Track Listing

1. Good Luck (featuring Lisa Kekaula)
2. Right Here's The Spot (featuring MeShell Ndegeocello)
3. Benjilude
4. Lucky Star (featuring Dizzee Rascal)
5. Petrilude
6. Supersonic (featuring Totlyn Jackson)
7. Plug It In (featuring J.C. Chasez)
8. Cosmolude
9. If I Ever Recover
10. Cish Cash (featuring Siouxsie Sioux)
11. Tonight
12. Hot & Cold
13. Living Room
14. Feels Like Home (featuring MeShell Ndegeocello)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16336 in Music
• Released on: 2003-10-21
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
A squiggly, delirious house-pop classic that’s easily among the best albums of 2003, this British production duo’s third album is an interesting parallel to Outkast’s Speakerboxxx, as both albums make their funk the P-Funk, Parliament and Prince looming large throughout, but always in innovative ways. No album (and it is an album, a satisfyingly cohesive and narrative whole) of any genre in recent memory has done the guest vocalist thing as perfectly or as eclectically. Meshell Ndegeocello delivers two of her finest and sexiest performances yet; Lisa Kekaula from garage-soul rockers the BellRays revs up her delicious, Tina Turner -y vocals to near bursting point on "Good Luck." Meanwhile, ‘N Sync's JC Chasez remakes himself as a sort of electro-punk Michael Jackson on "Plug It In"; and speaking of electro-punk, on the anthemic "Cish Cash," Siouxsie Soux herself returns to show all the Liquid Sky’d-out denizens of Williamsburg and Berlin what a postpunk diva really sounds like. This is joyous music as innovative as it is bootylicious. With all its genre-defying tricks, Kish clearly owes a debt to the millenarian bootleg craze, but these songs are more than novelty mash-ups, they’re songs, and this is an album you’ll play years from now. --Mike McGonigal

From URB Magazine
From their earliest singles through two positively stunning albums (Remedy and Rooty), dynamic duo Basement Jaxx has exploded the house music template to produce timeless tunes with tremendous resonance. You still can't watch MTV for more than an hour or so without hearing one of their tracks blasting as background music in a commercial or on one of their shows. Unafraid to douse their house with everything from salsa to classic rock, the Jaxx have elevated their game to come up with Kish Kash, which pushes the boundaries so far it's difficult to even call what they do "house" anymore. They've always had a knack for picking guest stars, and this record is no exception. When Siouxsie Sioux rocks the mic on the grinding "Cish Cash," thoughts of Goths and house heads happily pogoing together on a crowded dance floor flood my mind. For more proof that those N*Sync boys are cooler than you ever realized, J.C. Chasez shows up to add energy to the percolating "Plug It In." LA's Lisa Kekaula belts out the rollicking "Good Luck" like Alison Moyet on a rampage, while Meshell Ndegiocello drenches "Right Here's the Spot" and dreamy closer "Feels Like Home" with more soul than should be allowed by law. The third time is definitely another charm: Kish Kash kicks ass.

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Customer Reviews

Kish Kash Splash.
Basement Jaxx is a duo I've always admired, but I never thought they totally deserved all the praise the press lavishes upon them. For sure, they released two really solid albums of jumpy, nervous disco featuring club anthems like "Romeo" and "Rendez-Vous." Are they pretty good? Yeah. But are they knock-me-out brilliant? Nah. However, the London duo's third outing, "Kish Kash," could be the disc that finally justifies the hype. I think it's their best album yet. This time around, the Jaxx rope in a slew of guest vocalists, and they all make great impressions on this disc. Like the songs on their predecessors "Rooty" and "Remedy," the grooves on "Kish Kash" bounce from edgy house to acid-dipped funk that recalls George Clinton and Prince. Meshell Ndegeocello makes two vocal appearances, the better of which is the sensual, clap-your-hands-together jam "Right Here's the Spot," while goth queen Siouxsie Sioux lends her vocals to the abrasive title track, a rush of punk energy Avril Lavinge and Pink would die for. JC Chasez of, ahem, NSYNC makes a near-unrecognizable appearance on the funky "Plug it In," while "Supersonic" (featuring Totlyn Jackson) is an out-there slab of electronica that also stands out. "Kish Kash" is, in my view, the duo's most consistent joint to date, and it easily eclipses their last two efforts. Grade: A-

The Jaxx Lose Control
Basement Jaxx loses control of this album in two major ways. First, the songs on Kish Kash are more wild than any of their previous work. You can tell they enjoyed the success of "Where's Your Head At", and have taken that concept to a whole new level here.

The first three songs on this album are great. "Good Luck" explodes in a typical Basement Jaxx way, practically dragging your feet out to the dance floor with it's disco styles. Hitting you right after is "Right Here's the Spot", a brilliant piece of funk/hip-hop. After one of their signature interludes, the Jaxx move into "Lucky Star", one of their best and most insane songs to date.

I have to admit, after hearing these songs I thought the Jaxx had made another 5-star album. But to my dismay, the rest of the album degenerates as the Jaxx seem to lose control of their own work. "Supersonic" sounds like an outtake from Fatboy Slim's last album. "Plug It In" is a decent song, but would have been much better if the backup singer had replaced JC Chasez. The music in "If I Ever Recover" is awesome, but the song is ruined by the horrible vocals. "Cish Cash" is another mediocre song, and seems out of place on this album. "Tonight" is an interesting song which at first reminds you of "Rendez-Vu", but heads off in a much slower direction.

Then the Jaxx restore our faith in them. Though "Hot N' Cold" is probably one of the simplest songs on the album, it saves the 2nd half with it's Neptunes-like beats. "Living Room" is another simple, yet effective song. The album then finishes with "Feels Like Home", a decent closer which unfortunately drags a little.

Compared to other house music, Basement Jaxx is still revolutionary and a cut above the rest. However, Kish Kash is not nearly as good as Rooty or Remedy. So I give this album 4 stars, but am disappointed because I know they can do better.

Excellent, but...
Basement Jaxx appeared on my recommended list several times and I finally yielded and bought their new "Kish Kash" CD. It's an excellent album. All the songs are catchy, enjoyable and with a good solid danceable beat. "Cish Cash" is my favorite track, and it's exquisite! The whole album strikes me as being very enjoyable party music and it would be at it's best played loudly in a room full of dancing people. Unfortunately, that's not the way I listen to music.

Perhaps it's just me, but I have difficulty listening to this CD. Basement Jaxx present a complex and cluttered soundscape. Too complex and cluttered, in my opinion. In places this disc sounds as if it was recorded in a crowded and noisy room, perhaps with a couple competing stereos off in the distance. In other places it sounds "fuzzy," as if I was trying to listen to my stereo through a foam-rubber room divider. In still other places I wonder if there's something wrong with my speakers, but my speakers are new and of reasonable quality and they sound perfectly good with other electronic CDs. I take it that Basement Jaxx have deliberately produced this cluttered and distorted soundscape, and some people might even prefer it that way. My aging ears have problems with it and I long for cleaner and clearer sound. Yet the songs are excellent, and everything comes together in perfect fashion on "Cish Cash."