Basement Jaxx

In 1999, Basement Jaxx made waves at both bar star havens and hidden underground house gigs with party gem "Red Alert." Ten years later, their contemporary sound still carries that caring, catchy essence. The songs on Scars lack complex lyrical depth but are ideologically cutting edge, featuring circus-style funk beats, with musical gravity and feather-light sonic energies flowing from song to song all within a connective, changing tempo. First track "Scars" (featuring Kelis, Meleka and Chipmunk) electrifies with an operatic sample and haunting synthesizer rhythm framing the story of a woman's loss and emptiness ("All I've got is my scars"), and the man who intends to save her from her nightmares. "Raindrops" ― the only track without a featured guest vocalist ― is understandably the first single, as it's simple and pumped up. Yo Majesty! will have you begging for a dance floor on "Twerk," a hip-hop reworking of "Maniac," from Flashdance. And "Day Of The Sunflowers (We March On)" features Yoko Ono, making one wonder: why don't we hear more of her in the media and music? With tracks featuring Sam Sparro, Santogold, Paloma Faith and Jose James, if the future of parties is anything like Basement Jaxx envisions, who do we contact to get on the guest-list?