Album Review: Jack Magnet Science – Future Forecast

Chances are good that when presented with the idea of combining jazz, funk and progressive rock, one’s reaction will be either a cringe at what seems a gruesome prospect, or an intrigued, “tell me more…” attitude. The space between those reactions is a yawning, desolate and unoccupied chasm.

For those who lean toward the latter response, I offer Jack Magnet Science. The odd name is apparently a mangling of the actual name of the project’s leader, Jakob Magnússon. The Icelandic keyboardist has assembled a top-flight coterie of musicians to create and realize Future Forecast. The set opens with “Wild Card,” a funky foundation with bizarre and mannered vocals (Icelandic? Italian? Esperanto!?), effects-laden guitars, skittering and skeletal keyboard runs and haunting saxophone. It’s dissonant and swirling yet oddly alluring. From there, “Space Pasadena” is placid and otherworldly, existing in the space between a triangle, its three points being atmospheric krautrock, ’80s King Crimson and cool jazz.

“Dream of Delphi” begins with a similar character, but unfolds into something a bit like a hip rethink of what I like to call Weather Channel jazz: subtle and with a melodic underpinning, but leaning toward aural wallpaper. The hipness – helped along with some vaguely Toots Thielemans-styled harmonica and accordion (or samples thereof) – helps the track steer clear of insipidness. “Extra Polation” starts with blobs of bass (stringed or Mooged, I cannot quite discern) and more hauntingly exotic vocals with a North African feel. But a minute in, the tune heads in a very, very different direction, doubling down on the African textures and churning out a polyrhythmic beat and some weirdly juxtaposed futuristic/electronic textures. Oh, and what sounds like pan drums.

“ITSYAMO” is more atmospherics, leading into urbane, sophisticated jazz. Flashes of melody flutter in and out of this abstract yet somehow accessible piece. “ReAct!” is vaguely reminiscent of Jagga Jazzist, which is to say it’s ambitious and catchy, with hints of funky trip-hop yet steering clear of convention. The seventh and final track, “RupTures” answers the unasked question, “What would Kid A sound like with one of Zero 7’s singers and a more jazz-focused sensibility?”

Put simply, Jack Magnet Science doesn’t sound a whole lot like anything else on the musical landscape today. The album gets high marks for originality. It is most emphatically not most listeners’ cup-o-tea, but for the musically adventurous, it’s an intriguing and wild ride. And it’s on vinyl, with eye-popping artwork.