"Red Alert" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Basement Jaxx featuring Blu James | ||||
from the album Remedy | ||||
B-side | "Yo-Yo" | |||
Released | 19 April 1999 | |||
Genre | House | |||
Length | 4:17 | |||
Label | XL | |||
Songwriter(s) |
|
|||
Producer(s) | Basement Jaxx | |||
Basement Jaxx singles chronology | ||||
|
"Red Alert" is a song by English electronic music duo Basement Jaxx. It was released on 19 April 1999 by record label XL as the first single from their debut album, Remedy. The vocal from the track was provided by Blu James.
It reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart and became their first number 1 hit on the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play.
Craig Roseberry from Billboard cited Parliament and Funkadelic as inspirations for the track.
Red Alert contains a clean sample of the 1980 Locksmith single release on Arista records titled 'Chinese Funk Song'. This track, subtitled 'Far Beyond', was the 'B' side of 'Unlock the Funk' ID number K-8081. The intro section of the "Jaxx Club Mix" contains several electronic sound effect samples from various sources like the audible beeping sound used at pedestrian crossings for blind people in many countries including Australia.
Basement Jaxx remixed the track themselves calling it "Miracles Keep on Playin'". It appears on the "Rendez-Vu" single and samples The 'Jackson Sisters' track "Miracles".
"Red Alert" received critical acclaim from music critics. Joshua Klein from The A.V. Club stated: "For the BPM-minded, the retro single "Red Alert" has more than enough faux funk and chic camp to keep the masses moving, proving that Buxton and Ratcliffe know well enough to think with their feet as well as their heads."Robert Christgau and AllMusic's John Bush both chose the song as one of their track picks from Remedy. Writing for Rolling Stone, Barry Walters called the song a "sharp, steady groove is subverted by a succession of P-Funk chanting, G-funk synth screeching, string-section interludes, furious bass doodles and sassy diva wails." Marc Savlov from The Austin Chronicle described the track as a "club staple" with "the propulsive, feel-fucked-up joy."USA Today's Edna Gundersen said the song along with "Rendez-Vu", "have personality as well as slapping bass lines and deep grooves."The Village Voice listed the track at number 27 on their annual Pazz & Jop poll.