| DJ Sets ::Basement Jaxx (Felix Buxton
& Simon Ratcliffe)
Basement Jaxx started in Brixton, South
London in 1994, where they held a regular night club called
Rooty, the namesake of their second artist album. In 1999,
the group released their first full length album, Remedy to
wide acclaim. Remedy includes the single "Red Alert",
which was featured in the film Bend It Like Beckham and commercials
including Nickelodeon and Coca-Cola. Other singles on this
album were "Jump N' Shout", "Bingo Bango"
and "Rendez Vu", which is Basement Jaxx's highest
UK chart entry to date at number 4. Basement Jaxx also released
Jaxx Unreleased, a compilation of b-sides, remixes and other
assorted material, in 1999.
Their next full length album, 2001's Rooty included singles
"Romeo", "Jus 1 Kiss", "Where's Your
Head At", "Do Your Thing" and "Get Me
Off". The music video for album opener "Romeo"
is an homage to the Bollywood film style. "Where's Your
Head At" became a huge international hit in 2002, also
known for its inclusion on the Tomb Raider soundtrack, and
is perhaps Basement Jaxx's best known song, with a video praised
by Mixmag as the best dance music video ever made. Xxtra Cutz
was released shortly after Rooty, containing b-sides from
this album's singles.
2003 brought Basement Jaxx's third full length album, Kish
Kash, which included contributions from Lisa Kekaula (of the
Bellrays), Me'shell Ndegeocello, grime MC Dizzee Rascal, Totlyn
Jackson, JC Chasez, Siouxsie Sioux (of Siouxsie & the
Banshees), and Phoebe. From this album, the tracks "Lucky
Star", "Good Luck", and "Plug It In"
were released as singles. The track "Good Luck"
was re-released in 2004, after exposure from being the theme
to BBC's Euro 2004 coverage, and was also featured in the
soundtrack of Just Married and Appleseed, an anime film released
in 2004. Kish Kash was recognized the following year at the
47th Grammy awards, winning Buxton and Ratcliffe the inaugural
Best Electronic/Dance Album award.
In 2005, the duo released the #1 compilation The Singles
along with a video collection on DVD, comprising all the singles
from their previous three albums, some earlier releases (featured
on Atlantic Jaxx Recordings: A Compilation), and two new tracks,
"Oh My Gosh" and "U Don't Know Me", which
were both released as singles. The video for "U Don't
Know Me" featured a drunken, carousing and violent Queen
Elizabeth II lookalike and was banned from daytime rotation
on MTV. The Singles (Special Edition) was
also released, which contained the original compilation along
with a bonus disc entitled Bonus Traxx, containing many previously-unreleased
tracks, as well as remixes of existing Basement Jaxx songs.
The duo appeared as a headline act on the Pyramid stage at
Glastonbury Festival in 2005 when Kylie Minogue was forced
to pull out after being diagnosed with cancer. Basement Jaxx
played with a live band made up of artists who recorded the
album. Drumtech trained Nathan 'Tugg' Curran was on drums
for Glastonbury and the tour (2005 to Present).
Their fourth studio album, Crazy Itch Radio, was released
on September 4, 2006 in the UK, simultaneously with its first
single, "Hush Boy". The album features guest vocals
by Dragonette frontwoman Martina Sorbara (credited as "Martina
Bang"), Lily Allen and Robyn. After the release of "Hey
U" as a single in March 2007, they will begin work on
their fifth album, which may be released on Atlantic Jaxx
Recordings. In 2006 Basement Jaxx were also one of the support
acts for Robbie Williams on his 'Close Encounters' tour
In addition to their own work, Basement Jaxx have become
in-demand remixers. Their more prominent work includes "4
My People" by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott,
"Like I Love You" by Justin Timberlake and "She
Wants to Move" by N*E*R*D. Sophie Ellis-Bextor, as well
as Garold Marks, have stated they are fans and would like
to collaborate with Basement Jaxx in the future.
The duo were invited to write an exclusive piece of music
to accompany a work of art they admired in London's Tate Modern
museum. Karel Appel's "Hip, Hip, Hoorah!" ended
up being the inspiring work. The work is not available for
sale but can be listened to in the gallery or its official
site. In 2007, their track "Close Your Eyes" was
featured in the Japanese CGI anime movie, Vexille.
On spring 2009, Buxton revealed in a BBC Radio 1 broadcast
that Basement Jaxx's forthcoming album Scars was completed
and being mastered. Buxton stated that the tracks include
guest appearances by Yoko Ono, Santigold, Lightspeed Champion
and Yo! Majesty.[4] The band was also interested in getting
Grace Jones to add vocals to the new album. The album was
released in September 2009. The first single "Raindrops"
preceded in June 2009. According to Portvaleonline, Basement
Jaxx are behind a bid to invest in Port Vale Football Club.
Group's Web Links
Basement Jaxx @ Pokkelpop
Basement Jaxx - Where's Your
Head At
Basement Jaxx - Take Me Back To
Your House
Basement Jaxx - Do Your Thing
Basement Jaxx - Bingo Bongo
Basement Jaxx in Cologne
Basement Jaxx @ Vula
| Funky House & Breaks Compilations
:: Basement Jaxx