Basement Jaxx
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Electronic, Dance, UK garage
Years active	1994–present
Label(s)	XL Recordings, Astralwerks
Website	http://www.basementjaxx.co.uk
Members
Simon Ratcliffe Felix Buxton

Basement Jaxx is a critically acclaimed UK electronic dance music duo, comprising Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, that rose to popularity in the late 1990s.

History

Basement Jaxx started in Brixton, South London in 1994, where they held a regular club night called Rooty, the namesake of their second artist album.

In 1999, the group released their first full length album, Remedy to wide acclaim. Remedy includes the single "Red Alert", which was featured in the film Bend It Like Beckham and commercials including Nickelodeon and Coca-Cola. Other singles on this album were "Jump N' Shout", "Bingo Bango" and "Rendez Vu", which is Basement Jaxx's highest UK chart entry to date at number 4. Basement Jaxx also released Jaxx Unreleased, a compilation of b-sides, remixes and other assorted material, in 1999.

Cover of Rooty

Their next full length 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 a parody of the Bollywood film style. "Where's Your Head At?" became a huge international hit in 2002, due in large part to its inclusion on the Tomb Raider soundtrack, and is perhaps Basement Jaxx's best known song, with a video praised by Mixmag as the best dance music video ever made. Xxtra Cutz was released shortly after Rooty, containing b-sides from this album's singles.

2003 brought Basement Jaxx's third full length album, Kish Kash, which included contributions from Lisa Kekaula (of the Bellrays), Me'shell Ndegeocello, grime MC Dizzee Rascal, Totlyn Jackson, JC Chasez, Siouxsie Sioux (of Siouxsie & the Banshees), 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 recognized the following year at the 47th Grammy awards, winning Buxton and Ratcliffe the inaugural Best Electronic/Dance Album award.

Cover of Crazy Itch Radio

In 2005, the duo released the #1 compilation The Singles along with a video collection on DVD, comprising of 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 video for "U Don't Know Me" featured a drunken, carousing and violent Queen Elizabeth II lookalike and was banned from daytime rotation on MTV. 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.

Their fourth studio album, Crazy Itch Radio, was released on September 4, 2006 in the UK, simultaneously with its first single, "Hush Boy". The album features guest vocals by Martina Bang, Johnny Blaze, Lily Allen on "Lights Go Down", and Robyn. After the release of "Hey U" as a single in March 2007, they will begin work on their fifth album, which may be released on Atlantic Jaxx Recordings.

In addition to their own work, Basement Jaxx have become in-demand remixers. Their more prominent work includes "4 My People" by Missy Elliott, "Like I Love You" by Justin Timberlake and "She Wants to Move" by N.E.R.D.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has stated she is a fan and would like to collaborate with Basement Jaxx in the future.

Discography

Main article: Basement Jaxx Discography

See also

• List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

External links

• Basement Jaxx on Discogs
• Official website
• Basement Jaxx's Myspace
• txjaxx's Basement Jaxx Fansite
• Basement Jaxx Forums
• Basement Jaxx Latest album special site