Crazy Itch Radio

Crazy Itch Radio
Studio album by Basement Jaxx
Released 4 September 2006
Recorded 2006
Genre House
Length 51:05
Label
Producer
  • Simon Ratcliffe
  • Felix Buxton
Basement Jaxx chronology
The Singles
(2005)		 Crazy Itch Radio
(2006)		 Scars
(2009)
Singles from Crazy Itch Radio
  1. "Hush Boy"
    Released: 28 August 2006
  2. "Take Me Back to Your House"
    Released: 30 October 2006
  3. "Hey U"
    Released: March 2007

Crazy Itch Radio is the fourth studio album by English electronic music duo Basement Jaxx. The album features Linda Lewis and Swedish popstar Robyn among the guest vocalists.

Release history

The duo incorporated Balkan horns on the album.[1]

It was originally scheduled for an early 2006 release but the release date was put back.

"Hush Boy", "Take Me Back to Your House", were released as singles. "Hey U" was released as a single to digital download services in March 2007.

Compared with traditional songwriting, the band approach to creating music might appear to work backward. For example, on "Hush Boy", they created the song's melody with vocalist Vula Malinga over a basic track. Once it was recorded, they kept only Vula's vocal and rebuilt all the music under her voice from scratch. The band says this approach allows for a tremendous amount of freedom to explore different sounds.[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic73/100 [3]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [4]
The A.V. ClubB+ [5]
Entertainment WeeklyB+ [6]
Robert Christgau [7]
Pitchfork Media7.4/10 [8]
The Guardian [9]
Mojo [10]
The Phoenix[11]
Q[12]
Uncut[13]
Prefix Magazine[14]

The album was given a score of 73 out of 100 by Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews", although less-so than Basement Jaxx's previous records.[3] Allmusic gave it 4 out of 5 stars, writing "at this point, it's impossible to imagine them topping themselves; an album that is merely deeply engaging and wildly entertaining cannot be considered a flop in any way."[4] In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention (), stating, "Interchangeable ladies detail interchangeable ups and downs over beats whose changeabilty supposedly renders them indelible," and picked out two songs from the album, "Take Me Back to Your House" and "Run 4 Cover".[15]

Pitchfork Media, while still giving the album a positive review, wrote, "Crazy Itch Radio isn't a bad album by any means; it just doesn't scream "best album of the year" from the moment you put it on."[8] NME, on the other hand, was more critical, writing "It's easy enough to ignore until a real stinker passes by."[16]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Intro"   0:37
2. "Hush Boy" (vocals by Vula Malinga) 3:59
3. "Zoomalude" (vocals by Vula Malinga) 0:50
4. "Take Me Back to Your House" (vocals by Martina Bang) 5:08
5. "Hey U" (vocals by Robyn) 4:54
6. "On the Train" (vocals by Tommy Blaize) 4:14
7. "Run 4 Cover" (vocals by Lady Marga) 4:14
8. "Skillalude" (vocals by Skillah) 0:35
9. "Smoke Bubbles" (vocals by Milly Oldfield) 4:20
10. "Lights Go Down" (vocals by Linda Lewis and Lily Allen) 5:13
11. "Intro (Reprise)" (vocals by Reena Bhardwaj and Daryl John) 0:36
12. "Everybody" (vocals by Elida Zulu and Reena Bhardwaj) 5:53
13. "Keep Keep On" (vocals by Milly Oldfield) 2:24
14. "U R on My Mind" (vocals by Felix; includes hidden track "As the Night Moves On") 8:09

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ Bordal, Christian (2006-09-20). "Jaxx Scratch Back with 'Crazy Itch Radio'". NPR Music (NPR). Retrieved 2015-04-19.
  3. 1 2 "Crazy Itch Radio Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 Andy Kellman. "Crazy Itch Radio - Basement Jaxx". Allmusic. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  5. ↑ http://www.avclub.com/articles/basement-jaxx-crazy-itch-radio,8149/
  6. ↑ Simon Vozick-Levinson (8 September 2006). "Crazy Itch Radio Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  7. ↑ http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=108&name=Basement+Jaxx
  8. 1 2 Jess Harvell (5 September 2006). "Basement Jaxx: Crazy Itch Radio". Pitchfork. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  9. ↑ John Burgess (1 September 2006). "Basement Jaxx, Crazy Itch Radio". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  10. ↑ Mojo (October 2006): 100. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ↑ Matthew Gasteier (2 October 2006). "Basement Jaxx". The Phoenix'. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  12. ↑ Q (October 2006): 126. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ Uncut (October 2006): 106. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/basement-jaxx/crazy-itch-radio/15421/
  15. ↑ Robert Christgau. "CG: Basement Jaxx". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  16. ↑ NME: 21. 2 September 2006. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ↑ "Basement Jaxx – Crazy Itch Radio (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
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