Jac

I love J.A.C. I admit it confused me at first but after the 3rd listen I got it and it made sense. This cd has elements of funk that I really love. The flow of the disk is nice so you can just let it rock with no problems. If you like Tosca, Peace Orchestra, K&D then you need this cd.

I am a big fan of Tosca- huge, really. This is not their best work. Very hit or miss. A lot of vocals. I guess I should say that buying Tosca CD's without hearing all the tracks first is a thing of the past me. The shine has come off the diamond. Sigh.

I bought this without listening to any of it and I am not disappointed. This laid-back CD is perfect for a rainy day or any time when you are trying to relax.

Suzuki and Dehli9 are amazing, this one I could have done with out.

Furor!!! What a piece of magic. Excellent.

Came with no cover. Disc only. WOW.

Great music. I love Toaca, did not disappoint.

On J.A.C. Tosca continue close to where they left off two years ago on Dehli 9, we get the great packaging in artistic concept and design, except no bonus disc. No matter. This is equal or better. Since Kruder and Dorfmeister are credited with the first ever downtempo album, everything from G - Stoned since is about beats.Tosca's variance on the beat theme has been to front these songs with various guest vocalists in part to a major degree of success. On J.A.C. we get the same group as on Dehli 9 but expanded to give a broader scope and vision inspired by the dedication to their sons - Joshua, Arthur, and Conrad. Thus the album title and if we are to believe, the finest Internet coffee house and hair salon listening yet. With this, their fifth studio album, we can assume that the duo of Dorfmeister and Huber as Tosca are G - Stoned finest stallions in the stable and when at the races, our hard earned cash is best bet on them to win, place, or show. If there was a state fair contest for best beats, the G - Stoned family would walk with blue or red ribbons everytime.Reading some advance critical reviews from critics who make their money penning their opinions, one could surmise that Tosca had been fed a steady diet of milk toast. I disagree though. There is definitely some fiber and roughage. On Dehli 9, Earl Zinger on Wonderful was one the highlights. His appearance on J.A.C. is the exact opposite effect. Superrob is a minor irritation though when the overall impressions and observations conclude multitudinous `easy listening' at it's finest.I suspect this album to be joyously received abroad with extensive more airplay in Europe than stateside since as a society, we are to revved up to appreciate a lot of the musical nuance and subtlety. The roller coater images and carnival like photos in the CD cover almost mock the American lifestyle and recent cultural history as irony. Intended or not. Being a G - Stoned nut, maybe my opinion shouldn't count, but Vienna as a hotbed for original and affecting music should never be discounted.Compared to the similar and recent U.S. release Cosmic Game by Thievery Corporation, this disc will hold it's own and hopefully wear well over time, justifying `classic' status as downtempo is not a genre. It's a celebration of life.

I have not set out to write reviews of the music content as “beauty is in the ears of the listener”. These reviews are about the quality (or not) of the recorded sound. To read about how the reviews are done please see my profile.This is a warm rich recording with excellent sound quality. It is multilayered yet never overpowers the listener.The clarity and definition of the sounds, instruments and vocals draw the listener into the rich laid back atmosphere of the recording.Well worth getting to chill and relax to. • Clarity No muddiness, crystal clear • Channel separation – Very good • Channel balance – Very good and used to enhance the atmosphere • Sound Stage – Broad and dynamic has a very spacious quality • Distortion – Non Audible • Compression – Non Audible • Atmosphere – Immersive and enticing almost sounds like Thievery Corporation. Builds a very relaxed and relaxing atmosphere • Bass – low frequencies – Capable of being rich and plummy almost comes as a physical shock when the beats first appear • Treble – high frequencies – Delicate without being shrill • Vocals – Clear and well definedAs a general rule of thumb recordings from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s are nearly always better on the original vinyl. Remasters often fail to please as it’s just not possible to make a silk purse from a sows ear, i.e. the original recording lacks the necessary detail to be processed digitally and show an audible improvement. Indeed such processing can make the sound worse.Modern recordings which have been processed digitally from start to finish can be as good as vinyl. CD’s are often unfairly criticised for being poor quality. This is not the case, it is the original recording or the process which is to blame. Modern “remasters” can both enhance and degrade a recording. The statement GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) is the limiting factor. Ignore this at your cost.

Rondo Acapricio: with its locked in bassline, this opener features plenty of Tosca's trademark swirls and echoes. There's a sample of a lady at a poetry reading which is faintly amusing but you kind of think they could've come up with something better, and it detracts from the music slightly. 6.5/10Heidi Bruehl: You've probably heard this song at a high street coffee shop, somewhere. Samia Farah offers some neat guest vocals but this is mostly unremarkable. So far quite an uncertain start to the album.Superrob: Yay, Earl Zinger. This is not quite as good as 'Wonderful' (and features almost exactly the same beat), but this ought to at least get your head-nodding. Anna Clementi adds some gorgeous harmonies on the chorus. 8/10John Lee Huber: Starts off with an indie guitar before slotting into a grinding tempo. More strong vocals and some pretty quirky lyrics too that throw phrases like Captain Beefheart. 7.5/10Pyjama: The first genuine instrumental on the album. Features some excellent walking bass and jazzy cymbals. Sonorous organs and washes dominate, and the tempo is well-controlled throughout. Pretty good. 8/10The Big Sleep: Wow. If you have good pair of speakers, look out for the bass at the start of this one. More up-front vocals on this one, but though the distorted stuff is cool, they're too up front at times and ruin the chilled aspect. Although the music is pretty good, it drags on for a while and becomes a bit annoying. 5.5/10Damentag: A definite success that rescues the pace of the album after the drawn out last track. The way the retro synths are used on this one is very reminiscent of Daft Punk, a kind of knowingly geeky space-funk. 7.5Naschkatze: Eerie, trip-hoppy atmosphere on this one. Lots of backwards guitar and African percussion, and then the modulated organs and synths washing over. Easily the most electronic song on the album so far. 'Shooby-do-wap-bap' vocals make this very difficult to place genrewise. 8.5Zuri: Possibly the best song on the album and one of the best Tosca instrumentals. Impossibly mediterranean sounding acoustic guitar and one of the best selected vocals ever (even though there's no lyrics). The genre of this song is again difficult to place: there's elements of Balearic, Jazz and Folk all blended together. 9.5Sala: OK, this is turning into a deep electronic album! Lots of gorgeous loops on this one, though after four minutes it cools down into a super-minimalist drone. Not sure if it's entirely successful but the first half is almost as beautiful as 'Zuri' and remind me a bit of Susumu Yokota's Sakura album - worth checking out. 8.0Forte: Nearly the shortest song on the album, but also one of the best. The Balearic feel is again to the fore, although Tosca have given it their own spin. 8.5No More Olives: Deeply contemplative, and again, very reminiscent of Yokota's 'Sakura'. Like on Sala, we have a mysterious melody and african-style percussion, but this is even more minimalist. There's a gorgeous Barry-De-Vorzon-on-the-Warriors-esque synth for most of the song, and more tasteful guitar. 8.0This is a very strange album. The first half is filled with your typical Tosca vocal tracks, your Earl Zinger guest slot and coffee room music that steers a bit too close to convention for comfort. But following 'The Big Sleep' onwards you have six instrumentals that are individually fascinating and give the album a terrific depth. The feel of the album becomes very mediterranean and ambient, particularly the last four tracks.What impressed me most is that Tosca seem to have found a way of melding different genres and giving their music are more organic feel. It's probably their best album.

Good album, more lively than peace orchestra and KD but different music to be fair so. Good for hangovers in the morning when clearing away all the bottles and cans from the party the previous night. Good album overall.

Great thank you A+

From its "warm leatherette" CD cover through to its last track there is something distinctly odd about Tosca's latest offering. It should be really good, certainly going by Richard Dorfmeister's enviable track record and his excellent last two outings - the brilliant "A Different Drummer Selection" and Tosca's "Dehli 9" - but it's not up there and quite why is difficult to pinpoint. Its production is again of the highest order, a lot of its tracks are driven along by genuinely "funky" back-beats and it's layered with the catchy melodic hooks that the best downtempo electronica/jazz should be. All good stuff, but what's missing is that creative edge that pushes it out of the boringly lush waters of "lounge" music that a lot of downtempo albums fall into. And, where it does keep its head above water it either sounds like a languid retread of "Suzuki" & "Dehli 9" or, as in the first track "Ronda Acapricio", it's all a bit too clever to work.A hard assessment on an album that's perfectly pleasant to listen to but then the problem with being "the best" is that a great deal is expected. Unlike Thievery Corporation's latest release, "The Cosmic Game", which pushes this style of music forward, "J.A.C." is a disappointing and probably deliberate step into the middle of the road from an artist who can and does deliver ground-breakingly good music... it'll probably sell huge amounts as a result.