| Basement Jaxx have done with their third album, Kish Kash, what few from the electronic realm have been able to accomplish. Namely, they’ve made a third album.
"It feels kinda lonely out here," says producer Simon Ratcliffe, one half of the Jaxx experience.
"We sort of put out this album and then came to the realization that there aren’t many of us left. We sort of asked, ‘Where is everybody?’ – which led us to wonder if it’s even important for us to be here?"
Ratcliffe is referring to the current death of electronic peers and counterparts. Four years ago, the musical horizon was well populated with upstarts making records. Dance albums were being purchased by the fistful and artists were trotting out their wares around the globe. Currently, the clubs are closing and, as Ratcliffe puts it, "There’s nothing left that is of the scale it was even two years ago." Labels are disappearing and the music community is floundering.
"Of couse you realize it comes in waves, but I mean there’s so little of any of it left, we actually had to consider if there was even a point to what we do?" Ratcliffe says.
Thankfully, the Jaxx found "the point" or at least their point. Kish Kash is one of the few adventurous dance albums to hit the shelves of retailers in some time. What they’ve done, ingeniously, is not reinvent the wheel, but instead rediscover its most base elements.
Kish Kash owes as much to Prince as it does to the many artists that Basement Jaxx have brought into the fold to complete Kish Kash. There is a definite Paisley Park feel about the new material, which is something Ratcliffe has heard often during this latest round of interviews – it’s also something he and fellow producer Felix Buxton are quite proud of.
"We wanted to make something that would harken back to the days of when we were clubbers, something that inspired us," Ratcliffe says. "Prince of course was a big influence back in those days and I guess our appreciation and his influence shows."
Kish Kash, while quoting the purple one, is much more than a Prince tribute album – it advances the genre and the Basement Jaxx formula as well. There’s something uniquely fun about this latest endeavour, which includes an incredibly strong single featuring Bellrays singer Lisa Kekaula. It’s guest appearances like hers (and others) that highlight the album and really give Kish Kash its unique foundation.
"We had in mind ideas to maybe expand the dynamics of our style by bringing in different artists, but most importantly we wanted to broaden our technique, I guess, draw from a larger palette than what we had done before, but still keep the Basement Jaxx ethic and sound."
Kish Kash certainly firms the sonic foundation and formula of Basement Jaxx, while adding something new to their production wizardry. In the process of producing one of the best dance albums of the year, they’ve managed to expand on a genre by bringing back the ethos of a bygone era.
"All in all, it’s a pretty basic approach. We wanted to make an album that was fun. I think it’s a remedy (pun unintended) to what sort of ails the industry, dance music can be fun and at the same time musical," Ratcliffe says. "I don’t think that’s really a huge secret but it’s something that gets overlooked too many times." |
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