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.