Basement Jaxx - Remedy

good but nothing special

This is a collection of house and downtempo tracks. There are about eight solid songs, which make for good listening but are nothing exceptional or even particularly memorable - in other words, you won't be humming any hooks the next day. My music collection could easily be without it. However, if you are able to snatch a used copy of this release on Amazon at $.50 as it appears now, it might be worth your money. March 19, 2008

Instant Recollection

This is one of those albums where you can hear the first few beats of a song, and instantly you can recall all the words to the songs, the rest of the melody, and that certain era in your life where this album was your soundtrack.

Watching QAF Season 1 on DVD just now, I've heard Bingo Bango and Rendez-Vu and I'm instantly transported to my freshman year of university, living in the dorms. I also remember Coke using Red Alert in an advert, and I can picture perfectly the overweight guy dancing fluidly to this song with glowsticks.

It's amazing what you can remember and how much is buried deep down inside you until something like this brings it right back up to the surface. Instance recollection, and instant classic. Highly recommended!

Also check out L'Amour Toujours by Gigi D'Agostino, another significant album from that period. March 24, 2007

A Crazy Dance Floor Classic

Ask anyone who's an expert on the dance music scene who has had the biggest impact over the past 10 years, and the answer you're most likely to get is Basement Jaxx. Since the late Nineties, this dance/funk duo, comprising of Felix Burton and Simon Ratcliffe, have been releasing club anthem after club anthem. Dance music is usually associated with chavs and people who are, well, let's just say, less intelligent than someone who listens to rock and indie. For the most part I have to agree with this, because the majority of dance music is just absolute junk with no soul. The Basement Jaxx, however, are very special and a clear exception to this rule. Their dance music is varied, incorporating many different musical styles from ska, jaxx, disco, funk, techno, pop, rock and so much more.

The duo's first full studio album arrived in April 1999 and was called "Remedy." It crashed straight into the UK album chart at No.2 and is widely considered one of the best dance albums ever made. I still remember hearing the singles on the radio when this album came out and thinking just how brilliant the melodies were. The lyrics are quite primal and animalistic, very nature-orientated, but channelled through dance music, presenting the idea that you become primal and uninhibited when on the dance floor. At least that's my theory.

The album opens with the second single "Rendez-Vu," which charted at No.4 in the UK in August 1999. The album version is much better than the radio edit because it runs for almost six minutes, and the Spanish guitar just rides along for the full length! The beat on this song sizzles in the summer heat; the video was a perfect compliment. "Yo-Yo" is just a crazy beat-laced song with a bass that rides on the underbelly of the beat like Prince on acid. The lyrics are really cool and spiky, and the vocal delivery is sensual, dark and mysterious. "Jump N' Shout" is one of the best songs I think I've ever heard. The Jaxx take this song up into the clouds with a beat that climbs higher and higher until an explosive, siren-blasting chorus. The male vocal delivery is brilliant, even though I don't know what the hell he's going on about in the verses. "U Can't Stop Me" is a slower, more laid-back song and not up to par with the first three songs. However, I still find the instrumentals interesting.

"Jaxxalude" is a rather pointless interlude, which leads us into the dance classic, "Red Alert." This is easily one of the most famous dance songs in history and has ruled night clubs since its inception back in late 1998. It charted at No.6 in the UK in early 1999 and still remains a big radio hit seven years later. The video was crazy and sex-fuelled, the vocals are manic and the beat will rock ya body all night long! "Jazzalude" is my favourite interlude of the album, it's very classy, albeit brief. "Always Be There" is a bloody amazing song, an aural soundscape of synths and beats whipped up into a crazy concoction of Jaxx-ness! The lyrics and vocals are almost indecipherable, but that's all part of the plan to let the beat take over your body. And the strings! Oh, the strings! Pure classy smoothness. "Sneakalude" is pretty pointless too. This is followed by "Same Old Show," which opens with rather orgasmic vocal screams. These continue throughout the song, as more clicks and bleeps gradually get thrown into the mix.

Up next is "Bingo Bango," a true Jaxx classic, worth its weight in gold! This song runs for almost six minutes and is another dancefloor classic. You might not know it from the title, but once it starts playing, trust me, you'll have heard it somewhere! The vocals aren't much, it's just more about the beat which is just incredible and relentless. "Gemilude" is another annoying little skit thing that I don't care for. This is followed by "Stop 4 Love," which is one of the album's more laid-back, chilled songs. It opens almost like Bjork's "Possibly Maybe," with what sounds the hum of a telephone ringing, before a warm and inviting bed of synths envelops you. "Don't Give Up" has a crazy synth beat that swings side to side, causing you to feel a bit disorientated! The vocals aren't up to much and neither is this song to be honest. The album closes with "Being With U." This song has a consistent beat and rhythmic flow that I like a lot. The lyrics are quite sweet too, vocals very soft and understated. A great closer.

OVERALL GRADE: 9/10

The Basement Jaxx are probably the best thing to ever happen to dance music, period. Some will say Faithless are better. I disagree. The Jaxx are just out there and piss some people off for their 'inaccessibility' but I just think they're incredible and very experimental. I love creative artists not afraid to try new sounds out, because when the end result is really impressive you know they're something very special. This album is a testament to this, but I think their sophomore effort is possibly even better. December 24, 2005

A Classic

Basement Jaxx is one of those groups that never ceases to amaze me with their electronic creativity. They are among the funkiest beats I've ever heard and remind me of The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers. The tracks pump you up and make you want to dance. They accomplish their grooves without redundancy within each track or within the compilation itself. And although people may not recognize "Red Alert" from the title, trust me you've heard it and probably love it too. October 21, 2005

A absolute belter!

If you have not heard this band then you must, they turn the faceless and forgettable world of dance music into one of namedropping fabulousness. The tracks are catchy, funky, rocking and ever so slightly barmy. Not a track on the album could be accussed of sounding like any other, these guys have a knack for celebrating and trendifying the nafist samples and embedding them in your head in a naughtily, wonderful, hypnotic manner! An absolute "must have" album purchase. June 24, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...