Drowned in Sound

Search

Home > Reviews > Albums

basement jaxx - kish kash

Basement Jaxx: Kish Kash

no votes
? by Christopher Lloyd
Basement Jaxx albums have always been eclectic affairs; a bit of ragga, a bit of pop, the energy of punk - combined elements that made the band so initially exciting.

Sadly, the correct tense is 'made', because their latest offering 'Kish Kash', whilst still suitably eclectic, struggles to offer the same level of excitement that previous Jaxx albums provided.

It starts off well: 'Good Luck' has all the elements of a classic track by the Brixton duo, containing lurching basslines and stabbing synths, with the newly added element of strings; an ingredient that usually screams ‘pretentiousness' but in the Jaxx's hands proves otherwise. 'Right Here's the Spot' too, is stormingly typical of them, and is a song that could've sat easily on previous album 'Remedy'. Throw in single 'Lucky Star', (the album's highlight) which is five minutes of Arabic techno rap mayhem and it's so far so good. After that, however, things go somewhat awry. Both 'Supersonic' and 'If I Ever Recover' are dreary fillers, comprising of four-four beats and grating vocals, whilst 'Hot and Cold' sees Felix Buxton take on vocal duties to create what's akin to a badly mangled Prince number...

There are a few more glimmers of an upturn in the shape of 'Tonight' and 'Cish Cash', but those aside, 'Kish Kash' is only half a good album, and at this stage in their career, Basement Jaxx really needed to deliver a classic album.

  • Basement Jaxx 4 / 10
I own this: 2 users / add your name
Reader reviews by: none yet, why not add your own?

Comments

Post a new comment on this review

Re: basement jaxx

Haha - you mentalist! Don't listen to him, it's a brilliant album (one that I'd wanted to write about, funnily enough) - as good if not better than Remedy and miles ahead of the 2nd album (which I never really liked that much).

And surely complaining about 4/4 beats in a Jaxx review is like writing about the White Stripes and complaining about the guitars - ie missing the point.

Hot and Cold is a bit lame though - worst thing on the album by a mile, everything else is pretty much classic though (and you don't even MENTION 'Plug It In')!
Old_Anonymous_Comments | 16 Oct '03, 14:52 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Kish Kash

I think its their worst album so far, but it still had some fantastic tracks on it! Good Luck, Lucky Star, Plug It In, Cish Cash and yes, Hot N Cold are my favorites. It's just really intense 'pop' music with a slight edge. However there are a few stinkers Supersonic is totally uninspired, and the slow tracks are either lame or just too damn long (Feels Like Home), on this album the interludes suck big time too, stop it guys, we get the message! You like interludes, so f*cking what! I bought the first two albums, thought they were great, but this is defenitely a download for me.
Old_Anonymous_Comments | 23 Oct '03, 23:31 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Jaxx Kish Kash

Kish Kash is a goodish album, with a few great original tracks, but the style of music may have changed too much. It needs less songs with lots and lots of singing in it, Jaxx need to create an album that is similar to Rendez-Vu, Red Alert and Breakaway. This album gets too close to pop music! Some of the tracks are great, Good Luck and hot and cold are really the main resembelence of what you want from Jaxx. Tracks like 'if i ever recover' and 'feels like home' are dreary and boring, and supersonic, just dont go there, this track sux! For me this album is worth buying, if i like at least 4 tracks on an album i will buy it, this album though is worth buying just for 'Good Luck' this is such a great track. Jaxx may attract new people to their music with this album, but i think that they well lose many more of their orignal fans. A good album overall, but definately not a must buy, even for Jaxx fans!
Old_Anonymous_Comments | 30 Oct '03, 20:47 | Send note | Report this | Reply