Basement Jaxx - 'The Singles' (XL)
4/5
By: Toby L
The couple-of-blokes-doing-dance format has been a bit of a niche over the years. Orbital, Daft Punk, Air, The Chemical Brothers, et al, have milked it, maintaining community and scene cred and crossover prospects alike. Basement Jaxx, meanwhile, have been perceived the true, erstwhile pop breakthrough. Songs consistently parping behind adverts, live sports coverage and radio-jingles, that two humble Brixtonites ever composed, arranged and produced all these joyously bright and infectious doses of neon-disco as contained herein on their simply-titled career retrospective is often overlooked - that's the ubiquity we're dealing with here.
'The Singles' provides that career respite period. A chance to re-evaluate, re-acquaint ourselves with just what Felix and the other one have been doing for over half a decade now. The answer is resoundingly simple: creating all-out bangers.
Told you it was simple. There's nothing here you won't have heard (even pelvic-thrusting, new single 'Oh My Gosh' looks set to reach the soaring heights as its featured counterparts, judging by initial airplay, whilst upcoming 45 'U Don't Know Me' - again boasting Lisa Kekaula of The BellRays, original vocalist of past hit 'Good Luck' - is equally contagious). What the Jaxx lack in darkened, subversive introspection, they more than compensate for in penning material that's, quite simply, f**king massive.
'Massive', in every sense. Not just commercially. But sonically. Go on; put on any other CD by any other act before playing one of their exhausting, anthemic, euphoria-strewn, percussive mini-epics, and tell us the contrast didn't almost cause you a heart-attack. It's all really quite loud.
But for all the arse-wiggling finesse and delightfully hook-ridden dance acumen, there's some genius at work: the Cuban-salsa-scented middle-eight of 'Bingo Bango', which sounds like the soundtrack to 'Mario Kart 64's 'Rainbow Road' level (sorry, non-stoner-geeks); 'Where's Your Head At', still managing to rein true as perturbingly sinister thanks to that original, accompanying monkey-surgeon promo-video, and the whirring bass-line; 'Red Alert' is funk-panache on a platter; 'Romeo' is darting dancefloor majesty; and a violent, rap-inflected 'Jump N' Shout' ensures earthy variety.
It's not a career of highs and lows. Rather-more, a consistent, upward trip. Coming down will suck.
Artists in this article: Basement Jaxx
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