A fresh Basement Jaxx 2003-04 thread

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If only because that other recent one is so huge. So the album didn't do as well as expected in the UK and all, but last night out with a friend I heard "Lucky Star" on one of the top forty stations, along with a brief station promo clip talking about 'hot new artists!' that again featured a bit of "Lucky Star." A pleasant surprise!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:33 (twenty-one years ago)

They need to make a single edit of "Plug It In" or "Kish Kash." Remove some of the no singer just squeals shit. If they made a single edit of either track it would undoubtedly make my top 10 of the year.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:41 (twenty-one years ago)

popist.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

That some of my favorite vocals of the year can be found on Kish Kash has been one of the larger tragic ironies this year musically.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

haha! I am a popist! No doubt!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 December 2003 19:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Nothin' wrong with being Catholic

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Saturday, 6 December 2003 20:29 (twenty-one years ago)

id like to know who sings the lead vocals on Hot N Cold.

― lid, Saturday, 6 December 2003 20:39 (twenty-one years ago)

one of the jaxx themsleves, i believe.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Re: "Hot n' Cold": According to my press packet, "Just days before before the album was finished Simon received a visit from an 18-year-old singer called Millie. His parents had met hers at a party and given them his number so she could get some advice on the music industry. She did better than that and ended up singing on 'Hot n'Cold.'"

― Josh Timmermann (Josh Timmermann), Saturday, 6 December 2003 20:55 (twenty-one years ago)

yes, but who is the MALE voice?

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

or is this some reverse-camille shit?

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

ILX Makes Me Happy phrase of the day: reverse-camille shit!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 December 2003 21:00 (twenty-one years ago)

if it really is felix singing in the first part of the song, then im in awe of his falsetto! i really thought it was a girl singing- sounded like a very cool teenage girl.

x-post.

― lid, Saturday, 6 December 2003 21:00 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't honestly know if i'd be happier if it was a particularly husky voiced teenage girl or one of the jaxx had an amazing falsetto.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 21:03 (twenty-one years ago)

IS THERE ANYTHING THEY CAN'T DO??

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 21:03 (twenty-one years ago)

keep me from switching to the next song after the singer's final verse.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 December 2003 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

haha

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

anthony do you hate losing yourself in the music? you only get once chance to blow, i hear.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I LOVE losing myself in the music. Almost as much as Jaxx loves losing me. The instrumental breaks always have one THUD moment where I completely am removed from the song. Which sucks cuz JC, Me'Shell, Dizzee and Siouxsie all deserve Grammy nominations.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 December 2003 21:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Captain Beefheart would argue that I'm too much of a "mother's heartbeat" pulse lover and I'd argue I ain't some prog2k muthafucka.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 December 2003 21:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Felix does the male vocals on "Hot n' Cold."

― Josh Timmermann (Josh Timmermann), Saturday, 6 December 2003 21:26 (twenty-one years ago)

hurrah!

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 6 December 2003 21:29 (twenty-one years ago)

The story about Millie is true. One of her mates lives next door to me. My claim to fame there.

― Nick H (Nick H), Saturday, 6 December 2003 22:51 (twenty-one years ago)

And they're playing live next week! Come gleefully anticipate the carnivalesque gig mayhem with me.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Sunday, 7 December 2003 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

if you skip out on "Hot 'n Cold" too early you miss the punchline

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 8 December 2003 04:06 (twenty-one years ago)

really looking forward to Friday...

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 8 December 2003 11:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Having never seen the Jaxx before, I have no idea how they're going to pull this off live - especially some of the stuff off Kish Kash. What to expect - sampled vocals? Guest singers? Instrumentals? I'd imagine most of them would work just fine without vocals, with Good Luck being the exception.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 8 December 2003 11:57 (twenty-one years ago)

*starts feverishly hoping for a Dizzee appearance*

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 8 December 2003 11:58 (twenty-one years ago)

i think a dizzee appearance is v unlikely on fri, i think i read that he was playing elsewhere. i cd be imagining that though.

when i saw them two years ago there were loads of guest vocalists (often not the ppl who'd originally sung them, i guess) and it was fantastic. they certainly didn't do them as instrumentals.

― toby (tsg20), Monday, 8 December 2003 12:05 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah they have stand in people who are all pretty good. I was wondering today if they'd have a stand in Dizzee. Not that I am seeing them, sadly.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 8 December 2003 12:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't see Lucky Star working with a stand in - its so much about Dizzee himself and his force of personality in a way that Good Luck or Romeo or Plug It In or even Jump and Shout just aren't.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 8 December 2003 12:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah I was thinking this morning, (I actually thought about this on my entire walk from the car up the stairs into the building I'm now in) that Dizzee was the only guest on the album who really grabbed hold of the song he was given and wrestled with it to the point where it's as much about him as the Jaxx. The rest are kind of conduits.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 8 December 2003 12:46 (twenty-one years ago)

if they cut up 'Lucky Star' like the Chems cut up their vocalist tracks live then i will be a very happy campsite

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 8 December 2003 13:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Lisa Kekaula, surely? She throws herself at "Good Luck" with the force of a tsunami.

― The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 8 December 2003 13:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah but I still think she could be replaced, difference of opinion I guess.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 8 December 2003 13:57 (twenty-one years ago)

I can see both Lisa and Dizzee being replaced, but the stand-in would have to do a completely different take on the song - like say if MC Shystie did "Lucky Star" like she did "I Luv U".

Interesting about the other vocalists - you think that their individual quirks are such a huge part of the song, but they're easily replicated quirks and generally subservient to the music. Or at least it's the music which brings out the quirks in eg JC Chasez's voice, and it'll bring out equivalent quirks in the Chasez stand-in's voice.

I'm sure there is a point to getting those particular people in though.

― The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 8 December 2003 14:14 (twenty-one years ago)

True dat, Lex, the Jaxx tried Siouxsie on 'Plug It In', before discovering that JC was the man for the song. Par exemple.

― Barima (Barima), Monday, 8 December 2003 14:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Barima are you coming on Friday? can you kash my spare kish?

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 8 December 2003 15:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Justin's in the country, maybe he could stand in for JC.

― Nick H (Nick H), Monday, 8 December 2003 15:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Steve, I'd have to kash in my Wednesday ticket in order to claim the Friday's Child prize. Ve vill talk tonight, ja?

― Barima (Barima), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Justin's in the country, maybe he could stand in for JC.

THAT WOULD BE HORRIBLE

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:30 (twenty-one years ago)

theoretically, yes

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

also literally

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Imagine the chorus for 'Plug It In' replaced with a bunch of lazy-arsed 'I'm lovin' its and la-da-da-da-das, while some lanky white guy with rodent facial hair attempts to Do The Robot. OI, JUSTIN! NOOOOOOOO!

A 'Plug It In' where the falsetto is especially off the mark and sucks would so make the world a better place.

― Barima (Barima), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:55 (twenty-one years ago)

B-b-but, JC and Justin have EXACTLY THE SAME VOICE!

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:57 (twenty-one years ago)

shall i lock the thread now?

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:59 (twenty-one years ago)

for the good of the children, if nothing else.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 8 December 2003 16:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not into good. And Matt DC is WRONG.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 8 December 2003 17:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Fuck the children, do it for us.

― Barima (Barima), Monday, 8 December 2003 17:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Hey, since when was JC a good dancer (reacting to various recent comments relating to second phase of his solo career)?

― Barima (Barima), Monday, 8 December 2003 17:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I watched the 'Pop' video a few times and prayed that Wade Robson didn't actually choreograph it!

― Barima (Barima), Monday, 8 December 2003 17:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude, Wade dances for Joey in that video!

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 8 December 2003 17:05 (twenty-one years ago)

This thread has been locked by an administrator because we have been put to sleep by Dan and Ned.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 8 December 2003 17:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha, because people whining about other people being tedious isn't tedious, it's clever!

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 8 December 2003 17:08 (twenty-one years ago)

i reckon 'Supersonic' will sound much better live

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 8 December 2003 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

JJ Fad always puts on a good show, that's for sure.

― Matt Helgeson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 8 December 2003 18:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Friday night Hammersmith pre-Basement Jaxx FAP?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 11 December 2003 14:19 (twenty-one years ago)

As I was telling Steve last night, I was a bit underwhelmed by the Forum action. Admittedly, I arrived just before 10 after various fuck-ups getting there, but as far as the 7.30 - 12 stated on the ticket goes, don't believe the hype! Shystie did 25 mins from 8.15, the Jaxx apparently popped up somewhere around 9 and they barely played an hour 25 mins in total! Not to mention I felt like I was in a club where I actually needed something stronger to really engage with the party - and that almost never happens.

So, I told Steve I am with you guys tomorrow, but having woken up thius morning and remembering how so many people were pretending NOT to feel cheated (effectively, you pay 20+ quid for 2 HOURS), I'm having doubts all over again. At least if they pull this shit tomorrow, I'll still get to go out for my mate's birthday.

― Barima (Barima), Thursday, 11 December 2003 14:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Matt, the stage show reminded me of a Notting Hill Carnival float, albeit the people on the stage were only interesting for their headgear! Simon looked good on the guitar though.

― Barima (Barima), Thursday, 11 December 2003 14:54 (twenty-one years ago)

they only played 90mins when i saw them before but it was easily worth 20 quid! as i recall we arrived just as they started and it was pretty early. the weird thing was that it was packed at the back but failry empty at the front, so you could just push through and then dance to yr heart's content.

― toby (tsg20), Thursday, 11 December 2003 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, let's hope things are better tomorrow. Shit, I don't even think F&S smiled or waved when they left. I don't even think the crowd got thanked and everyone thought it was encore time!

Also, the crowd for the most part were way too insular, except for the blatant freaks.

― Barima (Barima), Thursday, 11 December 2003 15:18 (twenty-one years ago)

i just cannot imagine them being bad live so you have worried me a lot Barima :/

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 11 December 2003 15:21 (twenty-one years ago)

also if you don't wanna go no more let me know ASAP

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 11 December 2003 15:21 (twenty-one years ago)

ten months pass...

saw the jaxx live for the first time last night - jebus h christ in a chickenbasket omgwtf etc. amaaaaazing. they played a 'seven nation army'/'in da club' bootleg that made the night. and for an 'encore' they sung "living room" over "mere pass", which worked really well. BUT it was SHORT AS FUCK! about one hour and ten minutes!! plus some of the tracks that i'd hoping they'd open up and riff on (lucky star, plug it in) were pretty much note-for-note, squeal-for-squeal recreations. i mean i was exhausted and sweating and barely alive but i wanted another hour. still, ho-lee fuck, and so on.

― m. (mitchlnw), Sunday, 17 October 2004 08:32 (twenty years ago)

Yeah that was pretty much exactly how I felt about the show. Although I'd seen them on their Remedy and Rooty tours as well.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 17 October 2004 10:34 (twenty years ago)

I wish they'd do a DJ (decks/fx) type tour. I mean really really wish.

― Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 17 October 2004 18:59 (twenty years ago)

i saw them live at an irish festival in the summer. they ruled. during the low key mid-section some guy from the crowd climbed up this really high scaffolding with a kind of tarpaulin sheet at the top and the security climbed up after him and there was a (quite scary) scuffle with them near the edge of the construction. they got him down safely in the end.

"where's your head at" was stellar.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Sunday, 17 October 2004 19:11 (twenty years ago)

i dreamt last night (just now, in fact) that the jaxx played a gig on a beach just behind my house as the tide came in. it was great.

― toby (tsg20), Monday, 18 October 2004 06:09 (twenty years ago)

m. can you say more abt their setup? is it just the 2 of them with gear, or are there more ppl about? i'm assuming the former. not terribly pressing but i am curious.

― g--ff (gcannon), Monday, 18 October 2004 06:42 (twenty years ago)

Geoff it usually verges on a full-on cabaret show, heaps of singers (with I think Felix also handling a lot of vocals) as well as MCs and dancers. For the most recent tour they also performed as a band, with (I think) Simon often playing guitar and Felix handling the decks, plus a drummer, percussionist etc. I can understand why they've done this but I think it's a bit constraining - there's not nearly as much jamming and improvisation as there was for the Remedy tour where it was just the boys plus some singers and dancers, and I suspect it's why so many of the songs are almost identical to their album arrangements. Plus it means that their live sets don't really change so it's best to only see them once per tour or risk losing the voibe.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 18 October 2004 06:50 (twenty years ago)

geoff: what tim said, really. lisa kelhau..kelkua..her from the bellrays was there. they brought on some girl to do dizzee's rap from "lucky star", she did fine. there was this amazingly virtuoso bongo drum guy (for a good 30 seconds of his like two minute solo i thought it was about to turn into this mindfuck progdance recreation of coolie dance, but it didn't). i don't know what siouxsie looks like nowadays, but i'm pretty sure the lady with the red hair and the catwoman leather was an impersonator. simon on guitar, yeah. felix did his vocals for "if i ever recover". various other people with painted faces and things did a bunch of moving and dancing and running around. they brought on a jamaican dancehall guy for the encore (could it have been yellowman, the guy they did "love is the answer" with? i don't know). "give peace a chance" got a play, btw.

― m. (mitchlnw), Monday, 18 October 2004 07:35 (twenty years ago)

Are they currently touring? I can't find any info about this...

― C0L1N B3CK3TT (Colin Beckett), Monday, 18 October 2004 07:41 (twenty years ago)

i know the british embassy in charge of importing cool things brought them out here to play 2 shows (one in cape town, one in johannesburg) cos of south africa's "10 years of democracy" hype - i don't know if they're touring at all otherwise. but, uh, yay democracy!

― m. (mitchlnw), Monday, 18 October 2004 07:46 (twenty years ago)

or exporting, i should say (... jaxxporting?)

― m. (mitchlnw), Monday, 18 October 2004 07:48 (twenty years ago)

there also was this good bit, just after "good luck", where they were switching it up between the "yeah!" stabs and the "tipsy" beat (with lisa singing bits of tipsy over it), but it lasted for about 45 seconds and then kind of fizzled to nothing. the whole thing felt a bit hurried, really. if i wasnt a jaxx virgin, i probably wouldnt have been as gobsmacked as i was (but i was, i really was). it still feels as tho the jaxxthetic (forgive me, if you can) is like the closest thing to my own idea of musical perfectability (as inculcated by this place, really) (or freakytrigger, at least)

― m. (mitchlnw), Monday, 18 October 2004 07:56 (twenty years ago)

Well it really is the most amazing thing ever. Although when I saw them at the Big Day Out this year even they were seriously challenged by Felix Da Housecat's dj set just prior ("La Rock 01" versus "Where's Your Head At", FITE).

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 18 October 2004 13:00 (twenty years ago)

One of the few things I can remember from the Glastonbury set is Felix's vocodered Dalek voice going YOU HAVE NOW FOUND YOURSELF! TRAPPED IN THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE MAZE! while the rain absolutely shat it down and it sounding like the greatest thing ever.

Thankfully I'd seen them the previous December and then the following Saturday at Roskilde otherwise I'd have had serious trouble piecing it all together at all.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 18 October 2004 13:42 (twenty years ago)

it still feels as tho the jaxxthetic (forgive me, if you can) is like the closest thing to my own idea of musical perfectability ...yeah agreed; "they can go anywhere, and do anything" is a phrase i've latched onto when thinking abt them (and it's a sorta-problematic phrase to describe a lot of other favorites of mine). and thx Tim; i think you've talked about this elsewhere on-board, that they were paradoxically less free the more Real instruments and ppl they had onstage. just goes to show you...

a looong time ago, i'd thought of another jaxx dream cover like from that other thread, but the moment had long since passed, so what the hell here it is:

basement jaxx ft shania twain & brian may - pour some sugar on me

― g--ff (gcannon), Monday, 18 October 2004 14:09 (twenty years ago)

i was thrilled that they re-introduced the Pointer Sisters 'Automatic' thing

― Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Monday, 18 October 2004 16:23 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

Yesterday I downloaded a "Basement Jaxx Backlash Rerub" of Kelis' Trick Me. Anyone familiar with this? Is it real, where does it come from? It's not exactly a work of genius.

― JoB (JoB), Sunday, 28 November 2004 14:19 (twenty years ago)

Is that the one that's 5:47 in length? If so, I completely love it.

― Alba (Alba), Sunday, 28 November 2004 14:26 (twenty years ago)

Well, 5:49. Was this ever released?

― JoB (JoB), Sunday, 28 November 2004 14:49 (twenty years ago)

dunno bout the "backlash rerub", but there was an official remix. everyone told me it was no good, so i don't think i bothered completing the download. maybe i was wrong.

― m. (mitchlnw), Sunday, 28 November 2004 15:02 (twenty years ago)

Hmm - I don't know.

Searching google for Jaxxbackclash (note 'clash' not 'lash' gets a few results for white labels, but those with track timings give it as 7 minutes something.

I don't know where mine comes from, or what it's really called - I got it off p2p when someone recommended it along with the Adam Freeland mix on the remix of the year so far (2004 edition). thread. It was just called the 'Basement Jaxx Remix' on there. Can't seem to see it on discogs.com. Are you sure any Jaxx mixes of it (if indeed there is more than one) were commercially released, mitch?

Anyway, as I say - I can't understand the negativity if you're talking about the mix I have. It's one of my favourite remixes of the year. Sounds like a lost 'Kish Kash' standout.

― Alba (Alba), Sunday, 28 November 2004 15:25 (twenty years ago)

i'm not entirely sure abt it alba. but i remember it being reviewed in pfork (and mentioned in some other places, i think), so i just assumed it was legit and available to buy for money.

― m. (mitchlnw), Sunday, 28 November 2004 17:08 (twenty years ago)

three weeks pass...

Did I miss discussion of the new track 'Oh My Gosh' during the seventeen days?

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Friday, 24 December 2004 02:30 (twenty years ago)

not really, i mentioned it briefly on the Daft Punk thread

― Frankenstein On Ice (blueski), Friday, 24 December 2004 17:06 (twenty years ago)

Do we know of any new album for 2005 because it'll have been two years since "Kish Kash" and I don't know about anyone else but I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms.

― Nick H (Nick H), Friday, 24 December 2004 17:14 (twenty years ago)

haven't heard 'oh my gosh', but also new are "onyx" and "eradicate" (the latter is the twisted flipside to 'give peace a chance')

― m. (mitchlnw), Friday, 24 December 2004 17:52 (twenty years ago)

they usually have an album out every 2 years but i could wait another two right now, i fear them burning out or something

― Frankenstein On Ice (blueski), Friday, 24 December 2004 18:20 (twenty years ago)

I've had that fear for every album, they're going to blow it sometime, nobody can have that good a track record.

Still, what if Daft Punk (every four years), Avalanches (every four years), Basement Jaxx (every two years), and Dizzee Rascal (every signle year) all manage to release an album next year, and all four albums live up unreasonable expectations.

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Saturday, 25 December 2004 03:15 (twenty years ago)

There's another new song streaming on their website, and a new Atlantic Jaxx EP for sale in mp3 format, with a physical release in the new year. When I interviewed them for Kish Kash, they said they had about an album's worth of material that didn't fit on Kish Kash, and that they were thinking of releasing it as a limited edtion album for the fans in 2004...

― JoB (JoB), Saturday, 25 December 2004 11:11 (twenty years ago)

where can we get this in da club boot/7 nation they do? i love it.

― piscesboy, Saturday, 25 December 2004 11:27 (twenty years ago)

there's also "ha choo", apparently from the "good luck" EP. it starts off with "turn the page" strings, then goes 'fifth song into the basement jaxx album' goofy.

― m. (mitchlnw), Saturday, 25 December 2004 18:25 (twenty years ago)

three weeks pass...

"oh my gosh" fucking rules. it's over at Razorblade Runner, for now.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 16 January 2005 22:10 (twenty years ago)

Found a promo 12" in the shop the other day. Remix on the B side.

― JoB (JoB), Monday, 17 January 2005 00:01 (twenty years ago)

I suppose a new album this year is too much to hope for?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 17 January 2005 14:25 (twenty years ago)

Going by their track record of an album every two years I would have said there's a very good chance, but now with the best of being released less likely. Although maybe Best of in May, and album for Christmas.

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Monday, 17 January 2005 14:28 (twenty years ago)

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