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Basement Jaxx Biography
Basement Jaxx’s third album, Kish Kash, isn’t a traditional dance record, but it’s one you can dance to. A riotous collision of classic songwriting and writhing rhythms, featuring an array of guests, from Dizzee Rascal to Siouxsie Sioux, it demonstrates that Basement Jaxx are so far ahead of the pack they’ve forgotten what the pack looks like.
Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe met over an obscure Masters At Work record in Brixton, south London in 1994. Choosing the name Basement Jaxx (Simon had a studio in a basement and the music jacked), their initial ambitions were humble: to put on great parties and produce records, which emulated their heroes on the U.S. house scene.
Over the course of several EPs on their Atlantic Jaxx label, however, a more idiosyncratic, homegrown sound emerged in the edge-of-panic squeal of “Fly Life” and the bassbin psychosis of “Set Yo’ Body Free”. Their 1997 Atlantic Jaxx compilation was informed by soul, jazz, reggae, house and samba but also the more raucous British traditions of punk and rave.
Signing to Astralwerks in the U.S. (and XL in the UK), they released their debut album, Remedy, in 1999. An instant classic, it spun ragga, disco and R&B into anarchic new mutations and yielded the hit singles “Red Alert,” “Rendez-Vu,” “Jump And Shout” and "Bingo Bango."
After touring the world, Basement Jaxx hosted an intense, intimate club in a Brixton pub and called it Rooty. That became the title of their second album in 2001. Fiercer and rowdier than its predecessor, it featured “Romeo,” “Jus 1 Kiss,” “Get Me Off” and, most startling of all, the Gary Numan-sampling punk garage blitzkrieg “Where’s Your Head At.”
Kish Kash was born in the aftermath of another lengthy tour. Exhausted and homesick, Felix and Simon settled into their new Brixton studio and set about developing a fresh approach, less reliant on grooves and samples and more focused on songwriting, often starting with just a voice and guitar. "We kind of went back to school," says Felix. "We got this new studio and had to learn how to use it." Adds Simon: "There was a greater sense that we didn’t know what we were doing but it was more enjoyable than before."
The recording process took place between March 2002 and August 2003. In the meantime they released the low profile experimental Junction EP and remixed Missy Elliott, DJ Sneak and Justin Timberlake. The remixes were easy – the tricky bit was deciding where to go next.
In the past, the pair had taken some of their cues from their dancefloor contemporaries but not this time. "We were listening to what other people were doing and realizing it was all pretty stagnant and uninspiring," says Simon. "There was nothing to look up to in a way. We had to do something new." The variety of records they enjoyed while making Kish Kash had a less direct influence: Radiohead, The Neptunes, Timbaland and contorted art-metallers System Of A Down.
Basement Jaxx records have always thrived on a sense of organized chaos, voices and sounds and ideas pingponging wildly around the mix. Kish Kash is simultaneously the most extreme and most cohesive example of the mentality. "I think this album sits together better than our other ones," says Simon. "They were a bit disjointed."
Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe met over an obscure Masters At Work record in Brixton, south London in 1994. Choosing the name Basement Jaxx (Simon had a studio in a basement and the music jacked), their initial ambitions were humble: to put on great parties and produce records, which emulated their heroes on the U.S. house scene.
Over the course of several EPs on their Atlantic Jaxx label, however, a more idiosyncratic, homegrown sound emerged in the edge-of-panic squeal of “Fly Life” and the bassbin psychosis of “Set Yo’ Body Free”. Their 1997 Atlantic Jaxx compilation was informed by soul, jazz, reggae, house and samba but also the more raucous British traditions of punk and rave.
Signing to Astralwerks in the U.S. (and XL in the UK), they released their debut album, Remedy, in 1999. An instant classic, it spun ragga, disco and R&B into anarchic new mutations and yielded the hit singles “Red Alert,” “Rendez-Vu,” “Jump And Shout” and "Bingo Bango."
After touring the world, Basement Jaxx hosted an intense, intimate club in a Brixton pub and called it Rooty. That became the title of their second album in 2001. Fiercer and rowdier than its predecessor, it featured “Romeo,” “Jus 1 Kiss,” “Get Me Off” and, most startling of all, the Gary Numan-sampling punk garage blitzkrieg “Where’s Your Head At.”
Kish Kash was born in the aftermath of another lengthy tour. Exhausted and homesick, Felix and Simon settled into their new Brixton studio and set about developing a fresh approach, less reliant on grooves and samples and more focused on songwriting, often starting with just a voice and guitar. "We kind of went back to school," says Felix. "We got this new studio and had to learn how to use it." Adds Simon: "There was a greater sense that we didn’t know what we were doing but it was more enjoyable than before."
The recording process took place between March 2002 and August 2003. In the meantime they released the low profile experimental Junction EP and remixed Missy Elliott, DJ Sneak and Justin Timberlake. The remixes were easy – the tricky bit was deciding where to go next.
In the past, the pair had taken some of their cues from their dancefloor contemporaries but not this time. "We were listening to what other people were doing and realizing it was all pretty stagnant and uninspiring," says Simon. "There was nothing to look up to in a way. We had to do something new." The variety of records they enjoyed while making Kish Kash had a less direct influence: Radiohead, The Neptunes, Timbaland and contorted art-metallers System Of A Down.
Basement Jaxx records have always thrived on a sense of organized chaos, voices and sounds and ideas pingponging wildly around the mix. Kish Kash is simultaneously the most extreme and most cohesive example of the mentality. "I think this album sits together better than our other ones," says Simon. "They were a bit disjointed."
Basement Jaxx All Music Guide Biography
The production duo of Simon Ratcliffe and Felix Buxton released several of Britain's most respected and enjoyable progressive house anthems of the '90s from their base in South London. Before they met (at a Thames riverboat party organized by Buxton), Ratcliffe grooved to the deep Latin funk of War and George Duke while Buxton was turned on to Chicago house. The pair formed Atlantic Jaxx Records in 1994 and was undoubtedly honored to count among fans of their first release none other than DJ legend and Basement Jaxx influence Tony Humphries, who played "Da Underground" from the EP on his New York mixshow consistently during 1994-1995. For their second release, Ratcliffe and Buxton recruited vocalist Corrina Josephs, who later became practically a member of the team herself.
The 1995 single "Samba Magic" was picked up for distribution by Virgin, and in time, Basement Jaxx was drawing praise from all corners of the American and British house community as one of the top house production units. The pair spent much of 1996 working on remixes (for the Pet Shop Boys, Roger Sanchez, and Lil' Mo' Yin Yang among others), then released a third Basement Jaxx EP. One track from the EP, "Flylife," became a Top 20 hit in England after being re-released by Multiply in mid-1997, and the single proved one of the most popular anthems of the year on the worldwide club scene. Late that year, Ratcliffe and Buxton released a compilation of their most crucial Atlantic Jaxx sides.
After being courted by several major labels, Basement Jaxx signed to the independent XL Recordings (also home to the Prodigy) and readied their debut full-length, Remedy, for a 1999 release. Second album Rooty followed two years later, an outgrowth of the duo's similarly named club night. 2003's Kish Kash and 2006's Crazy Itch Radio followed, while Singles was a well-timed stopgap release between the two albums. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
The 1995 single "Samba Magic" was picked up for distribution by Virgin, and in time, Basement Jaxx was drawing praise from all corners of the American and British house community as one of the top house production units. The pair spent much of 1996 working on remixes (for the Pet Shop Boys, Roger Sanchez, and Lil' Mo' Yin Yang among others), then released a third Basement Jaxx EP. One track from the EP, "Flylife," became a Top 20 hit in England after being re-released by Multiply in mid-1997, and the single proved one of the most popular anthems of the year on the worldwide club scene. Late that year, Ratcliffe and Buxton released a compilation of their most crucial Atlantic Jaxx sides.
After being courted by several major labels, Basement Jaxx signed to the independent XL Recordings (also home to the Prodigy) and readied their debut full-length, Remedy, for a 1999 release. Second album Rooty followed two years later, an outgrowth of the duo's similarly named club night. 2003's Kish Kash and 2006's Crazy Itch Radio followed, while Singles was a well-timed stopgap release between the two albums. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
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