Though Jazzanova's underground credibility and respect among fellow artists never wavered during the late '90s, the German six-piece waited a long time to release a proper full-length (reportedly, it required five years of recording). In Between certainly proves the wait was worth it; the collective has not only a Teutonic efficiency for creating complex, precise, detailed beat tracks -- recalling the earthier side of house, hip-hop, and jazz fusion -- but also the wisdom to focus away from music that sounds like it came out of a laboratory. On the surface, "No Use" is just another smooth acid jazz number with a sensuous female vocal and a depth-plumbing bassline; in the hands of Jazzanova, though, it's transformed into a work of real beauty, an impeccable production with countless touches embellishing the percussion in a way that few acts have been able to do (Nuyorican Soul and 4hero are really the only others in the same league). "The One-Tet," a rap track, features a pair of battling drum breaks and glorious stuttered effects over the awed rapping of Capitol A (unsurprisingly, the production overwhelms the vocal). Beside providing the house and acid jazz equivalent of Kruder & Dorfmeister's sublime deconstructions of dub and hip-hop, the Jazzanova revolution focuses squarely on the drum. Piano, Rhodes keyboards, and acoustic guitar are mostly untouched, along with the songwriting and structure; the percussion and programming, however, are forward-thinking to the point of incomprehension. The only problem here is the length: as usually befalls an ambitious dance record (to say nothing of one that was years in the making), In Between is easily twice as long as it should be. (One hint: program out tracks seven through 13, but leave in nine and 11.)
Jazzanova
In Between
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In Between Review
by John Bush
Track Listing
| Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jazzanova | 07:48 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 2 | Jazzanova | 04:10 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 3 | Jazzanova | 03:51 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 4 | Jazzanova | 00:40 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 5 |
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Jazzanova | 08:16 | SpotifyAmazon | |||
| 6 | Jazzanova | 07:16 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 7 | Jazzanova | 05:19 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 8 | Jazzanova | 00:48 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 9 | Jazzanova | 05:19 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 10 | Jazzanova | 01:23 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 11 | Jazzanova | 04:35 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 12 | Jazzanova | 08:23 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 13 | Jazzanova | 00:38 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 14 | Jazzanova | 05:51 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 15 | Jazzanova | 00:19 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
| 16 | Jazzanova | 05:36 | |||||
| 17 | Jazzanova | 03:48 | SpotifyAmazon |
