See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang, Yeah. City All Over! Go Ape Crazy

Yipes! Basement Jaxx have suddenly appeared out of nowhere with a new single. Back 2 the Wild premiered tonight on Annie Mac's Radio One show and, while it's not Red Alert or Romeo, it's a huge shot of adrenaline for the moribund UK dance scene. Shouty, noisy and totally over-the-top, it's everything a Basement Jaxx single should be.

According to the official Soundcloud page, Back 2 The Wild is "a superheavyweight groove that's still catchy as hell, incorporating roaring lions, tribal horns recorded in Kenya and vocals by two Korean Seoul* Sisters Miss Emma Lee & Baby Chay". Pitchfork reckons this is a one-off, but the label says the band have a "batch of brand new material". So there you go.

Eother way, welcome back Felix and that other dude. It's lucky you got this out two days before the Daft Punk single, or you'd have been sunk.



* Do you see what they did there?

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Ke-listen to this

First, some facts.

Kelis = amazing
Basement Jaxx = amazing
Chipmunk = not so amazing
Kelis + Basement Jaxx - Chipmunk = still pretty amazing

Second, some music:


That's Scars, the serpentine title track from Basement Jaxx's forthcoming album. Jaxx may no longer be the sound of the future, but they're still more current than George Alagiah frenching the Greenwich Time Signal.

As you may have guessed, the lead vocalist is Kelis, one of the great unsung heroes of modern pop. Despite a limited vocal range, she can slip believably into any character - whether it be scary, sweet or slutty - and deliver a performance that's as individual as a Kraft cheese slice. We love her and you should too.

The full Jaxx song can be found on their MySpace page, with the album available to buy on 21st September. Ta-ra.

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New video frenzy

There are so many new videos floating around today that you could be forgiven for thinking everyone had come back from their summer holidays and remembered that they make music for a living. But it's probably just a coincidence, right? Right?

In descending order of brilliance, then.

1) Eels - The Look You Give That Guy
In which Mark Oliver Everett is jealous of his dog because it is getting lots of attention from Salman Rushdie's wife. The final scene is one of the most digusting things you will ever see.



2) Radiohead at the Reading Festival
They do a (practically unrecognisable) cover of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Maps, sollowed by a stunning version of Everything In Its Right Place. I will never tire of this song.

Radiohead - Everything In Its Right Place


3) Madonna - Celebration
The weird dance remix suggests this won't be the last video we see for this song, but the bit where Lourdes is dressed up like her mum in the Like A Virgin days made us do an "awwww", followed by a "ewwww".



4) The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
Essentially a cool, indie version of I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper.

Like Passion Pit, the Temper Trap have used the formula "emotion + hole in the ground" to invent a band name. We're looking forward to their forthcoming world tour woth Rage Chasm, Exasperated Trench and Happy Shaft. The t-shirts will be awesome.

The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition


5) Basement Jaxx & Sam Sparro - Feelings Gone
As the guys Hard Candy pointed out, this looks like an episode of 80s children's TV classic Button Moon, only with worse music.

Basement Jaxx - Feelings Gone


6) Kylie - Chiggy Wiggy
This one is just weird. Really, really weird.

Kylie - Chiggy Wiggy (from the Bollywood movie Blue)

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New video: Basement Jaxx - Raindrops

To paraphrase John Milton, "Copy from one, it's plagiarism; copy from twenty, it's Basement Jaxx". The London duo have spent 15 years throwing their record collection into a giant dance cement mixer* and seeing what comes out.

In the past, the results have been jaw-droppingly fantastic - from the technicolour pyrotechnics of Red Alert to the Brixton bhangra of Lucky Star. On 2006's Flamenco-flavoured album Crazy Itch Radio, however, the formula faltered. The majority of the album was as weak and uninspired as the fake radio station interludes that linked the tracks.

It's hard to decide whether the group's new single, Raindrops, is a return to form. It has the melodic strength of their biggest hits - Good Luck and Rendez Vu - and a great, androgynous vocal from Felix Buxton. But, for the first time, the cut'n'paste asthetic seems a little tired, especially when compared to the discordant genius of MIA and the straightforward aural assault of Calvin Harris.

The album - Scars - could be interesting, though. Confirmed guests include Yoko Ono, Santigold, Lightspeed Champion and Yo! Majesty, and there's rumours of a Grace Jones cameo, too. We won't get to hear it 'til September, though.

So, in the meantime, here's the video for Raindrops:

Basement Jaxx - Raindrops

* Note to Basement Jaxx: We would like to see this prop on your next tour.

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Meanwhile, another soul singer has a video, too...

After the genius of Duffy's video, here is the so-so new one from Adele - which only raises the question "didn't you used to be in Hollyoaks".

Adele - Cold Shoulder


In complete contrast, the Basement Jaxx remix of this song is one of the best things I've heard all month. It's streaming over on their Myspace page.

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MP3 Frenzy

A new collection of music for your portable media player of choice.

The Killers - When You Were Young
This song is so good. From the 80's riff, to the major chord resolution in the final chorus - the whole thing is pant-wettingly wonderful. If you download this, you still have to buy it when it comes out, okay?

Basement Jaxx - Hush Boy
The first single from the London dance act's new album, Crazy Itch Radio. Going back to their Jackson Sisters-sampling early days, this is the sound of a carnival in your earphones. It even rhymes fajita with margarita. Genius.

Peter, Bjorn and John - Young Folks
This Swedish band have achieved the impossible - they've recorded a song where the chorus is whistled, and it's not even remotely irritating. It features Victoria Bergman, who walked out of The Concretes last year, and has some crazy-ass bongo slapping at the end. I like bongos, me.

Janet Jackson featuring Khia - So Excited
This is a great club stomper, replete with scratches and thumping orchestra hits. A massive improvement on Call On Me, praise the lord.

By the way - German Janet fansite Janet World has posted the official promo photos for Janet's new album, 20 Years Old, and she's looking quite beautiful (ie she has kept her top on for once). The gallery is here

Beyoncé - Ring The Alarm
There are rumours Beyoncé's dad/manager wants the record company to delay the release of her sophomore album, B'day, after underwhelming critical response. Apparently, there's a Shakira duet he wants to put on there. How odd. In any case, the album will sell by the bucketload even if it's decidedly mediocre. This song, the second single, is Kelis-style shouty brilliance and is not mediocre at all.

Kelis - Goodbyes
Speaking of which, here's a Dr Dre-produced track from the singer's fourth album, Kelis Was Here. It's nothing like the deranged single Bossy (see the video here). This melancholic summery ballad is a surefire single. Maybe she'll survive her split from the Neptunes after all?

Outkast featuring Khujo Goodie - N2U
One of my favourite tracks from the Atlanta duo's new album - which is the soundtrack to their film, Idlewild. A quick listen to the CD's interludes reveal the film will be a cocktail of corny jokes, bad acting and unbelievable misogyny. The music, however, is sublime.

Robbie Williams - Rudebox (Dirty Radio Edit)
It's still awful, but I keep listening to it. What's that all about, then?

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Video of the week: Oh My Gosh

Ah, Basement Jaxx. They of the eclectic beats and samples. Darlings of the critics, and keepers of the flame of dance music, except with a tune, and that.

They're undoubtedly one of the best live acts you could ever hope to see - capturing in flesh the manic, kaleidoscopic, multiculturalism of their music.

And yet, for a band with such visual flair, their videos are mostly hopeless. Directors trying to match the unfettered invention of the songs are hampered by restrictive budgets and that curse of all dance promos: uncharismatic front-men.

There are precisely two good Basement Jaxx videos. Romeo is a pastiche of Bollywood dance sequences and Oh My Gosh, featured here, shows a day in the life of a retirement 'village'.

The action centres around singer Vula Malinga's flirtation with another resident. She has some superb comic timing, which gives the clip real personality, and the real-life pensioners who make up the extras get to handle the backing vocals, which is a wonderful touch.

It's directed by Matt Kirkby, who has also helmed videos for Keane and Jamiroquai amongst others. Most of his work has a comic twist or inventive motif. Perhaps the most memorable is for Markus Nikolai's "Bushes", in which a fixed camera records the faces of several women having their first bikini wax (you can see it on youtube).

This one, though, will make you chuckle while tapping your feet. Which is a much nicer feeling, don't you think?

Buy Basement Jaxx's greatest hits DVD

By the way, Keli left a comment a couple of weeks ago asking for 187 Lockdown's "Kung Fu" to be featured as a video of the week. I don't have that one in my collection - but if anyone's got it, drop me a line and I'll try to get it up here!

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Retarded

Ahhh, the Grammys. There are only 179 categories, so there's a tiny tiny chance your favourite artists might not be "honoured".

You could cut the tension with a spork.

Last night the phenomenally dull Usher won 85 separate awards, or something. And Prince got a nod for still being alive (some people had forgotten).

However, Basement Jaxx & Britney got gongs, so it wasn't all bad.

Actually, it was all bad. The Black Eyed Peas were voted Best Rap Performance for "Let's Get It Started", which contains the year's worst lyrics:

Inch by inch,
with a new solution.
Transmit hips,
with no delusion.

Why, Lord? Why?

GRAMMY.com

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Golly, Gee, Wow

I heard the fantastic new Basement Jaxx single on Radio 1 about a fortnight ago, only to have Zane Lowe tell me I had to wait til March 14th to actually own it.



Luckily, I have found a illegal download preview of the song on the internet, which will keep my ipod happy for the weeks to come.

Fluxblog: Basment Jaxx

Basment Jaxx website

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Best Polka nominees

The nominations for next year's Grammys are out, with the usual 24736 categories. Highlights have to be "Best packaging", "Best album that is at least 51% instrumental" and the hotly-contested "Best Polka". Although I suppose there's still nothing as shameful as the MOBO's Best Ringtone award.



Good to see Basement Jaxx, Franz Ferdinand and Joss Stone getting recognized, though.

47th Grammy awards

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