Where's Your Head At
| "Where's Your Head At" | ||||
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| Single by Basement Jaxx | ||||
| from the album Rooty | ||||
| Released | December 11, 2001 | |||
| Format | CD | |||
| Recorded | 2001 | |||
| Genre | House, big beat[1] | |||
| Length | 4:43 | |||
| Label | XL | |||
| Writer(s) | Felix Burton, Simon Radcliffe | |||
| Producer | Basement Jaxx | |||
| Basement Jaxx singles chronology | ||||
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"Where's Your Head At" is a song by British electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx. It was released as a single from their second album, Rooty, in 2001. The song was recorded in early 2001 and is based around samples from Gary Numan's songs "M.E." and "This Wreckage". The song peaked at number 39 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart,[2] the band's only charting single on a non-dance music chart in the United States.
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[edit] Music video
The music video is directed by McG. The video starts out with a man (played by Damian Samuels) entering an undisclosed location ("the armpit of nowhere" as he calls it) to meet up with a man who claims to have "the latest thing in pop music". Meanwhile, a guitarist is shown being wheeled away in a hospital gurney, with the song starting when he lifts his head.
The man then meets up with a scientist (played by Czech actor Petr Janiš), who then shows him his idea – monkeys playing music – with the help of several props. The protagonist seems unconvinced and scoffs it off, but is later led to a room with a view of a large chamber with instruments used primarily by DJs. Monkeys are brought into the chamber and play the instruments, and it's revealed that melting their faces are actually those of humans (among them are the faces of the band members Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe). This special effect was accomplished using superimposition. Later, the monkeys suddenly start tearing up the equipment and causing general havoc, a behaviour which inexplicably carries over into the scientist in a nearby room as well. They then attack the main character, who promptly flees.
During his escape, the protagonist stumbles upon a room containing a monkey and an unconscious human both hooked up to a machine. The monkey's face then becomes more human in appearance. The protagonist, now horrified, sees a diagram on the wall showcasing pictures of a human brain pointing towards several monkey brains. It turns out the "latest thing in pop music" is actually an experiment where musicians' brains are being transferred to monkeys, and he's planned to be the next victim. The video ends with him escaping down a laundry chute to a room with men who have monkey-like faces, only to be cornered by the scientist and a dog, who also has the face of the scientist.
The clip went on to win two awards at the 11th Annual Music Video Production Awards for Best Electronica Video and Best Directorial Debut.[3][dead link]
The music video was voted 60th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Scary Moments.
[edit] Tracklisting
- "Wheres Your Head At"
- "Wheres Your Head At (Stanton Warriors Mix)"
- "Romeo (Acoustic Mix)"
[edit] Remixes
The song was remixed by a number of DJs including Stanton Warriors, Robbie Rivera, John Ciafone, and Basement Jaxx themselves. The Stanton Warriors mix was included on a Japan-only unreleased songs/remixes EP in 2002.[citation needed]
Klaas also published a version of this song in 2008. However, the artist for this remix is listed as Jean Elan instead of Basement Jaxx. Cut Up Boys remixed it along with Far Out and Make the World Go Round for the Mash Up Mix Old Skool released in August 2008.[citation needed]
In 2011, DJ Chuckie created a mashup of the song with Cold Blank's remix of "Cal State Anthem" and played it at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, as well as several other festivals and events around the world.[4]
[edit] In popular culture
- It is featured in Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure
- It was also featured in DJ Hero 2 as a mash-up with the song "Bonkers" by Dizzee Rascal, as well as a mash-up with the A-Trak remix of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs single "Heads Will Roll".
- The song is also featured in the soundtrack to the film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
[edit] References
- ^ "Where's Your Head At by Basement Jaxx : Reviews and Ratings". Rate Your Music. http://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/basement_jaxx/wheres_your_head_at/. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
- ^ "Basement Jaxx". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/basement-jaxx-p168739/discography. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
- ^ Basement Jaxx at AstralWerks[dead link]
- ^ "DJ Chuckie Set at Electric Daisy Carnival". IENLIVE. http://www.ienlive.com/blog/2011/06/26/dj-chuckie-live-set-electric-daisy-carnival-las-vegas-6-26-2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
[edit] External links
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