The opening mumbles and string crescendos of Kish Kash, the latest album from the dance duo Basement Jaxx, announce the birth of an atomic funk classic.
On the opener “Good Luck,” guest singer Lisa Kekaula channels disco glitz over a buzzing bass line deep enough to knock small mammals into a coma, with a jilted lover kissoff. Empowering ’70s strings bash away as Kekaula breaks it down, singing, “I’m so glad that I’m done with you / No more cryin’ leavin’ me so black and blue / You back me up against a wall but I stand tall / Don’t give a damn anymore.” Then a swirling force of tribal back-up and sweltering flurry-flush electro fizzles builds to climax as the mantra “No more lies” repeats underneath the chorus. The rest of the album continues “Good Luck’s” genre-bending, party-up wizardry.
The Jaxx were born out of illegal raves and throw-down DJ gigs in Brixton, South London. Their deadly combo of classic house and every other genre of music has already made their last two albums, Rooty and Remedy, club classics. Kish Kash promises much of the same.
The album’s standout track, “Lucky Star” combines worldly beats with the stacked vocals of this year’s best import artist, Dizzee Rascal. Rascal’s hyper-dancehall vocal attack complements the sex-soaked hard house noise perfectly. The Jaxx use every noise Rascal makes and slice-and-dices the song into a fuzzed-out energy jam that sounds like an ADD clubber’s ecstasy foaming inner monologue.
Succinct interludes connect the songs into a stream-of-consciousness club experience, giving you just enough time to breathe between each audio assault.
“Supersonic’s” gender-bending vocals and whistling shrieks of “Give me taste / Give me funk / Give me fury / Give me some more,” sound like what George Clinton would be playing if he’d been raised on New Order and Chicago House. Harmonica and sampled vox add a bluesy vibe, pushed to fruition by a strangled guitar solo.
‘N Sync’s J.C. Casez shows up for the punk-dance beat-box rocker, “Plug It In.” The track lives in a demented realm of distorted Freddie Mercury opera rock and bubblegum bop with a killer chomp.
The bittersweet “If I Ever Recover” is the musical equivalent of laying on your back comatose in a drugged-out reality, waiting for the paramedics to arrive. Hums and fuming bass yearn for some sort of redemptive attack, but the song leaves you hanging long enough for the next track to drop you back into the party. “Cish Cash” finds Siouxsie Sioux strutting her punk elegance in the haze of post-electro clash pop instrumentation.
“Tonight” fuses acoustic guitar and a salsafied beat to counteract the album’s hyper bender and “Hot ‘n Cold’s” blip-and-clipped hip hop snippets and mousy vocals gently pound out dance music’s inherent sexuality.
Meshell Ndegeocello’s space reggae fuels the stomping “Right Here’s the Spot,” but finds a better home with the last track, “Feels Like Home.” Electro pulses and reverb guitar plug into a lullaby throb and Ndegeocello’s subtly-affected voice whispers after-party incantations. Funky understated slap bass and computer whistles spiral away into Kish Kash’s misty conclusion.
More Parliament and Prince than Kraftwerk, the Basement Jaxx continue to create some of today’s most eclectic electronic music.
Grade: A/B
