Basement Jaxx

Infobox musical artist
Name = Basement Jaxx

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Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = London, England
Genre = Electronic music
UK garage
House
Deep house
Tech house
Occupation =
Years_active = 1994–present
Label = XL Recordings, Astralwerks
URL = http://www.basementjaxx.co.uk
Current_members = Simon Ratcliffe Felix Buxton
Occasional Vocalists= Vula Malinga

Basement Jaxx are a critically acclaimed UK House duo, comprising Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, that rose to popularity in the late 1990s.

History

Basement Jaxx started in Brixton, South London in 1994, where they held a regular club night 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. [ [http://www.everyhit.com everyHit.com - UK Top 40 Chart Archive, British Singles & Album Charts ] ] Basement Jaxx also released "Jaxx Unreleased", a compilation of b-sides, remixes and other assorted material, in 1999.

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 "" along with a video collection on DVD, comprising of 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"), Johnny Blaze (also known as Method Man), 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 addition to their own work, Basement Jaxx have become in-demand remixers. Their more prominent work includes "4 My People" by Missy Elliott, "Like I Love You" by Justin Timberlake and "She Wants to Move" by N.E.R.D.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has stated she is a fan and would like to collaborate with Basement Jaxx in the future. [ [http://jim.be/v6/tvManiacs.php?catid=181 Tv Maniacs Interview met Jose Gonzalez ] ]

The band has shown great interest in getting Grace Jones to add vocals to the new album. [ [http://www.endclub.com/node/47083 Basement Jaxx Interview, The End] ] .They have also recently been in the studio with Cyndi Lauper and Yoko Ono. Sam Sparro has also indicated that he has worked with Basement Jaxx, although it is uncertain whether the collaboration will be included on the forthcoming album.

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 [ [http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/tatetracks/bj_kappel/default.shtm Tate | Tate Tracks ] ] .

Discography

Main releases

*Remedy (May 10, 1999)
*Rooty (June 25, 2001)
*Kish Kash (October 20, 2003)
*Crazy Itch Radio (September 4, 2006)

Compilation albums

* (November 10, 1997)
*Jaxx Unreleased (February 2, 2000)
*Xxtra Cutz (December 19, 2001)
* (March 21, 2005)
* (February 27, 2006)

EPs

*"EP 1" (1995)
*"EP 2" (1995)
*"Summer Daze EP" (1995)
*"EP 3" (1996)
*"Sleazycheeks EP" (1996)
*"Urban Haze" (1997)
*"Span Thang EP" (2001)
*"Junction EP" (2002)
*"Unreleased Mixes" (2005)

DVDs

* (2005)

Official singles

Note: "Where's Your Head At?" also peaked at #39 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=141849&model.vnuAlbumId=791605]

Remixes

* 1995 4th Measure Men - "The Need"
* 1996 Kim English - "Nite Life"
* 1996 The Hope Xperience - "Tree Frog"
* 1996 Lil Mo' Yin Yang - "Reach"
* 1996 Raven Maize - "Forever Together"
* 1996 Transatlantic Soul - "Release Yo'Self"
* 1996 Nikita Warren - "I Need You"
* 1997 Adonis - "Rocking Down the House"
* 1997 Shola Ama - "You Might Need Somebody"
* 1997 B-Crew - "Partay Feeling"
* 1997 Cooly's Hot Box - "We Don't Have to Be Alone"
* 1997 Roy Davis Jr. - "Gabriel"
* 1997 INXS - "Everything"
* 1997 The Heartists - "Belo Horizonti"
* 1997 Da Mob - "Fun"
* 1997 The Narcotic Squad - "Starz"
* 1997 Pet Shop Boys - "A Red Letter Day"
* 1997 Ronnie Richards - "Missing You"
* 1997 Roni Size / Reprazent - "Heroes"
* 2002 Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott - "4 My People"
* 2002 DJ Sneak - "Fix My Sink"
* 2002 Justin Timberlake - "Like I Love You"
* 2002 Afrofiesta - "Venga Chica"
* 2003 Daft Punk - "Phoenix"
* 2003 Monday Michiru - "Cruel to Be Kind"
* 2004 N*E*R*D - "She Wants to Move"
* 2004 Ono - "Everyman... Everywoman..."
* 2005 Daft Punk - "Technologic"
* 2005 Lady Sovereign - "Hoodie"
* 2005 Snake Skin - "Touch on Your Leather"
* 2006 Roy Ayers - "I am Your Mind"
* 2008 Adele - "Cold Shoulder"

ee also

*List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
*List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

External links

* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Basement+Jaxx Basement Jaxx on Discogs]
* [http://www.basementjaxx.co.uk Official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/basementjaxx Basement Jaxx's Myspace]
*MusicBrainz artist|id=28cbf94d-0700-4095-a188-37e373b069a7
* [http://www.basementjaxxforums.co.uk/ Basement Jaxx Forums]
* [http://de-vice-third.tripod.com/id21.html Much Ado About Basement Jaxx] Interview by Andrez Bergen, 2007

References