Basement Jaxx
Encyclopedia
Basement Jaxx are a British electronic dance music
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...

 duo from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 consisting of Felix Buxton born 1971 and Simon Ratcliffe born 1 December 1969. They first rose to popularity in the late 1990s. As the British Hit Singles & Albums book duly noted "they surfaced from the underground house scene, are regular transatlantic club chart-toppers and won the BRIT Award for Best Dance Act in 2002 and 2004".

History

Basement Jaxx started in Brixton
Brixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....

, South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...

 in 1994, where they held a regular night club called Basement Jaxx, which was also held in a variety of venues including The George IV, The Crypt and The Junction. They were joined by DJs including DJ Sneak, Daft Punk
Daft Punk
Daft Punk are an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter . Daft Punk reached significant popularity in the late 1990s house movement in France and met with continued success in the years following, combining elements of house with synthpop...

, and singer Corrina Joseph
Corrina Joseph
Corrina Joseph is a British singer who gained recognition through her collaborations with the duo known as Basement Jaxx. She later signed to and released solo material through their label, Atlantic Jaxx. She later affiliated with One Little Indian...

. They mutated the night into an equally popular club called Rooty, the namesake of their second album
Rooty
Rooty is the second studio album by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx, released in 2001. The singles released from the album were "Romeo", "Jus 1 Kiss", "Where's Your Head At?", and "Get Me Off". "Do Your Thing" was also released as a single in Australia in 2003, and in the UK in...

. In 1999, the group released their first full length album, Remedy. Remedy included the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 "Red Alert
Red Alert (song)
"Red Alert" is a song by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx. It was the first single released from their debut album, Remedy. It later appears on Basement Jaxx: The Singles. It ties with "Romeo" as their second-highest UK Singles Chart placing at number 5. It also became their first...

", which was featured in the film Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...

as well as Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...

 and Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...

 commercials. Other singles on this album were "Jump N' Shout
Jump N' Shout
Jump N' Shout is Basement Jaxx's released single from their debut album Remedy. It features guest vocals by MC Slarta John.-Track listings:# "Jump N' Shout " - 3:35# "La Photo" - 3:57# "I Beg U" - 8:33...

", "Bingo Bango", and "Rendez-Vu
Rendez-Vu
"Rendez-Vu" is a song by English electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx. It was released on 2 August 1999 as the second single from their debut album Remedy. It reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart and number 1 on the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. It later appears on Basement Jaxx:...

", which is Basement Jaxx's highest UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 entry to date at number 4. Basement Jaxx also released Jaxx Unreleased, a compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 of B-sides
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

, remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

es, and other assorted material, in 1999.

Their next album, 2001's Rooty
Rooty
Rooty is the second studio album by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx, released in 2001. The singles released from the album were "Romeo", "Jus 1 Kiss", "Where's Your Head At?", and "Get Me Off". "Do Your Thing" was also released as a single in Australia in 2003, and in the UK in...

included singles "Romeo", "Jus 1 Kiss", "Where's Your Head At?
Where's Your Head At?
"Where's Your Head At" is a song by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx. It was released as a single from their second album, Rooty, in 2001. The song was recorded in early 2001 and is based around samples from Gary Numan's songs "M.E." and "This Wreckage"...

", "Do Your Thing", and "Get Me Off". The music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 for album opener "Romeo" is an homage to the Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 film style. "Where's Your Head At?" became an international hit in 2002, also known for its inclusion on the Tomb Raider soundtrack. Xxtra Cutz was released shortly after Rooty, containing B-sides from the album's singles.

In 2003, Basement Jaxx released third full-length album, Kish Kash
Kish Kash
Kish Kash is the third studio album by English electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx. It reached number 17 on the UK Albums Chart and won the Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album in 2005.- Track listing :- Singles :...

, which included contributions from Lisa Kekaula
Lisa Kekaula
Lisa Kekaula is the lead singer of American "rock 'n' soul" band The Bellrays.Kekaula was born to an African-American mother, Linda and Native Hawaiian father, Alan Kekaula in Los Angeles, California, although the family continued to grow and relocated to suburban Moreno Valley, California...

 (of the Bellrays
The Bellrays
The Bellrays are an American group that combines garage rock music with soul singing styles. The band consists of Lisa Kekaula , Bob Vennum , Justin Andres and Stefan Litrownik . The group, founded in the early 1990s in Riverside, California, prides itself on its independence...

), Me'shell Ndegeocello
Me'shell Ndegeocello
Meshell Ndegeocello is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, bassist, and vocalist. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, hip hop, reggae, R&B, rock, and jazz. She has received significant critical acclaim throughout her career, and has had ten career Grammy...

, Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...

, Totlyn Jackson, JC Chasez, Siouxsie Sioux
Siouxsie Sioux
Siouxsie Sioux is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer of the critically acclaimed rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and of its splinter group The Creatures . The Banshees produced eleven studio albums and a string of hit singles including "Hong Kong Garden",...

, 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
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's Euro 2004 coverage, and was also featured in the soundtrack of Just Married
Just Married
Just Married is a 2003 American romantic comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Sam Harper starring Ashton Kutcher and the late Brittany Murphy. In its opening week, the film was number one, making $17 million at the box office. It stayed in the Top 10 for 4 weeks.-Plot:The film starts...

and Appleseed, an anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 film released in 2004. Kish Kash was recognized the following year at the 47th Grammy awards
Grammy Awards of 2005
The 47th Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2005 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were hosted by Queen Latifah , and televised in the United States by CBS. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year...

, winning Buxton and Ratcliffe the inaugural 'Best Electronic/Dance Album' award.

In 2005, the duo released the number 1 compilation The Singles
Basement Jaxx: The Singles
The Singles is a compilation album by English electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx, released on 21 March 2005. There are two new tracks on this album, these being "Oh My Gosh" and "U Don't Know Me", which were both released as singles in 2005...

along with a video collection on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

, comprising 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
Oh My Gosh
"Oh My Gosh" is a song by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx. It was released in 2005 as a single from the band's greatest hits album, The Singles. The song peaked in the UK charts at number eight. The female vocals on the track were performed by Vula Malinga...

" and "U Don't Know Me", which were both released as singles. 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
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...

 in 2005 when Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

 was forced to pull out after being diagnosed with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

. 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 has remained a constant performer.

Their fourth studio album, Crazy Itch Radio
Crazy Itch Radio
Crazy Itch Radio is the fourth studio album by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx. The album features Linda Lewis and Swedish popstar Robyn among the guest vocalists.- Release history :...

, was released on 4 September 2006 in the UK, simultaneously with its first single, "Hush Boy". The album featured guest vocals by Martina Sorbara
Martina Sorbara
Martina Sorbara is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of Greg Sorbara, who is a Member of Provincial Parliament, formerly the Minister of Finance in Ontario....

 (credited as "Martina Bang"), Lily Allen
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...

, and Robyn
Robyn
Robin Miriam Carlsson , better known by her stage name Robyn, is a Swedish recording artist, singer, and songwriter. Robyn became known in the late nineties for her worldwide dance-pop hit "Do You Know " from her debut album Robyn Is Here . She co-wrote the song "Du gör mig hel igen" for...

. In 2006, Basement Jaxx were also one of the support acts for Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...

 on his 'Close Encounters' tour. For Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...

's Bring Ya to the Brink
Bring Ya to the Brink
Bring Ya to the Brink is Cyndi Lauper's tenth studio album and was released on May 27, 2008 in the United States. The song "Set Your Heart" was released as a promo-only single in Japan in early 2008 and "Same Ol' Story" was the first official single released worldwide on May 6, 2008...

in 2008, they produced and wrote the track "Rocking Chair".

In addition to their own work, Basement Jaxx have become in-demand remixers. Their more prominent work includes "4 My People" by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, "Everyman… Everywoman…" by Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...

, "Like I Love You" by Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...

, and "She Wants to Move" by N*E*R*D. Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor is an English singer, songwriter, model and occasional DJ. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s, as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo, achieving widespread success in the early 2000s...

, as well as The Botz and Garold Marks, have stated they are fans and would like to collaborate with Basement Jaxx in the future.

The duo were invited to write an exclusive piece of music to accompany a work of art they admired in London's Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...

 museum, Karel Appel
Karel Appel
Christiaan Karel Appel was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s...

's "Hip, Hip, Hoorah!". The work is not available for sale, but can be listened to in the gallery or its official site. In 2007, their track "Close Your Eyes" was featured in the Japanese CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...

 anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 movie Vexille
Vexille
is a 2007 Japanese CGI anime film, written, directed, and edited by famed Ping Pong director Fumihiko Sori, and features the voices of Meisa Kuroki, Yasuko Matsuyuki, and Shosuke Tanihara....

.

In 2009, Buxton revealed in a BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 broadcast that Basement Jaxx's forthcoming album Scars
Scars (Basement Jaxx album)
Scars is the fifth studio album by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx, released on 21 September 2009. It was preceded by the first single "Raindrops", released on 21 June, while the second single, "Feelings Gone", was also released in the United Kingdom on 21 September...

was completed and being mastered. Buxton stated that the tracks include guest appearances by Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...

, Santigold, Lightspeed Champion
Lightspeed Champion
Devonté Hynes , better known as Lightspeed Champion or Blood Orange, is a British composer, songwriter, producer and author, who has written for artists such as Florence and the Machine, Diana Vickers and The Chemical Brothers on their 2007 Grammy award winning album We Are The Night...

, and Yo! Majesty. The band was also interested in getting Grace Jones
Grace Jones
Grace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and...

 to add vocals to the new album. The album was released in September 2009. The first single "Raindrops
Raindrops (Basement Jaxx song)
"Raindrops" is a song by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx. It was released on 22 June 2009 as the first single from their fifth studio album, Scars...

" preceded in June 2009. The band recorded at the Bizspace centre in Coldharbour Lane, in Loughborough Junction
Loughborough Junction
Loughborough Junction is an area of South London, in the Borough of Lambeth, which lies on the borderline of Brixton and Camberwell. It is centred at a junction which consists of 6 railway bridges which can all be seen at once from the centre of the junction. Loughborough Junction can be found...

. Basement Jaxx also collaberated with Metropole Orkest in a new album.

Along with Stephen Price, Basement Jaxx scored the 2011 film Attack the Block
Attack the Block
Attack the Block is a 2011 British science fiction action film written and directed by Joe Cornish. The film stars Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard. Set on a council estate in South London on Bonfire night, the film follows a street gang which have...

, and the soundtrack was released on 16 May 2011.

In November 2011, Simon revealed the pair were working on a new album - hinting some tracks were already appearing in their DJ sets.

Discography

Studio albums
  • Remedy (1999)
  • Rooty
    Rooty
    Rooty is the second studio album by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx, released in 2001. The singles released from the album were "Romeo", "Jus 1 Kiss", "Where's Your Head At?", and "Get Me Off". "Do Your Thing" was also released as a single in Australia in 2003, and in the UK in...

    (2001)
  • Kish Kash
    Kish Kash
    Kish Kash is the third studio album by English electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx. It reached number 17 on the UK Albums Chart and won the Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album in 2005.- Track listing :- Singles :...

    (2003)
  • Crazy Itch Radio
    Crazy Itch Radio
    Crazy Itch Radio is the fourth studio album by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx. The album features Linda Lewis and Swedish popstar Robyn among the guest vocalists.- Release history :...

    (2006)
  • Scars
    Scars (Basement Jaxx album)
    Scars is the fifth studio album by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx, released on 21 September 2009. It was preceded by the first single "Raindrops", released on 21 June, while the second single, "Feelings Gone", was also released in the United Kingdom on 21 September...

    (2009)
  • Zephyr
    Zephyr (Basement Jaxx album)
    Zephyr is the sixth studio album by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx, released on December 7, 2009.The group had originally planned on recording a double album, with one album consisting of more ambient and mellow songs and the other traditional dance music tracks...

    (2009)

See also

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

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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