29th April 2014 was a fun day. In the morning, FSOLDigital released the second Blackhill Transmitter EP. And in the afternoon, they released the debut (and, to date, only) Jazz Mags record.
The project had first appeared in 2008 on Electric Brain Storms 3, with the track ‘Open Window’ being listed as a FSOL track from a forthcoming release called The Jazz Mags. At that point, there was definitely less of an emphasis on side-projects, and anything that wasn’t one of Brian’s experiments was likely put aside as potential FSOL material; by 2014, other projects were more common, and these stylistically linked pieces were put together for a release of their own. As with all FSOLDigital-era aliases, the music is considered to be largely the work of Brian.
“New EP from The Jazz Mags – trumpets, cellos, oboes, percussion blended with electronics and synths – splendid.” So reads the description on FSOLDigital. I’ve always loved the “splendid” there. The artist name is actually a pun, with ‘jazz mags’ being British slang for porn magazines, and although there’s definitely some jazz to the music, it’s not anywhere near as straight-up as the name and description suggests. Indeed, the main link to jazz is in the sampled breaks and the double bass loops that form the EP’s rhythm section; everything else is very much in the ISDN-era FSOL mould, with guitar chops, synth gurgles, odd trumpet samples and generally dark atmosphere.
The three main tracks here are all excellent, and it’s a shame that they’re only found on a comparatively obscure EP. ‘Startled’ and ‘Open Window’, in particular, would have fit in incredibly well on an FSOL album. With none of the tracks being linked by environments or crossfades, and the EP not even being available through Bandcamp, it sadly feels like a very slight release, despite the strength of the material. A further track from the sessions, ‘Open Door’, was heard on Electric Brain Storm 1, although remains unreleased.
Release date: 29th April 2014.
Tracklist
Digital download
1. Startled
2. Burn
3. Open Window
4. Startled (Orig)
Fractional Difference 