New Basement Jaxx

Remedy and Rooty made me boogie when I saw them 'played' live, BTW.

Ronan I think that the point is that the songs are manic *and* totally natural sounding grooves. The entire project of the three albums taken in succession is "how far away from a conventional house groove can we push this and still make people dance like it *is* a conventional house groove even though it's not?" I think this is particularly obvious you compare the singles from each album.

If the Jaxx actually went overboard into totally non-groovy wackiness (it could happen, although in fact I'm half expecting their next album to be relatively straightforward for some reason) it would actually be a bit like what Reynolds describes Kish Kash as being.

As is common with really good dance producers, the duo treat their choice of "genre" like a rubberband, stretching it as far as it can go without snapping. You can feel the tension created in the music, and it's that, coupled with the realisation that this rubberband really should have snapped by now, which makes the music so exciting. Obviously once the band does snap though all the tension is lost (presumably see The Love Below here - I've yet to hear it).

one question i have for those who seem to be setting up an opposition between the wackiness and the groove element -- it seems to me that here the wackiness is an essential constituent of the groove itself; it's stitched right into each song's fabric rather than being stacked on top of it like so many jenga pieces. which is part of the reason why i find this album so enthralling. it's the gift that keeps on giving.

Mind you Ned, that was kinda amusing. 'Fells Like Home' as the blueprint for BJ4, haha.

He didn't much like Rooty either, apart from "Get Me Off" and "Where's Your Head At" (ie. the most straightforward grooves on the album). Maybe he just prefers the Jaxx really stripped back.

i was listening to kish kash on the way home and getting very, very excited about seeing them again. it's going to be even betten than it was two years ago, i think.

I've never seen the Jaxx before... can't possibly afford to miss out on this!

I'm still feeling this album's only POSSIBLE reward is maximalism but I must confess that parts of "Plug It In" are stickin' with me now (the title track too and I've GOT to hear the Rascal album). I guess me and Reynolds agree that Jaxx's pop songs are more invigorating then their maximalism. Though you're definitely right that it's more Clinton and Prince (though Jaxx could stand to incorporate a little more Bootsy).

While I think JC does a great job on his song, I don't know if Jaxx would make good producers for him. Timberlake was in a situation where the producers accidently made him their bitch by providing beats he didn't have the presence to ride confidently. Jaxx seem like they WANT to make the singers their bitches on this album, treating them like just another button to press (and it's not like they need more buttons to press). But people enjoying this as maximalism for maximalism's sake makes a LOT more sense to me than some of the other arguments do.

I'm gonna disagree with you, Anthony. I think they happily make the singers their bitches because it's their album and their name on the cover. I'm sure they'd see the difference when actually producing for someone else. And I do think JC has some notable presence on my fave Kish Kash track.

And I'm kinda sure you might get a little opposition to your reading of Justified. Personally, I don't quite see it as an artist album - anyone can see JT had a lot of input in the finished work. Still, you're basically asking Dan and Ned to start up again...

*whistles idly*

But yeah, I'm sure Jaxx tone it down a bit on the albums they produce for other people. It's just I think they should tone it down on their own albums too. Producers saying their own names repeatedly on their own albums is still annoying, if less overbearing in principle than when they're producing someone else.

The funny thing is that you inadvertantly reinforced why both Dan and I dislike the album so much!

-- Ned Raggett (ne...), September 7th, 2003.

The 'you feel' bit of that post is hypothetical in case you thought I might have been intepreting your thoughts for you. Basically, it was sayin' somethin' like -

Pharell: "I want you to sound like Michael Jackson"

JT - "Why the hell not? But only if I can say "drums!" on one track and impersonate a woman."

Anyway, in my head JC and BJaxx have the same idyllic relationship Richard X and Javine have or (in reality) Donna and Giorgio, Bangalter and Guy-Man/Falcon, Michael with Quincy (and sanity), Cornelius and Kahimi and Prince had with reality.

Looking at this line from the original press release that started this thread, I prefer a rewording to 'a much needed slop in the chaps.'