Staff Reviews

The Samuel Jackson 5 - The Samuel Jackson 5

Review by Michael Brown

If this is The Samuel Jackson 5’s attempt at the mainstream, they’d be well-advised to stick to what they do best.»

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closethe long awaited fourth album by the samuel jackson five from norway. having set a high standard with all previous efforts, the new album shows the band from quite a different side... this is the first samuel jackson five record with vocals. truls heggero (of lukestar fame) and pl angelskr (minor majority) - both norwegian grammy winners - contribute on one song each on the record, the same does thomas bratlie from post-hardcore rockers rumble in rhodos, on the aptly titled 'electric crayons'. new addition to the band, jonny 'the captain' knutsen also does vocal chores, while the recording process has been carefully overlooked by multi-instrumentalist thomas meidell. while sj5's last effort, ""goodbye melody mountain"" (2008) was recorded in the wilderness, the brand new album was put together in the middle of oslo. the band further tries to distance themselves from their post-rock roots, delivering a thoughtfully arranged set of songs - only two of them clocking in at over 5 minutes. there are more traces of jaga jazzist, arcade fire, yes or even english folk, than mogwai or gybe!. there are even influences of the proud scandinavian piano jazz tradition of jan johansson or esbjrn svensson.
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