Basement Jaxx "Scars"

It’s something of a bleak month for house-pop purveyors Basement Jaxx. Having completed their contractual obligations with the release of their fifth album “Scars” this month, they have subsequently been dropped by their record company XL Recordings. 

To add to the pain, only reverence for their previous efforts seems to have stopped critics from completely mauling their latest album. Critical assessment of “Scars” in the music press varies slightly, but nothing I have read credits it with anything other than a mediocre score. Personally I think “Scars” is better than the lacklustre “Crazy Itch Radio” musically and is more reminiscent of the magnificent “Rooty” in feel. “Feelings Gone” and “Raindrops” are particular favourites of mine. 

However, none of this is of consequence when compared to the packaging of the CD. Presented in a folding card slipcase, the leaves are sealed with a sticker that appears to have been designed to be impossible to remove. Stuck down with a kind of Martian Super Glue, this sticker steadfastly refuses to lift without taking most of the sleeve with it. Presumably it is designed to leave ‘scars’ on the sleeve making each copy unique, but ultimately ruined. This sticker is almost as annoying as the seals American import CD’s come with. Anyone who has tried to open an American pressed CD will know the annoyance of the seal running across the top of the jewel box that takes forever to remove and will always leave its sticky residue behind. Just stop doing it! No wonder people buy so many downloads.

A week of remixes

The last week of listening has highlighted the difference between the old ‘extended’ remixes of the eighties and their modern counterparts. The “Big Train” remix of Erasure’s single “A Little Respect” is a good illustration of these differences. Yes, the snare is different and the songs structure has been altered, but essentially the “Big Train Remix” amounts to just a different mix of the original material. The verb ‘remix’ is defined as “to change the relative prominence of each performer’s part of (a recording).” What defines these brilliant mixes of the 1980’s and early 1990’s is that they use the source material to generate a new version of a recording. 

However, in recent years, remixing seems to have become something entirely different to some people. Artists such as The Orb, Aphex Twin and Underworld have contributed remixes that bear little resemblance to the source material. The popularity of the Depeche Mode song “Barrel of a Gun” from 1997 was enhanced by one mix in particular. The “Underworld Hard Mix” began to receive considerable club play on both sides of the Atlantic much to the mystification of the man who wrote the song, Martin Gore: “The original version of “Barrel of a Gun” was about 83 beats per minute. When we receive the “Hard Mix” back from them, we were sitting there thinking: what relevance does this speed bare to ours?” Gore later telephoned members of Underworld and asked, “Is there any chance you can fly some vocals in? Just so it has some relevance. Because there is not one sound of the original version on there?” Gore summarised the remix as: “Different key, different speed, different song!” 

 Sometimes you would be hard pressed to identify the original song from many contemporary remixes. Does anyone actually enjoy this stuff? With the exception of the remix of “Barrel of a Gun” mentioned here; I don’t know of any of this type of ‘remix’ as being popular with listeners. I don’t even like the Underworld remix of “Barrel of a Gun”. One of the biggest criticism I see aimed at remixes is that they are uninteresting and do not add anything to the original. Those of us who enjoy GOOD remixes know just how much difference a remix can make and equally abhor those mixes that bare no resemblance to the original. Some remixers would be better served by noting the definition of what a remix is, and if they do not like the source material, they should turn down the job. Please save me ear drums from the likes of “Liberation (E-smoove 12” Mix)” or “Sentinel (The Orb 7” Remix)”. Please.