Day 0897 - Remedy

Basement Jaxx "Remedy" (1999)

I love the Jaxx! I don’t own a lot of their albums (a greatest hits and “Crazy Itch Radio”) but I enjoy everything I’ve heard from them and have used them as inspiration for some of my own forays into electronic (pop) music.   So with that in mind, when I saw one of their albums on the list, I was definitely keen to check it out.  I wasn't disappointed.

Jaxx felt that a lot of electronic music was a bit too shiny and superficial, and certainly their music (the 'remedy' to this) seeks to make you shake your thang, but with fun and interesting music with enough hooks to appeal to a broader audience rather than just existing ravers and club-goers.

There's the body-moving "Jump N Shout", the moody triphop of "Always be There" and the electro pop of "Rendez Vu" with its propulsive acoustic guitar break.

The Jaxx quirkiness is on display with the funky "U Can't Stop Me", the twitchy "Bingo Bango" and the chanted chorus of "Same Old Show".

The album ends on a subdued, smooth grooving fingersnapping note with "Being With U" and there's enough of a mix of genres that you don't really come away feeling like there's a single wasted track on the whole thing.

Day 0689 - Peggy Suicide

Julian Cope "Peggy Suicide" (1991) 

  An album from Cope's band Teardrop Explodes features earlier in this list and I did quite enjoy it; likewise, the double-album "Peggy Suicide" is a goodie.  It does suffer from that old double-album affliction of 'track fatigue', and not every song is memorable, but the sheer breadth of musical ground covered is impressive.  

I love artists who (particularly when they go solo) take the approach of just throwing everything at the wall, rather than limiting themselves musically, particularly if they have the ability to do so.

I'll say what I said with Teardrop Explodes: if another album by Cope pops up on the list, I won't be unhappy.