Zephyr (Basement Jaxx album)
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2013}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Zephyr
| type = studio
| artist = Basement Jaxx
| cover = Basement Jaxx Zephyr.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|df=yes|2009|12|07}}
| recorded = March 2007 – September 2009
| studio =
| genre = Chill-out
| length = {{duration|m=33|s=16}}
| label = XL
| producer = {{hlist|Simon Ratcliffe|Felix Buxton}}
| prev_title = Scars
| prev_year = 2009
| next_title = Junto
| next_year = 2014
}}
Zephyr is the sixth studio album by English electronic music duo Basement Jaxx, released on 7 December 2009 through XL Recordings internationally. A departure from their prior work, it was described as chill-out music. Zephyr was originally intended to be a double album with Scars, released in September 2009, but each was ultimately issued separately. The album missed most major music charts, but did appear at number 12 on the UK Dance Albums Chart.
Background
The group had originally planned on recording a double album, with one album consisting of more ambient and mellow songs and the other traditional dance music tracks. However, the group decided on releasing Scars on its own, with Zephyr as its follow-up.{{cite web |url=http://www.basementjaxx.net/log/?p=437 |title=Zephyr released Monday! |work=basementjaxx.net |access-date=13 September 2011}}
Felix Buxton told PopMatters: "[As] we were very keen on kind of doing a double-album. And then it’s just one of those things: you feel [you’re in] your progressive rock phase. It's very Spinal Tap to do a double-album, and acts [sometimes] take themselves too seriously, so we were at that point [where] we want to take ourselves seriously; and also we also always enjoy doing the soundscape stuff."{{cite web|url=http://www.popmatters.com/feature/187474-power-to-the-people-an-interview-with-basement-jaxx/|title=Power to the People: An Interview with Basement Jaxx|last=Sawdey|first=Evan|date=29 October 2014|access-date=8 September 2016|work=PopMatters|publisher=PopMatters Media, Inc.}}
Zephyr was released on 7 December 2009 by record label XL.{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ZMMNBA |title=Zephyr
The track "Hip Hip Hooray" was created for the Tate Modern as part of a series of tracks commissioned to be played alongside paintings.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/tatetracks/basement-jaxx-appel.shtm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621033409/http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/tatetracks/basement-jaxx-appel.shtm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-06-21|title=Tate {{!}} Tate Tracks|date=2008-06-21|access-date=2019-04-04}} The track was inspired by the painting by Karel Appel, and includes cello, piano and organ by Jack Nunn.{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Basement-Jaxx-Zephyr/release/2379839|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404142937/https://www.discogs.com/Basement-Jaxx-Zephyr/release/2379839|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-04-04|title=Basement Jaxx – Zephyr (CD, Album) {{!}} Discogs|website=Discogs |date=2019-04-04|access-date=2019-04-04}}
"Walking in the Clouds" features the voice of Joe Benjamin, a 70-year-old Bermudan man that walks around Brixton with "a Stetson hat, a large stick and a kind of poncho." Buxton befriended him when he used to live there, then he invited Benjamin to the studio to record "Benjilude", an interlude from their 2003 album Kish Kash.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/dec/15/basement-jaxx-favourite-tracks|title=Basement Jaxx's favourite tracks|last=Richards|first=Sam|date=15 December 2012|access-date=28 July 2016|work=The Guardian}}{{cite journal|last=Kleinfeld|first=Justin|title=Basement Jaxx: An insider's look at Kish Kash|journal= CMJ New Music Report|date=13 November 2003|volume=77|issue=835|page=36|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X2F3DiYvfCIC&pg=PA36|access-date=28 July 2016|publisher=CMJ|format=Google Books|issn=0890-0795}}
Reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=zephyr-r1710284|pure_url=yes}} |title=Zephyr – Basement Jaxx |author=Jon O'Brien |work=AllMusic |access-date=18 September 2011}}
| rev2 = Pitchfork
| rev2score = 7.0/10{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13857-zephyr-ep/ |title=Basement Jaxx: Zephyr EP |author=Jess Harvell |date=22 January 2010 |work=Pitchfork |access-date=18 September 2011}}
}}
AllMusic called the album an "altogether more reflective affair [than Scars] that allows Buxton and Ratcliffe to showcase their unique interpretation of a chillout album", though criticising the album's short length.
Track listing
{{Track listing
| headline = Zephyr track listing
| title1 = Intro
| length1 = 0:19
| title2 = Peace of Mind
| length2 = 7:12
| title3 = Alkazaar
| length3 = 3:41
| title4 = Hip Hip Hooray
| length4 = 2:53
| title5 = Walking in the Clouds
| length5 = 3:39
| title6 = Where R We Now
| length6 = 5:14
| title7 = Dark Vale
| length7 = 1:32
| title8 = Check the Fuse
| length8 = 0:54
| title9 = Sunrising
| length9 = 2:01
| title10 = Ascension
| length10 = 5:51
}}
Charts
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+Chart performance for Zephyr !scope="col"|Chart (2009–2010) !scope="col"|Peak |
| {{album chart|UKDance|12|date=20091219|rowheader=true|access-date=12 September 2014}} |
References
{{reflist}}
{{Basement Jaxx}}
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