Don’t forget to rate the album at the end of the review.
Basement Jaxx
Scars
Ultra Records
out October 6th
68/100
[Rating Scale]
Basement Jaxx are, at this point, an old group, as strange as that sounds. 2009’s Scars comes a full decade after the duo burst onto the dance music scene with Remedy, a longevity matched by few artists in today’s blog-and-youtube-and-download music culture. At this point, Basement Jaxx are pretty set in their ways – they got this far on the strength of quirky, vocal-centric house music that samples the instrumentation and character of R&B, funk, and more, while keeping it all unabashedly pop, and they’re not gonna change now. That said, there’s a reason Basement Jaxx are still putting out albums in 2009, and that’s because, although they have a formula, it’s a damn good one.
Scars is thus an exercise in execution – Basement Jaxx aren’t reinventing the wheel, just looking for a smooth ride. For the most part then, Scars is a success – these thirteen tracks are catchy, danceable, and thoroughly entertaining, if not ground-breaking. Starting off with the title track, Scars is a bit steadier than its predecessors – the beat thumping along throughout its 52 brisk minutes. It just feels like the product of an established, mature group; a polished, crisp sounding album. Continue reading →
Basement Jaxx make quirky house music, and the bass bumping throughout new track “My Turn” certainly won’t challenge the assumption. That said, “My Turn” isn’t just a banger to drop on the late night. Although Basement Jaxx tracks can sometimes feel like the guest vocalist is there just to be there, Devonte Hynes (a.k.a. Lightspeed Champion) really touches the heart strings with his vocals, and they never feel extraneous or cheesy.
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