MOTORPSYCHO & JAGA JAZZIST HORNS: IN THE FISHTANK

In the early 2000s, an indie music distributor from the Netherlands, Konkurrent, decided to start a project called 'In The Fishtank' where they invite one or two bands to record for only two days. Music from this series ranged from punk rock with Nomeanson and Snuff, to more experimental post rock like Tortoise and Isis (the band). For the double digiter of In The Fishtank 10, Konkurrent invited the darlings over at Motorpsycho, and the Norwegian experimental jazz group Jaga Jazzist to come and record the 10th entry in the 'In The Fishtank' series, and the 11th album of Motorpsycho's discography, plus the 4th album in the Jaga Jazzist discography was born.

In The Fishtank 10 is a very collaborative piece from both bands. Both bands work together in each song to create a good and rounded portion of progressive rock music and jazz fusion. This album reminds me of a more modern post-Lizard King Crimson, with tracks like Doffen Ah Um and Theme de Yoyo have similar vibes to, say, Ladies Of The Road or The Great Deceiver. As a big, big, BIG fan of King Crimson, this sound was really easy to get used to and enjoy quite heavily. All the songs on the first side are not only both really jazzy and enjoyable, but showcases more of what Motorpsycho can do in a collaborative aspect.

In fact, I feel this is the start of the band's more jazz focused musical workings, as a few albums later they'd release the very crisp Little Lucid Moments, and later on, their big home star runner of The Death Defying Unicorn. I say, give In The Fishtank 10 the credit it deserves for showcasing the band in an even heavier progressive aspect, that'd come to be my favorite aspect of the band's modern day sound.

I will say that this album isn't all peaches and gravy, and in fact the album has one big problem, and that is the final track of Tristano. This big 20 minute song isn't really that good in my personal opinion. To me, while the 4 songs prior all were really good jazzy Prog rock soundscapes that combined both groups' sounds perfectly, this song is a very experimental, but rather boring effort from both groups. It doesn't really fit in with the record in my opinion, and it is a rather disappointing new epic for both Motorpsycho and Jaga Jazzist. It is a lot of fiddling around with no rhyme or semblance of anything really special. It is not a charming improv track, or one that really brightens this album up, it honestly feels like less of a tie that tightly wraps the album together, but rather drags it down a peg. If this track was gone off the album and we only had those 4 really excellent tracks, this album would probably be one of the best releases both groups have made in their career.

In The Fishtank 10 marks a new era for Motorpsycho and Jaga Jazzist as both bands would shift sounds quite a bit and would go on to continue their careers in new lights. While it is imperfect, I do find it as an interesting look on how each band became their modern counterparts after this record. I highly recommend it for an educational piece of work that shows how one record can change a band's image. An interesting, and rather unique piece of Motorpsycho history.