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Live Review: Jaga Jazzist ‘Oban’ (Todd Terje Remix)

20 July 2015 | 10:32 am | Katie Rowley

Norwegian DJ Todd Terje has remixed his live band member Lars Horntveth's own band, Jaga Jazzist's, new song. Scandi-ception.

Lars Horntveth plays keys as part of the Todd Terje live touring band, so his frontman, real name is Terje Olsen, has returned the favour by remixing Horntveth’s band JAGA JAZZIST’s song, ‘Oban’. There are a lot of Scandinavian looking words in that sentence, but that is a good thing, trust us.

Horntveth isn’t just a keyboard player, but a multi-instrumentalist who also rocks with bass, guitar, sax, flute and the vibraphone on top of his ebony and ivory duties.

These eclectic elements can all be found in the romping original. The Todd Terje remix keeps the sweeping sonic ambition of ‘Oban’ but fine tunes it and hones things down towards a more dance floor ready cut. As Terje says himself, you can go one of two ways with remixing – make it more complicated or simplify. Here, the original track was so complex and intricate that Terje simply had to pick an element and focus in on that, isolating the key hooks and washing them out to be more DJ-friendly.

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This isn’t to say that the remixed cut is dull. It’s still as atmospheric and slow building as a tense Scandinavian crime thriller, although it sits at half the length of the quarter of an hour original. The Terje touch is one that is mathematical, honoring symmetry in music, and he applies this to the experimental, jazzy, post-rock of Jaga Jazzist, to offer up some ever so familiar warm bars.

The song is the lead cut from the band's just released new album, Starfire, out now via Ninja Tune.

Words by Katie Rowley

Photo Credit: Robin Ottersen

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