Pitchfork

London's Tate Modern museum has a series called "Tate Tracks," in which musicians compose a new piece in response to an artwork currently on exhibit. The track is then available to listen to on headphones in the vicinity of the piece that inspired it. Past pairings include the Long Blondes/Jannis Kounellis and Klaxons/Donald Judd. Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx were invited to contribute, and they chose the painting "Hip Hip Horrah!" by Dutch artist Karel Appel. No, they didn't do a Naughty by Nature cover, don't get your hopes up. In fact, the Jaxx seem quite respectful of the high art setting for the music, with an offering that's far more soundscape than pop tune. Some sitar and oud plucks lead to glitch-laden drones beset with Star Wars lasers and then, eventually, stark piano backed by digital noise which sounds like it comes from the recent Fennesz/Sakamoto collaboration. You can look at the painting while you listen, even zooming in for detail. No jockeying for position with the other museumgoers, either.

Stream:> Basement Jaxx: "Basement Jaxx vs. Karel Appel"