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Album Review
by SashaS
20-10-2003
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| Basement Jaxx: CD of the week - to buy! |
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Basement Jaxx: 'Kish Kash'
(XL Recordings)
Basement Jaxx: songs to ‘Soul Punx Unite’ music lovers
It’s been claimed frequently that club scene is dead and, if that’s the case, long live Basement Jaxx! When we thought the end is inexorable, back in step B-Jaxx to deliver an album that is a sheer aural regeneration! Eclectic, funky, soulful, punky, brave, full of delightful sounds and superb guests… We know because we’ve been living with this CD for several weeks and it’s been constant soundtrack to our congestion charged driving around London.
‘Kish Kish’ is the third album Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe have made and it’s shifted the standard bearing to some implausible levels. Taking punk, funk, electro and northern soul into the mixture to produce an astonishing album with passion, energy, beats and enough fuel to vibrate your whole body. It is so now, it is a blueprint for the future.
There are 14 tracks here and singling any out would be unjust to the rest because the entire album works like a dream. Thus, the guests on the album are Lisa Kekaula (of Rock’n’Soul outfit The Bellrays from Los Angeles) who launches the listening pleasure with ‘Good Luck’; nu-soul diva Meshell Ndegécello gets really p-funky on ‘Right Here’s The Spot’ (also handling the concluding ‘Feels Like Home’), the Mercury Music winning rap-artist Dizzee Rascal (although the twosome claim that it was cut a year before the Prize triumph) on the lead single ‘Lucky Star’.
The biggest surprise here is the former N’Sync member JC Chasez whom no one (apart this two whom were asked to produce his solo work) expected to deliver an ace take on Prince to equal/rival Justin Timberlake’s Michael Jackson obsession; if ‘Plug It In’ does not move you, your feelings need new power-cells. The punkiest-of-babes, Siouxie Sioux (of The Banshees and The Creatures), provides vox on cyber-punky ‘Cish Cash’; she is the one who suggested they change the title’s spelling to K’s; by the way, ‘kishka’ means stomach in Hebrew. Guts, bro, guts!
The Jaxx’s duo spoke of wanting Missy Elliott to guest on the album to provide even more variety but the lady failed to reply to their message and a tape sent. It could have been nice but she is not really crucial – this is as varied as you can imagine. The faux-coat-of-arms on the cover declares ‘Soul Punx Unite’ and it is an accurate précis. And as good as… f-f-f-frustration that is cured by a brill shag.
On the same day The Strokes release an album to save us from… well, whatever, I’d nominate this disc the best buy of the week!
9/10
SashaS
14-2-2005
The Basement Jaxx album ‘Kish Kash’ is released 20 October 2003 on XL Recordings
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