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.
