Teenager's Death At Electric Daisy Carnival May End Rave Festivals in L.A.

Despite how retro it may sound, raves, light shows, and carnivals in concert setting are still a regular part of the American music experience. The Electric Daisy Carnival in L.A. hasn't gotten the press coverage of some other festivals, but with appearances from the likes of Moby, Will.i.Am, and Basement Jaxx certainly make it a regular pop music experience. At the fourtheenth Electric Daisy Festival, things got out of hand.

Over 226 people sought medical attention at the festival at the L.A. colisseum, with a variety of substance abuse-related injuries and ODs (ectasy was still a regular factor). But the death of Sasha Rodriguez, 15, of suspected drug overdose may have ended mass-scale rave events in Los Angeles once and for all.

Similar controversies surrounded the drug use and lack of ID checks at a New Year's Eve festival that resulted in one death and 18 ODs. But the death of a teenager put a halt to festivities at the L.A. Coliseum last weekend, and may stop future parties of this ilk in the future.

It's too early to report on the exact cause of Rodriguez's death, but it is pretty clear that one of the larger music celebrations in California will never quite be the same.

Basement Jaxx Bad Luck while recording their latest album 'Scars'

Basement Jaxx thought they were being smitten by God when making their last album. They told how they felt they were being given a message from above to after sessions for their album 'Scars' were struck by series of unfortunate events.

Felix described how he was initially warned after he was mugged for a second time on his way to the group's studio, and had his bike stolen by a group of children. To make matters worse, their studio was then flooded, making for uncomfortable recording conditions.

Simon added: "It was like God saying 'You Must Leave!' On three occasions water was literally pouring down the walls, so we had to move everything out the way.

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/basement-jaxxs-godly-fear_1116598

Basement Jaxx to Party at Club Eden

Grammy-winning British electronic duo Basement Jaxx will heat up the party scene with their upcoming performance Feb. 27 at Club Eden, Ritz Carlton Hotel, southern Seoul.

The duo, composed of Simon Ratcliffe and Felix Burton, are behind some of the most popular progressive house anthems in the British club scene. Ratcliffe and Buxton met at a riverboat party in Brixton, south London in the early 1990s. Before they met, Radcliffe was into Latin funk, while Buxton was interested in Chicago house music.

Their distinct influences came together as they formed Atlantic Jaxx Records in 1994. Among their early releases was ``Da Underground'' and ``Samba Magic,'' which was distributed by Virgin Records. As they gained recognition as a top house production unit, the duo was tapped to remix songs for Pet Shop Boys and Roger Sanchez. The single ``Flylife,'' which entered the Top 20 of the U.K. charts in 1997, was one of the year's most popular club anthems around the world. Basement Jaxx also performed regularly in nightclubs, where they gained a following.

They signed with XL Recordings, and released their first album, ``Remedy'' to critical acclaim in 1999. The single ``Red Alert'' was featured in the film ``Bend It Like Beckham'' and various commercials. Other hit songs from the album included ``Jump N' Shout,'' ``Bingo Bango'' and ``Rendez Vu.''Basement Jaxx has also released ``Rooty'' (2001), ``Kish Kash'' (2003) and ``Crazy Itch Radio'' (2006). ``Kish Kash'' became the first recipient of the Best Electronic/Dance Album Award at the 47th Grammy Awards in 2005. Their single ``Where's Your Head At?'' included in the ``Tomb Raider'' soundtrack, also helped boost the duo's international profile.Last September, Basement Jaxx released a new album ``Scars,'' featuring their trademark dance tracks in collaboration with Yoko Ono, Santigold, Sam Sparro and Paloma Faith.``Zephyr,'' described as a ``soundscape'' album, was also made available as a download from Basement Jaxx's Web site in December. It shows an ``ambient, ethereal and mellow side of the Jaxx output,'' and includes collaborations with Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke and New York jazz vocalist Jose James.Aside from working on their own music, Basement Jaxx is also known for remix productions.

Basement Jaxx: Basement Jaxx back on the beats with tour, 'Scars'

Basement Jaxx, the British duo responsible for some of the most infectious dance floor anthems of the last decade, is following the release of its latest studio album with a series of rare North American DJ dates this fall, including tonight at the Congress Theater.
For "Scars," the group's fifth album, Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe enlisted Yoko Ono, Kelis, Santigold, blue eyed soul newcomers Sam Sparro and Eli "Paperboy" Reed, Amp Fiddler and Bellrays singer Lisa Kekaula, among others.
The album kicks off with an operatic intro before the title track's stuttering half time beats compete with the band's signature kitchen sink of noise. "Twerk" is an electro-laden floor-filler that riffs on "Maniac" from "Flashdance," anchored by a Yo Majesty rap. "She's No Good" turns Lightspeed Champion's vocal chant into a funkified call-and-response, while "Raindrops" gives Buxton's own vocals the Auto-Tune treatment. Ono lends her vocals to "Day of the Sunflowers (We March On)," while Santigold's ska-tinged track is called "Saga."
The group also recorded a second, still untitled set of "Pink Floyd-y, more ambient-y stuff," according to Buxton. "That's going to come out as probably a mini LP afterward, more for bathtime music."
Fans at tonight's show will see the band's massive, circus like show, which includes an ever evolving crew of 20 or so singers and dancers.

New Album Surrounded by Drama, Basement Jaxx

It's unlikely that Simon Ratcliffe will forget the night he spent sitting next to a crack freak with no legs. Surprisingly, the unfortunate man was the least of the Basement Jaxx member's worries. Ratcliffe was in New York for a recording session for the London based dance duo's fifth album, 'Scars,' which was released Tuesday, when he received a phone call informing him that his wife and baby daughter had been taken to a hospital. It was one of the rare occasions that Ratcliffe had his family with him while working, and the news was particularly disturbing as his daughter was only several weeks old. "It was actually stressful. It was particularly scary, her being newborn, they're such fragile little things," Ratcliffe tells Spinner. The sudden illness, which was due to a virus, had Ratcliffe so disturbed that he rushed to the hospital. "I spent the night in the emergency room at St. Vincent's hospital sitting next to a crack addict with no legs," he says with an incredulous sigh. His wife and daughter recovered and were fine. Did the incident or his colorful ER companion inspire any songs? "I didn't get a song out of it this time, but maybe for the next record," he laughs.Really, it was his Basement Jaxx Partner Felix Buxton's personal crisis that shaped the album. "Felix was writing were about the personal dramas in his life, mostly his efforts trying to find a good woman. Along the way he's had, yeah, dramatic moments," offers Ratcliffe. Still, the record isn't a mopey affair; Its upbeat vibe comes from living to tell the tale. "Part of life is picking yourself up and dusting yourself off and being proud of who you are. It's just living, actually."

'Musical collision' Basement Jaxx's

Basement Jaxx have revealed their new album Scars will be a "collision" of styles thanks to the change artists they have collaborated with.
Felix Buxton said: "The new album is obviously new, it's got elements of the early Basement Jaxx and it's got where we are now, and effectively, the guests we've got on there makes it a change musical collision than we had before, with people like Yoko Ono, Santogold and Sam Sparro.
"Obviously they all bring their vibe to the thing as well, so it's us going out into the world a bit more rather than just being stuck in Brixton."

SCARS Basement Jaxx

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Basement Jaxx: Scars

Basement Jaxx's Scars arrives after a troubled gestational period, with the duo citing numerous changes, both personal and musical, as leaving them feeling 'a bit lost'. After four albums and with many of their contemporaries having faded from the public view somewhat, it seemed that the Brixton duo had reached something of an impasse. Having dabbled with a darker minimalist sound, it was as currently as the turn of the year that the duo decided to up the positivity, citing their hearing of Dizzee Rascal and Armand Van Helden's 'Bonkers' as a inspiration for this change.
Consequently, lead single 'Raindrops' was intentionally written in the mould of singles like 'Romeo' and 'Red Alert' etc. Perhaps naturally, it's no revelation musically, but it is undeniably great dance-pop; arriving on waves of fuzzy synths, subdued bass-heavy verses bursting into a typically catchy chorus that is at once glistening and pounding. Disappointingly it is the only track to feature the band's Felix Buxton on lead vocals, as he is easily the equal of many of the guest vocalists. Despite being heavily auto-tuned he provides one of the album's most sensual moments when he proclaims "Your moisture drips upon my lips just like a waterfall straight through the heart of me".
Follow-up single 'Feelings Gone' is a sumptuous up-tempo ballad dripping with sentimental string samples and a surprisingly affecting vocal from Sam Sparro. It's the first track in a trio of early-to-mid album tracks which demonstrate that Basement Jaxx didn't completely forsake the melancholic roots of Scars. 'My Turn' sounds almost like one of guest vocalist Lightspeed Champion's own, the marriage between taut distorted synth bass and his genteel acoustic picking sounding suprisingly natural. The beautiful 'A Possibility' features gossamer-delicate slide guitar that may fool you into thinking you are still listening to Lightspeed Champion, although vocalist Amp Fiddler utilises more soulful intonation while the languid pacing coupled with electronic tics recalls Sophtware Slump-era Grandaddy.
It's a typically expansive roll call of guest vocalists to match. The album opens with the Timbaland indebted title-track featuring Kelis, Meleka and Chipmunk. That's two vocalists too many, and the song lacks a focal point, but the emphatic low-end, crisp beats and irresistibly sweeping choral-synths win out in the end. 'Saga' is a successful experiment in crossing grimy synthetic breeds of dancehall and ska with Santigold sounding suitably embittered for a track which Buxton says he wrote quickly as an act of mid-separation catharsis. Of the lesser-known guest spots the decision to get Lisa Kekaula (of The Bellrays) to purr over Junior Boys-esque blocks of hazy synth and crisp frigid rhythms was particularly inspired.
Inevitably there are a number of less successful tracks. Paloma Faith's sassy vocal contribution on 'What's a Girl Got To Do?' feels forced and the cabaret music further makes Faith sound unfortunately like the fourth Puppini sister. 'D.I.S.Tractionz' boasts fantastic string/vibraphone interplay, but is let down by singer Jose Hendrix's lack of presence. The highest profile guest slot is undoubtedly Yoko Ono; the stridently simple beat, driving bass and aqueous synth washes make 'Day of the Sunflowers (We March On)' one of the musical highlights and Ono's chanting on the chorus is infectious. Unfortunately her nonsensical rantings about "20,000 fishes flying down from the sky" on the verse will make you cringe, whilst her simulation of orgasmic gasping near the song's climax (ahem) will simply make you shudder.
Scars' abundance of collaborators doesn't really allow Basement Jaxx to stamp their personality on the music, which is a shame, especially considering its fraught origins However, perhaps this is a little too much to expect from a duo who specialize in maximalist dance floor fillers and whose boundless energy and eclecticism is a form of catharsis in itself. If Basement Jaxx want to hide their scars behind such esily enjoyable and well constructed pop music, then long may they continue.

'Scars' Basement Jaxx, Album review

"Scars" (Ultra/XL), the fifth album from British production duo Simon Ratcliffe and Felix Buxton, again matches an array of guest vocalists with globe trotting electro beats. Emerging from the ‘90s U.K. rave scene and its futuristic take on Chicago house, the Jaxx began edging into pop district by showcasing distinctive vocalists on their 2002 landmark “Kish Kash.” Tying together hip hop, indie rock and all points in between, “Scars” continues in that vein. The duo gets the most out of some sassy newcomers (Yo Majesty, Santigold), and throws a bass rattling update of her classic “Walking on Thin Ice” at Yoko Ono, who warbles like only Ono can in a mesmerizing performance. But when the duo veers off the dancefloor and into more nuanced, low key district on tracks fronted by Lightspeed Champion, Amp Fiddler, Jose Hendrix, Jose James and the BellRays’ Lisa Kekaula, the lack of rhythmic punch derails the album. Perhaps Ratcliffe and Buxton are striving to prove they can do more than just throw a great party, but their songwriting is more persuasive when the beats are booming.

Basement Jaxx Scars

Some bands enjoy years of success, with all the canonical peaks and troughs; yet over time become disorientated with the original plot the rudimentary goal which drove them to their craft to begin with. Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe have been on a decade long journey which has awarded them ticks in all the desired boxes. But not until now have they felt the full effects from the long slog."There's a good reason why the new record is called Scars," said Felix in our recent interview. "Making it has been a grueling process. When we completed recording, it felt like we'd come out of a boxing ring". It translates. Scars is a meticulously well thought out record that reflects patience and a genuine scholastic approach to the genre; although not the record that they initially intended to write. "It's a very different record to the one we originally set out to make, it's changed a lot in the last six months." The original catalyst was a chance meet and great with Yoko Ono, which over the the weeks, evolved into a musical collaboration. That track 'Day of Sunflowers' sees a powerful stanza delivered by the shrieker of peace over a robust bass line - a stand out track on the album.The collaborations flow in a creative stream throughout the whole record. Eli Paper Boy Reed contributes driving '50s style vocals over the top of an addictive foot tapper. 'She's No Good'; a personal reflection piece for Buxton, touching on the subject of a relationship abroad and the lamentable ending to which it came. 'Saga' is topically similar with a beat that plays to guest Santigold's strengths. Yo Majesty, Paloma Faith and Sam Sparro make cameos elsewhere, the latter on most recent single 'Feeling's Gone'.

Initially concerned about the album taking a dark direction, Buxton and Ratcliffe strategically placed the no brainer 'Raindrops' into proceedings. "The idea was to do something that felt similar and make a track for clubs," said Simon. For anyone who was magnetised to the Basement Jaxx sound via previous floor filler 'Where's Your Head', 'Raindrops' follows suit. As dance music continues to evolve at a rapid rate, the mainstays are few and far between. Basement Jaxx continue to sample from the fountain of youth and remain at the forefront of popular music as a result.

Basement Jaxx and Hockey to Music Weekly

The dance duo talk about working with Yoko Ono, plus there's music from Portland noise poppers Hockey

This week, we kick off with chat from Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, better known as dance duo Basement Jaxx. The boys return later this month with their fifth album, Scars, and Alex Needham spoke to them about get togethering with Yoko Ono, why Brixton is losing its edge and how they have managed to sustain a working relationship for 15 years.
Fast forward to Singles Club and Paul MacInnes is joined by Rosie Swash and Michael Hann to discuss the excellent in new music. There's dippy funk pop from the Phenomenal Handclap Band's 15 to 20, another slab of noise pop from LA duo No Age's single Losing Feeling, and Battles singer Tyondai Braxton offers a bonkers 10 minute solo constitution.
There's more chat with Portland's Hockey, the band behind summer smash* Too Fake. They're just about to release their first appearance album, Mind Chaos, and Rosie finds out their favourite live experiences, which include a flesh hanging party. Really.
Paul Lester signs off with Feature With No Name, in which he recalls the Swedish dream pop radical the Radio Dept.
So that's your lot. Tell us what you think of this week's show, guests and music, while we play you out with an exclusive version of Hockey's Song Away, performed live just for you.
*By "smash" we really mean, "You'll likely hear this and go 'Oh, I've heard this song before, didn't know it was by Hockey'".

Editors, Basement Jaxx: Fatboy Slim to launch Oxjam gigs

Editors, Basement Jaxx, Just Jack and Fatboy Slim are among the acts announced to launch this year's Oxjam month of music, arranger have announced.The acts will play gigs in a secret Oxfam shop in London with a 150-person capacity in aid of the charity this September and October.VV Brown and Tony Allen are also set to play gigs to start the Oxjam month of music. The gigs will help kick off thousands of other fundraising music events to take place across the country in aid of Oxfam.The 2009 Oxjam month of music will climax on October 25, with the Oxjam Takeover, which will see more than 2000 musicians fill over 150 venues in more than 20 cities to raise funds for Oxfam. As well as raising money for Oxfam, this year's campaign will be focusing on climate change, with gig goers being encouraged to sign up to Oxfam's blue faces campaign. By encouraging people to paint their faces blue, the campaign aims to get the government to take action on mood change before it's too late.The following acts are confirmed to play Oxjam gigs so far:

VV Brown, Just Jack (September 28)

Tony Allen, Nitin Sawhney, Shlomo (29)

Fatboy Slim, Basement Jaxx (DJ set), Stereo MCs (DJ set) (30)

Editors, Good Shoes (October 1)

Tickets for the shows go on sale this Friday (September 4) from 9am.To look what Oxjam events are happening near you, head to Oxfam.org.uk/oxjam.To check the availability of Oxjam tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.
Editors tickets:
Sep 06, 2009 12:00 at Myrtle Park, Bingley - Buy from Seetickets
Oct 19, 2009 19:00 at Colston Hall, Bristol - Buy from Seetickets
Oct 21, 2009 19:30 at Hammersmith Apollo, London - Buy from Seetickets
More Editors tickets
See Editors play at an O2 Venue. Remember if you're on O2 you can get antecedence Tickets to The O2 and O2 Academy venues up to 48 hours before they go on general release. Register at o2.co.uk/priority. Terms apply.

Basement Jaxx Set to Reveal Their 'Scars'

There's a reason why Basement Jaxx has toured all summer without releasing its new album. It simply wasn't finished in time for the advised March release date last winter, and a UK tour and worldwide summer festival dates were already booked. "We've done nearly a year's worth of touring and now we've got to do it all again," Simon Ratcliffe jokingly tells Spinner. Indeed, the English accelerating house band's fifth record, 'Scars,' has a new release date of Oct. 6 and the duo begins another UK trek in December with its 12 piece touring band. For now, however, the pair -- Felix Buxton is the other member -- will mark Basement Jaxx's first American show since 2006 with a handful of DJ only dates running Oct. 30 Nov. 7.Despite the release hiccup, the tour was particularly successful, with Basement Jaxx playing main stages as far flung as Japan and, for the first time, South Korea. Ratcliffe and Buxton did a DJ gig there a group of years ago, but this was their first full on live performances. "It's surprising which songs are the most popular in change parts of the world," Ratcliffe says. "In Korea, we were warned that we had to play 'Hot 'n Cold' from our third album 'Kish Kash.' We don't play it commonly, it's not so well known, but over there everyone knows it." Apart from having a fun summer, Ratcliffe says the brilliant side to this pre-album release jaunt was finding audiences were still eager for the dynamic duo's funked up house music. Even new songs like just delivered leadoff single 'Raindrops' were lapped up. "The four songs we play from the album have been going down really well. That's the way it goes," he adds of this tour timing gaff, "you can't always plan these things."

Rare DJ tour of U.S by Basement Jaxx plans

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Basement Jaxx, the British dance music duo accountable for some of the most infectious dance-floor-filling anthems of the past decade, will follow the release of its latest studio album with a series of rare North American DJ dates this fall.
The DJ tour will kick off October 30 in San Francisco and play the HAR Haunted Mansion party in Los Angeles on Halloween before heading to Toronto, Chicago and New York in early November.
"Scars," the group's fifth album, and first to be co-released by Ultra Records and XL, is set for release October 6.
Jaxx's Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe draft a book of notable assistant for their latest project, among them Yoko Ono, Kelis and Santigold.
The duo also has recorded an as-yet-untitled set of "Pink Floyd-y, more ambient-y stuff," according to Buxton. "That's going to come out as like as not a mini LP afterwards," he said, "more for bath time music."
As for the band bringing its apocryphal massive, circus like live show which includes an ever-evolving crew of 20 or so singers and dancers back to the United States, Buxton remains noncommittal. "Up to now, we've been in South America and Australia, and then we're going to be in Japan and Korea, and then we're all around Europe this summer," he said. "If people like the music and actually get into it, then we'll by all appearance come. If they don't, we won't."

Basement Jaxx return to Livepool's Creamfields

Dance legends Basement Jaxx talk to Emma Johnson about their return to Creamfields and life on the road
IF YOU found going to one festival this summer exhausting, extra a thought for Basement Jaxx. The apprentice have pass every weekend in a field since the beginning of June and there is no let up until autumn.
Talk about Where’s Your Head At?
Don’t worry about them too much all the same. One of the most successful dance actions the UK has produced, it’s unlikely that Grammy Award winners Simon Ratcliffe and Felix Buxton are nippimg from plastic cups, waiting line for portaloos and commonly slumming it like the rest of us.
In fact the guys, who earned their festival stripes in 2006 stepping into the crack at Glastonbury after Kylie’s cancer diagnosis forced her to facility her headline channel, are quite enjoying the freedom.
“It’s a long time on the road but that’s how it goes. You concerned with a year or two in the studio doing an album, then you spend another year or so out on the road,” explains Simon, 38. “We have been locked up these last group of years. We DJed a act last year, we had a residency in Ibiza, but we didn’t do that many appearances and now it is time to get back out there.
“The new material is going down well and it’s fun.”
That material Simon belong to comes from the electronic duo’s fifth album Scars, due for release next month.
We have already had a sampler of it in summer single Raindrops and with report that it could be the pair’s last LP (their five album record agreement with XL is coming to an end and the pair have talked about any chance taking time off to run after other projects) Scars is an fervently awaited release.
“This is Basement Jaxx 2009,” says Simon who has been working with Felix since the pair confined over a love of New York house music in the 1990s.
“Like all our albums it’s not really one thing. It’s all different kinds of acceleration and affects.
“It was believably the difficulted album we have done.