The good thing about Simon and Felix is that they’ve never tried to argue that Basement Jaxx are anything other than what you get. Sure they’ve courted the UK charts with the kind of romance usually reserved for teenage crushes and the frantic hand movements of 40 year old virgins but their determination in bagging a hit has never been anything more than transparent; they want a hit and they want it now. As a consequence we’ve had no end of bubblegum and no shortage of turkeys. ‘Romeo’ was fun. ‘Good Luck’ was fractious and ‘Just 1 Kiss’ was just too close to the bottom of the barrel for comfort. Then there’s those flashes of dazzling pop brilliance, the kind where they take something thoroughly unlikely, turn it inside out, run it through a blender, dice it into squares and serve it up as taught and edgy acid-punk (‘Where’s Your Head At’), frothy latin magma (‘Rendez Vu’), buzz-saw ragga ‘(Jump n’Shout) and full-on carnival joy (‘Bingo Bango’). There’s been no end of twists, no end of tools and no end of ideas. The problem for the boys is usually where to stuff them, spoiling us with options and littering their albums with clutter. Solution? Strip it down to the core matrix, the Jaxx’s natural force as terrifyingly prolific underground mixmakers with a bata and a conga to grind. The result? Atlantic Jaxx Recordings Volume 1 and Volume 2 – a place where anything can happen.
Set up initially in 1994 as a means for Basement Jaxx to put their first records out, the compilations give us a chance to review some of the material Simon and Felix have been producing on the label of late –with a half-dozen or so Jaxx orginals by way of a headline. Like any decent party, there’s scores of people you do know, and scores of folk you don’t. Gwyn Jay Allen, heard on previous Jaxx tracks ‘Set Your Body Free’ and ‘Don’t Give Up’ appears here on ‘Betta Daze’ as well as dealing up the silky-smooth self-penned ‘I Love You Babe’. Next up is Sharlene Hector. Have we met her before? We certainly have. She’s toured with the boys for years and she’s sliding across to reintroduce herself with the bossa-bumping ‘Holdin Me’ – a self-written song she was heard singing during a break from recording.
Also on the bill is South London’s Afrofiesta, and Brazil X Plozian, featuring Jaxx percussionist Jorge Batista from Salvador, Brazil on Berimbau, plus Yen Sung, a Lisbon club DJ with a swirling techno remix of ‘Do You’.
For all their sophistication though, one act likely to grab the attention of rock-dance crossover junkies and chart hungry DJs is the geezering punk thrust of ‘Help Myself’ by the Housebreakerz – a trio from Birmingham and London featuring Slarta John of ‘Jump and Shout’. Add to this the Kraftwerkian robotics of the Jaxx’s ‘We’re Computa’ and you a compilation that satisfies just about every pang you’re likely to have for Carnival Jaxx.
A low-key return to form with few unwanted gatecrashers. Party on…