Basement Jaxx

Professing disappointment with 2006's Crazy Itch Radio, Basement Jaxx call Scars a return to their club roots. But on which planet? House, dancehall and soca collide with chart pop at its most irreverent. The title track is a gothic electro operetta featuring Kelis at her sultry spookiest. "Saga," featuring Santigold, crosses dubstep with two-tone ska so smartly you wonder why no one thought of doing it earlier. And standout "Twerk" quotes Irene Cara's "Maniac," features Yo Majesty and is titled in homage to a rump-shaking dance craze: avant-garde, meet the derriere-garde.