Customer Reviews

Scars

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Basement Jaxx has been pretty good about putting out an album every couple years and one would think they would eventually run low on ideas. Fortunately, the Jaxx are still going strong. In fact, I would rank "Scars" up there with their finest work. They retain their trademark style - a dense collage of tiny samples, massive house beats, all in a candy shell of amazing pop sensibilities.

There are many high points on the album, but the most obvious is their first single, "Raindrops." Much like "Hush Boy," and "Good Luck," it starts the album off with a bang. Technically, the song "Scars" precedes it, but I think the album actually starts with "Raindrops." Scars is a slightly misguided attempt to say "Hey - We're still relevant" by imitating the classic Timbaland production style. It feels out of place. While I'm happy that the Basement Jaxx are always trying new directions, I don't think track succeeds, especially as an album opener.

Along the way, we get an incredible variety including a blues ("She's No Good"), and a guest appearance by none other than Yoko Ono ("Day of the Sunflowers (We March On"). This is one of those albums that keeps you guessing from track to track, and yet it holds together very well.

One of the major strengths, in my opinion, is the inclusion of some more mellow tracks. One of my issues with "Kish Kash" was that everything was so hectic and busy that it was fatiguing if I tried to listen from start to finish. On "Scars," the pacing is such that you could listen to the album twice through on repeat without getting tired.

Overall, it's a very consistent and pleasing album. Once again, the Basement Jaxx give us an excellent album that is, above all, fun. If you're a fan of the Jaxx, you will not be disappointed. Highly recommended!

Coming from Chicago, I hear a lot of house music. While this isn't their best album, it's impressive. Basement Jaxx has reinvented itself here and done the best job yet. Probably not for the hardcore BJ or house/electronic fans, but those who are into something more progressive (like more song-oriented stuff, rather than just cool beats) will enjoy it. Something here for most, including what I could consider pop, like Raindrops, I think there is enough good here to make it work a purchase.

Those of you on the fence, but who are already fans of Basement Jaxx, may want to check out some of the remixes which are available.

This album caught me unexpected... I came into it looking for something to pump me up and make me run around and scream like the ice cream truck was near. Instead its a meh.
Some decent tracks but it was a major letdown for me.

I had huge expectations for this album, but was let down by some poor, truly hideous tracks. T

he overall flow is good, and keeps you bobbing your head while scooting around town, until you get to the audio spew that is the Yoko Ono track in particular. Repeated listenings didn't improve the matter much. Skipping over these tracks makes the album feel a little disjointed, which is a letdown.
While you get the sense that he's trying to pull off another funky, synthed set of vocal tracks, some of the collaborations let him down.

Hopefully some of the remix versions of these songs will improve them, giving the album a much needed kick in tempo and quality.

It just never really caught on for me. I love Basement Jaxx and have been a fan for years now. But with Scars it just never grabbed my attention and kept me focused on the music at all. It's not a bad cd by any means but again its just not what I hoped it would be. It might take a few more listens perhaps and maybe that might change my opinion on this. As it stands right now though "Scars" is just okay by me.

Not so good I expected. Older albums by Basement Jaxx were awesome, thise is only good...

The Jaxx have rediscovered the true sound that made them great. Breakbeat sampling, true vocal talent, keyboards from another planet and downright funkiness to make your toes wiggle and your booty shake. Every tune is done in classic Jaxx style. Highly recommended record!!

From the former Ms. Nas to the former Mrs. Lennon, Basement Jaxx call in a number of favors and produce what could easily be termed their comeback album, a record that kick starts the party to 11 and never dials it back. The beats here are some of the sharpest and dirtiest of their career; from when the bass drops out and then slams back in as Burton croons along on "Raindrops" to when what sounds like a hyperactive New Orleans brass section sends the sassy, jazzy "She's No Good" into the club stratosphere, Burton and Ratcliffe continually prove again and again why they remain two of the top DJs in the business. Their version of dance never tries to exclude, relying on the intelligent pop foundation that the two base every song on and drawing from a palette of vibrant, colorful styles and genres. With the Jaxx you will never hear the same repetitive drum `n bass or surging, back-and-forth synth roar, but don't discount the random samba beat or occasional shoegaze guitar riff.

The funky hip-hop pastiche "Twerk," which features a tasty sample of `80s class "Maniac," would appeal to any casual Top 40 fan, while songs like the bouncy, Mark Ronson-esque "What's A Girl Gotta Do" and the blue-eyed techno-soul that Sam Sparro brings to "Feelings Gone" are sure to please everyone from club goers to tight-jeaned indie kids, respectively. The production remains uniformly top-notch, allowing even fairly lackluster guest spots, like Santigold's on "Saga" or Amp Fiddler on the dreamy, guitar-driven slow jam "A Possibility," to shine regardless. Indeed, the pace is so breakneck and the beats so relentlessly tasty that it sometimes becomes almost too much. Whereas Kish Kash had a series of perfectly-placed interludes to allow for some necessary breathing room, this nonstop romp sometimes causes songs to bleed together, leading tunes like "My Turn" to be overshadowed by their predecessor or the listener to lose track of exactly which tune he is listening to.

And then there's the incredibly frustrating centerpiece of the album sung by the infamous Yoko Ono. "Day of the Sunflowers - We March On" features easily one of the sexiest beats on the record, an everywhere-at-once stew of trip-hop and elastic dance held together by a fantastic drum part. But then Ono's vocals, which are certainly odd but not unpleasant, turn a screeching 180-degrees about midway through. Suddenly she's mumbling something about fish tickling her skin and breaths of mountain air as she ululates randomly before making what sounds like an uncomfortably real fake orgasm. Clearly she hasn't lost it (whatever it is, of course; I'm sure John could've told us), even at age 76.

Besides making the odd choice to close with "Gimme Somethin' True," which makes a lot more sense in the middle of the record than as a rather abrupt conclusion, Scars finishes up as a great success. Burton and Ratcliffe have again created a dance record that is innovative and obscenely catchy in an era when much of the genre is content to practice a mere retreading of what others are doing better. Now if they could only bring back some of the moderation and sequencing they mastered on Kish Kash, they'd likely have yet another classic record on their hands.

I review this as someone completely new to Basement Jaxx. I received this album as a gift from a friend and I have to say it's pretty freaking awesome. It might not be a traditional form of House or whatever you're looking for, but I love putting this album on whilst working, trying to relax, or playing a video game and it's fantastic. "Raindrops" is my favorite track from the album and I'm completely in love with it, though only two tracsk I really didn't like: "Twerk" and the final track "Gimme Something True." Everything else was perfect. I may not be able to speak as a Basement Jaxx fan, but if this album is anything to base them off of... I'll certainly be getting more of their stuff!

I bought this album after listening to "Scars", "My Turn", and "Saga" on youtube; but was disappointed with the rest of the album. Most of the songs after the 6th track are unlistenable.