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Basement Jaxx, MSTRKRFT & Modeselektor — Friday 11.06.2009 In 1999, the group released their first full length album, Remedy, to wide acclaim. Remedy includes the "Red Alert", "Rendez Vu", "Jump N' Shout", and "Bingo Bango" singles. "Red Alert" was used in a Coca-Cola commercial. Basement Jaxx also released Jaxx Unreleased, a compilation of b-sides, remixes, and other assorted material, in 1999. Their next full length album, 2001's Rooty included singles "Romeo", "Jus 1 Kiss", "Where's Your Head At?", and "Get Me Off". The music video for album opener "Romeo" is a parody of a Bollywood movie. "Where's Your Head At?", which relies on a sample of Gary Numan's "M.E." for its hook, became a huge international hit in 2002 (see 2002 in music) and is perhaps Basement Jaxx's best known song. Traktor's video for "Where's Your Head At?" (monkeys with human faces) has been praised by Mixmag as the best dance music video ever made. Xxtra Cutz was released just 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, Dizzee Rascal, Cotlyn Jackson, J C 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, with a special remix. "Good Luck" is also in the soundtrack of Appleseed, an anime movie 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. In 2005, the duo released The Singles, 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 Singles (Special Edition) was also released, which contained the original compilation, as well as a bonus disc entitled Bonus Traxx, which contained many previously unreleased tracks, as well as some remixes of existing Basement Jaxx songs. 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. They appeared as a headline act on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2005, and they are currently on tour with Robbie Williams and will headline their own UK arena tour this winter. Their most recent album, Crazy Itch Radio, features guest vocals by Grace Jones, David Cassidy, and MC Buttplug. The first single released off of the new album is called "Hush Boy", and it premiered on The Essential Selection on June 30, 2006. More popularly received by the public is the newer single "Take Me Back To Your House" with its entertaining music video, packed with russian dancers. In addition to their own work, Basement Jaxx have become in-demand remixers. Their more prominent work includes "4 My People" by Missy Elliott (which turned the song into a massive chart and club hit), "Like I Love You" by Justin Timberlake and "She Wants to Move" by N.E.R.D. learn more about Basement Jaxx
MSTRKRFT (pronounced ‘Master craft’) is the project of Toronto musician Jesse F. Keeler and studio wizard Al-P, two music-loving dudes who’ve been itching to make people dance as hard as they’ve made them rock. The pair has been collaborating, on and off, since 1998, when Al recorded Jesse’s punk rock band Black Cat #13. Though they went separate routes – Jesse taking a brief break from music, and Al moving to New York where he worked at studios like Sound on Sound and Chung King recording artists as diverse as Jay-Z, Wyclef Jean, and David Clayton Thomas – the friends remained in contact, trading tapes of their individual, unreleased forays into dance music. Al returned to T.O. in December 2001, going on to work at studios including Chemical and his own Kimagure Sound, and becoming one of the city’s hottest go-to men for hip-hop, house, and rock artists alike. His short-lived, self-described “weirdo” project Girls Are Short preceded the current, popular merger of indie rock and electronics, influencing bands including Broken Social Scene who count themselves as fans. Jesse returned to music with the solo punk rock explosion Femme Fatale, enlisting Al-P to record the many singles that ensued. This studio success naturally led to Al’s being at the helm early in 2002 when Jesse was looking for fresh production ideas to compliment his new band, Death From Above 1979, also featuring drummer/vocalist Sebastien Grainger. Jesse and Al worked 15 hours a day in the studio together to complete DFA 79’s You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine, a red-hot masterpiece that fuses the energy of rock and roll with the oomph of disco. Not only did 2004’s You’re A Woman… go on to receive rave reviews from the likes of Pitchfork, MTV, Spin, Chart, Eye, and Playboy.com and spawn hit singles like “Romantic Rights,” and “Black History Month,” it also gave rise to Jesse and Al’s resolve to start their own project. Enter MSTRKRFT, a shit-hot addition to the global community of sonic warriors currently smashing down boundaries between punk, house, hip-hop, grime, electro, and all kinds of electronic experimentation. “What we’re making now, we don’t know what the hell it is, but I know it’s danceable,” says JFK. “We were hanging out in New York with Armand Van Helden the other day, talking about making tracks, and he was like ‘As long as that thump is there, it’s fine and it will appeal to that audience.”
The group members met in 1992 in Berlin with group member Szary performing live acid house music at illegal underground parties. Both soon joined forces and began creating music under the moniker Fundamental Knowledge. In 1996 the group renamed to Modeselektor, a name taken from a function on the Roland RE-201 Space Echo analog delay effects unit. In 1999 Modeselektor signed its first remix contract and began working with Pfadfinderei, a Berlin based VJ and design collective. In 2000 Modeselektor met Ellen Allien, making Bpitch Control their home label. Modeselektor has also been involved in collaborative efforts; Moderat - a musical collaboration between Modeselektor and Apparat, Pfadselektor - a music/visual collaboration between Modeselektor and Pfadfinderei, and with Rhythm & Sound’s Paul St. Hillaire. They have produced sound installations at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and lectured at the Merz Akademie in Stuttgart. Modeselektor is a favourite group of Thom Yorke (Radiohead frontman), who has recommended their albums in interviews and included the song Silikon (from their 2005 LP Hello Mom! and featuring vocalist Sasha Perera) in a publicly available iTunes playlist. The follow-up to Hello Mom! was Happy Birthday! which saw Paul St. Hilaire, TTC, Puppetmastaz, Thom Yorke and Maxïmo Park as guest vocalists. Other collaborators included Otto Von Schirach, Siriusmo, and Apparat. |
