Savath + Savalas

The Rolls and Waves EP

BY I. KhiderPublished Dec 1, 2002

It's rather difficult to pin down what sort of musical category this EP falls into. Although one can identify all sorts of musical styles on this recording, such as electronic glitch, acoustic jazz and down-tempo urban beat jazz. Savath + Savalas do not devote themselves to any one style. Instead, The Rolls and Waves EP successfully brings the aforementioned elements together to form a new and intriguing jazz style. The EP opens up with "Rolls and Waves of Ignorance," a nice saxophone piece that has a poised quality to it, as if a forward to a larger piece. "Paths In Soft Focus" melds acoustic jazz with well-choreographed glitch, moving away from glitch as novelty to something that perhaps even the jazz police can accept as legitimate. "Folk Song for Cello" is decidedly the most sentimental track and the best-crafted, moving closer to acoustic jazz as dance music. A challenge to categorise, this EP is very different, yet also very good, and is hopefully on the vanguard of a new direction in contemporary jazz.
(Hefty)

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