REMEDY
BASEMENT JAXX
A RELENTLESS HOUR OF MAXIMALIST FEEL-GOOD FUN FORGED IN SOUTH LONDON’S DINGY BASEMENTS, THIS RIOTOUS CARNIVAL WAS DESTINED FOR FESTIVAL MAIN STAGES
FELIX ROWE
Simon Ratcliffe (left) and Felix Buxton (right) bonded over a love of New York house music
Dave Tonge/Getty
Let’s be honest, a considerable proportion of chart dance is so formulaic that you could literally cook an egg by it: place egg into pan on the opening handclap, simmer until the bass drop, then bring to the boil on the double chorus.
But on Remedy, Basement Jaxx didn’t so much re-write the recipe book as rip it up and say: “Hey, do what you like – dance can be whatever you want it to be.”
At the turn of the millennium, the London-based pair, comprising Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, were at the vanguard of a new wave, heralding a fresh way forward for dance – and they certainly had an eye on the charts.