http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/b/basement-jaxx/singles.shtml
“Collective jaws (okay, two) dropped at my workplace when it was revealed Basement Jaxx were free agents in the U.S. Could Astralwerks really be that stupid? How much coke did Radio 4 need? What sort of stygian rider clauses did the Air contract contain? Did Stormin' Norman have nekkid pitchers of their mama to get them to put out Palookaville?
Though they never moved Chems-at-their-height numbers, I had assumed the Jaxx would have been one of the label's best sellers. Yet Astralwerks never seemed to know how to market a studio duo with a revolving cast of singers and players to a personality-ravenous U.S. audience. To date, no Basement Jaxx album has sold 40k in the states. This can't be blamed entirely on the suits. "
Yikes! Sarcasm is amusing and all but these comments are beyond over the top. It doesn’t strike me as smart, cool or in the know. Instead it sounds more like a painful music industry conversation I might overhear in a Brooklyn bar at 2 am by somebody who doesn’t really know what they are talking about. This comedy routine fell flat with me, sorry. This is suppose to be a review of the cd not the people who did or didn’t put it out. I am also not sure where Jess Harvell got his sales numbers from but here are some real soundscan #s, certainly not the less then 40k amount given in his review.
Kish Kash - 69,201 / Remedy – 165,814 / Rooty – 176,185
Otherwise, yes, this is a really great collection and the only real flaw is the missing “Get Me Off” track. There is no question that it’s a shame Astralwerks lost such an amazing band but I do question how Pitchfork went about making this point.
BTW: Who are these suits mentioned ? For anyone who knows this label directly the very idea of a suit running things is about as far from the truth as can be but then again maybe the truth doesn’t sound as funny in print.
Out of a possible 5 bumps of coke I give this review a 2. I really can’t overlook the lack of fact checking on the 40k comment.
