Basement Jaxx

Basement Jaxx are an English electronic music duo consisting of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe. The pair got their name from the regular night club they held in Brixton, London, UK. They first rose to popularity in the mid 1990s. As the "British Hit Singles & Albums" book duly noted "they surfaced from the underground house scene, are regular transatlantic club chart-toppers and won the BRIT Award for Best Dance Act in 2002 and 2004".
History.
1992–98: Formation.
In 1992, Simon Ratcliffe began releasing white label records which sold well and gained attention from several music producers including LTJ Bukem and Goldie. The success of these releases enabled him to buy a few electronic musical instruments and set up a basic studio in a friend’s mother’s basement.
Ratcliffe and Buxton first met in 1993 in a pub in Clapham, London through a mutual friend and bonded over an appreciation of New York house music. They released their first extended play called "EP1" via the British independent record label Wall of Sound, with the help of its founder Mark Jones. The album went on to sell over 1,000 copies and was played on American radio by Tony Humphries in New York City.
Basement Jaxx started in Brixton, South London, in 1994, where they held a regular club night called Basement Jaxx, which was also held in a variety of venues including The George IV, The Crypt and The Junction. They were joined by DJs including DJ Sneak, Daft Punk, and singer Corrina Joseph. They mutated the night into an equally popular club called Rooty, the namesake of their second album. Initially the duo considered "Underground Oasis" as a name for the group, but the idea was scrapped reportedly after a friend "who was involved in the music scene" told them of a similarly-named rock band that might "get big".
An important milestone for the beginning of Basement Jaxx's career was when they served as the opening act for successful French dance group Daft Punk's Daftendirektour when Daft Punk played their first performances in the UK. It was around this time that Basement Jaxx began collaborating with vocalist Corrina Joseph, a collaboration that resulted in the single, "Fly Life", which was released by Virgin Records in 1997. Following the success of "Fly Life", the duo signed a record deal with XL, with whom they released their subsequent six albums.
1999–2001: "Remedy".
In 1999, the group released their first full-length album, "Remedy". "Remedy" included the single "Red Alert", which was featured in the film "Bend It Like Beckham" as well as Nickelodeon and Coca-Cola commercials. Other singles on this album were "Jump N' Shout", "Bingo Bango", and "Rendez-Vu", which is Basement Jaxx's highest UK Singles Chart entry to date, at number 4. Basement Jaxx also released "Jaxx Unreleased", a compilation album of B-sides, remixes, and other assorted material, in 1999. 2000 saw them release "Camberwell", another release of new material.
2001–2004: "Rooty".
Their next album, 2001's "Rooty" included singles "Romeo", "Jus 1 Kiss", "Where's Your Head At?", "Do Your Thing", and "Get Me Off". The music video for album opener "Romeo" is an homage to the Bollywood film style. "Where's Your Head At?" became an international hit in 2002, also known for its inclusion on the "" soundtrack. "Do Your Thing" was included in the video game "SSX 3". "Xxtra Cutz" was released shortly after "Rooty", containing B-sides from the album's singles. "Span Thang" and "Junction", two EPs, were released in 2001–2002.
Basement Jaxx decided to close the Rooty club in May 2001 after it became "too popular."
2003–05: "Kish Kash" and "The Singles".
In 2003, Basement Jaxx released their third full-length album, "Kish Kash", which included contributions from Lisa Kekaula (of the Bellrays), Me'shell Ndegeocello, Dizzee Rascal, Totlyn Jackson, JC Chasez, Siouxsie Sioux, and Phoebe. From this album, the tracks "Lucky Star", "Good Luck", and "Plug It In" were released as singles. The track "Good Luck" was re-released in 2004, after exposure from being the theme to BBC's Euro 2004 coverage, and was also featured in the soundtrack of "Just Married" and "Appleseed", an anime film released in 2004. "Kish Kash" was recognised the following year at the 47th Grammy Awards, winning Buxton and Ratcliffe the inaugural Best Electronic/Dance Album award.
Basement Jaxx's manager, Andrew Mansi, says Astralwerks chose not to renew its U.S. licensing contract with the duo.
The duo produced "Shake It", a song from JC Chasez's "Schizophrenic".
In 2005, the duo released the number 1 compilation "The Singles" along with a video collection on DVD, comprising all the singles from their previous three albums, some earlier releases (featured on "Atlantic Jaxx Recordings: A Compilation"), and two new tracks, "Oh My Gosh" and "U Don't Know Me", which were both released as singles. "The Singles (Special Edition)" was also released, which contained the original compilation along with a bonus disc entitled "Bonus Traxx", containing many previously unreleased tracks, as well as remixes of existing Basement Jaxx songs. The duo appeared as a headline act on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2005 when Kylie Minogue was forced to pull out after being diagnosed with cancer. Basement Jaxx played with a live band made up of artists who recorded the album. Drumtech-trained Nathan 'Tugg' Curran was on drums for Glastonbury and has remained a constant performer.
2006–2010: "Crazy Itch Radio" and "Scars".
Their fourth studio album, "Crazy Itch Radio", was released on 4 September 2006 in the UK, simultaneously with its first single, "Hush Boy". The album featured guest vocals by Martina Sorbara (credited as "Martina Bang"), Lily Allen, and Robyn. In 2006, Basement Jaxx were also one of the support acts for Robbie Williams on his 'Close Encounters' tour. For Cyndi Lauper's "Bring Ya to the Brink" in 2008, they produced and wrote the track "Rocking Chair". They also released a trilogy of EPs of new material, entitled "Planet".
In 2009, Buxton revealed in a BBC Radio 1 broadcast that Basement Jaxx's forthcoming album "Scars" was completed and being mastered. Buxton stated that the tracks include guest appearances by Yoko Ono, Santigold, Lightspeed Champion, and Yo! Majesty. The band was also interested in getting Grace Jones to add vocals to the new album. The album was released in September 2009. The first single "Raindrops" preceded it in June 2009. The band recorded at the Bizspace centre in Coldharbour Lane, in Loughborough Junction.
Also in 2009, their album "Zephyr" was released.
In 2010, the duo released the non-album single "Dracula".
2011–present: "Attack the Block" and "Junto".
2011 saw the duo collaborating twice: with Metropole Orkest in for the live album "Basement Jaxx vs. Metropole Orkest", and also with Stephen Price for the soundtrack to the 2011 film "Attack the Block".
In November 2011, Simon revealed the pair were working on a new album – hinting that some tracks were already appearing in their DJ sets. At their first live show for several years at Chiswick House Festival in July 2012, the band performed some new material from their forthcoming album including the song "Diamonds". Possible tracks that were predicted to appear on the album according to Pitchfork include "Make.Believe", "Let's Rock this Road Together", "Back 2 the Wild", "We R Not Alone", "Galactical", "Power 2 The People", "Mermaid of Salinas", "People of Planet Earth" and "What a Difference Your Love Makes". The band ran a contest through graphic design firm JDO, where the band will use the graphic identity (including the album and single artwork designs) that the winner created for their upcoming album and consequent promotional items.
"Back 2 the Wild" was released as a single on 12 April 2013, with an accompanying video co-directed by Matt Maitland and Natalia Stuyk being uploaded to their YouTube account on 16 April, though the single ultimately did not appear on the upcoming album.
"What a Difference Your Love Makes" was released as a single on 30 September 2013. The single's accompanying video was released on Vevo on 7 August 2013. It was directed by Damian Weilers and shot in South Africa. On 1 May 2014, Basement Jaxx released a new song for the album called "Unicorn" on SoundCloud.
On 19 May 2014, Basement Jaxx officially announced their seventh album, "Junto", which was released on 25 August 2014 through Atlantic Jaxx and PIAS. In July, the duo released the first lead single off the album, "Never Say Never". The music video, directed by Saman Kesh, is about the development of a "twerking" robot that is intended to save humanity from a world without dancing and features the robotic prototype simulation of human buttocks "Shiri" developed by the Japanese scientist Nobuhiro Takahashi.
Other projects.
In addition to their own work, Basement Jaxx have become in-demand remixers. Their more prominent work includes remixes of "4 My People" by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, "Everyman… Everywoman…" by Yoko Ono, "Like I Love You" by Justin Timberlake, and "She Wants to Move" by N.E.R.D, which was included as a B-side on the follow-up single "Maybe." They also collaborated with Janet Jackson on unreleased songs for her "Damita Jo" album. Sophie Ellis-Bextor, as well as The Botz and Garold Marks, have stated they are fans and would like to collaborate with Basement Jaxx in the future.
The duo were invited to write an exclusive piece of music to accompany a work of art they admired in London's Tate Modern museum, Karel Appel's "Hip, Hip, Hoorah!". The work was initially not available for sale, but later appeared on the album "Zephyr". In 2007, their track "Close Your Eyes", sung by Linda Lewis, was featured in the Japanese CGI anime movie "Vexille".
Felix Buxton appeared on "Never Mind the Buzzcocks" on 23 September 2013 – the opening episode of Series 27, on Noel Fielding's team.
In 2019, the duo composed the music for the CITV animated series "The Rubbish World of Dave Spud". The duo also collaborated with The Sydney Metropolitan Orchestra for a live re-imagining of some of their classic songs.
In 2021, they composed the title music for the CBeebies series "What's On Your Head?".
Musical style.
In the past, Buxton's father did not let him watch "Top of the Pops" and played his children Austrian music and Japanese music instead. "He was always very proud of that we didn't watch "Top of the Pops". [...] He thought that made me hungry and want it more," he said. He was a big fan of American house music, which was difficult to get hold of in his hometown at the time. "I used to listen to Choice FM where the legends of the scene could be heard and went to Blackmarket Records in London’s Soho to try and find the sounds I was looking for."
Basement Jaxx's music has been described variously as house and big beat over the course of their career. Prince's influence has also been found on their music. "I remember when we first came to America, they had to work out which radio stations we could go to," Buxton says. "They said that in a way we were a bit for urban stations, we were a bit for pop stations. They didn’t know where to place us and things were very segregated back then."
Awards and nominations.
Antville Music Video Awards
Billboard Music Awards
Brit Awards
D&AD Awards
DanceStar Awards
Denmark GAFFA Awards
GQ Awards
! Ref.
Groovevolt Music and Fashion Awards
International Dance Music Awards
Ivor Novello Awards
Kiss Awards
MTV Europe Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards Japan
MVPA Awards
NME Awards
PLUG Awards
Popjustice 20 Quid Music Prize
Q Awards
UK Music Video Awards
Viva Comet Awards