Basement Jaxx
Red Alert EP
(Astralwerks)
If you read my review the Remedy album by the Basement Jaxx, you'll know that I didn't think they were the second coming (as many critics seemed to that year) and while I didn't think that their album completely sucked, I thought it was more of a singles record. In explaining that statement a little more, I thought that there were a couple really great singles that held the album together, but in the end there was simply too much filler to make it much of a cohesive listen for me.
Well, "Red Alert" happens to be one of the songs from that album that I enjoyed, so when I realized that I had the chance to pick up a very moderately-priced EP with 6 tracks on it (none of which are on the album), I figured that I really couldn't go wrong. Not only are their 5 remixes of the actual title track, but there's also one track you can't find anywhere else.
Well first off, the exclusive track is all that and a stick of butta. "Razocaine" clocks in at an epic eight and a half minutes long, and it's one of the most stripped-down and slammin' tracks that I've heard by the group. It rolls with some seriously rumbling low-end and a super grinding acid line mixed with some female vocals all swirl together into a sweaty, piping-hot track. Possibly my favorite single track by the group. The actual remixes range from good to bad, and in about equal amounts unfortuately.
As you'd expect, the Radio Edit is basically just a shortened version of the track while the "Jaxx Club Mix" doesn't really change a whole lot either. It's the deep-dish sounding "Jaxx Nitedub" and "Eric Morillo and Harry Romero Dub" mixes that make up for things, though, with tracks that take all the good elements of the original and beef them up to seriously pounding levels, leaving most of the cheese behind. By the time you get to the take-it-or-leave-it "Steve Gurley Mix," you've already got over 20 minutes of great stuff, so it's basically just topping. Obviously whether you like the group and the particular track is key to whether you'd like the release, it's still an excellent little single.
Rating: 7.25
