Basement Jaxx Remedy CD

On REMEDY, Basement Jaxx do for house music what the Chemical Brothers did for techno. By utilizing infectious, accessible song structures and incorporating a sense of musical history, the group brings house to the masses without dumbing it down. In the larger sense, REMEDY can be seen as a thumbnail primer on electronic dance music. Everything from '70s-derived vocoder tricks to late-'80s club beats and hard-funk synth bass is used to cook up a varied, flavorful sonic stew. REMEDY's room-shaking grooves will find a place in the hearts of hardcore house heads as well as anyone with a taste for state-of-the-art dance music.

A set of incredibly diverse tracks, 'Remedy' is indebted to the raw American house of Todd Terry and Masters at Work, and even shares the NuYoricans' penchant for Latin vibes (especially on the horn-driven 'Bingo Bango' and the opener, 'Rendez-Vu,' which trades a bit of salsa wiggle with infectious vocoderized disco). 15 tracks, including 'Red Alert' and 'Rendez-Vu', on this Astralwerks release.

Personnel: DJ Sneak, Patsi, Alma Duah, Brett, Junior Sanchez, Monday Michiru, Slarta John, Yvonne John Lewis, Blue James (vocals); Alexander Telnikoff (violin); KRS-One (keyboards, sampler); Hugo Delmirani (keyboards); Locksmith, The Selecter (sampler); Roland Clarke, Cassie Watson, KDL Allstars, Nyna, Gwyn Jay Allen (background vocals).

Unknown Contributor Role: Cassie Watson.

Basement Jaxx: Felix Burton, Simon Ratcliffe (vocals, various instruments).

Additional personnel: Alma "The Soul" Duah, Slarta John, Blue James, Yvonne John-Lewis, Junior Sanchez, Patsi & Brett, DJ Sneak, Monday Michiru, DJ Gemini (vocals); Alexander Telnikoff (violin); Cassie Watson, Gwyn Jay Allen, Roland Clarke, Jorges & Nina (background vocals).

Rolling Stone (8/19/99, p.112) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[Basement Jaxx's] wackiness is too damn funky....REMEDY radiates a perso-nal vibe that no program could produce....This is house music that works at home."
Spin (9/99, p.142) - Ranked #45 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."
Entertainment Weekly (8/20-27/99, p.128) - "...REMEDY shines a thousand points of light down on the dance floor with shimmering jams....This blissful joy ride is hard to resist and easy to love." - Rating: A
Q (1/00, p.83) - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1999."
Alternative Press (9/99, p.92) - 5 out of 5 - "...Somehwere on this album, Basement Jaxx have created a song that you're going to love, no matter what sort of music you listen to....the mere existence of REMEDY shows hope for modern music's future."
Magnet (8-9/99, p.68) - "...REMEDY is a potent...slice of high-speed urbanity set to a backbeat of dizzying, rhythmic uncertainty....They only remind you that the optimism is no longer in belief, but in surprise."
The Wire (1/00, p.67) - Included in Wire Magazine's "50 Records Of The Year ['99]"
The Wire (6/99, p.54) - "...a roaring success....[REMEDY] is an insultingly accomplished work....Some tracks will go down a bomb on the dancefloor..."
Muzik (1/00, p.69) - Ranked #1 in Muzik's "Albums Of The Year '99"
Muzik (4/9, p.83) - 5 stars (out of 5) - "...REMEDY is like: listening to the best pirate radio station you've ever chanced upon, then spinning the dial and finding something even more exciting..."
CMJ (1/10/00, p.5) - Ranked #17 in CMJ's "Top 30 Editorial Picks [for 1999]."
Melody Maker (5/8/99, p.44) - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...repeatedly, and durably, synthesises those notoriously unstable dance music elements; the dizzying dancefloor rush and the complex, long-lasting emotional hit....deft and obvoiously heartfelt....Truly great."
Mojo (Publisher) (1/00, p.30) - Ranked #29 in Mojo Magazine's "Best of 1999"
NME (Magazine) (5/8/99, p.41) - 9 out of 10 - "...as good a dance album...as anyone from [Britain] has produced in decades....It's a wonderful new frequency where house, ragga, techno, soul, funk...Jesus, flamenco are all mashed together and it feels like some kind of perfect moment..."