ review of: A Living Room Hush ]

The Fast Show comedy team would definitely refer to this as 'Nice'. A Dutchman with limited English and unbridled enthusiasm would call it 'the new modern funky jazz'. I first heard Lithuania on a Ninjatune compilation and those were my exact words. And Im not even Dutch! So I bought the album and whilst Lithuania is by far the most accessible tune (at least initially), the rest of it falls neatly into place soon enough giving you more groove for your pound because like all great music it asks a a little something of you. Give it willingly. It comes back in spades.

For more baz based shenaniganery and to take a psychic load off, try http://www.justramit.co.uk. Have your say on the nets premier rants forum.

Posted by barrie at 16:53, 12 Oct 2004