\:<=-
Latest from Gornershop
is at least worth a listen
By Chris Tray
STAFFWRITER
The populai music of Indian
culture in rccent yean has oftcn
carried the stigma of simply fil-
tering into the vast genre known
aswald music. The success of
world-famous siar player Ravi
Shankar has helped Indian mu-
sic achieve worldwide notoriety,
yet he is not exactly a household
name.
Well how about Talvin Singh,
you might say? Ycs, Talvin
Singh, the wald famous dee-iay
who released Songs of the Asian
Underground iast this past
summer to critical fame. Talvin,
who? I guess this expounds ott
my point Indian music has had
a bit of difficulty filtering into
the culbre of American mu-
sic...ttnt is, until now.
In 1995, a group of Indian
artists frorn Britain named Cor-
nershop released their major la-
bel debut album entitled Wom-
an's Gotta Hary It on Luaka
Bop of Warner Brother Recmds.
Luaka Bop is owned and oper-
ated by David Byrne, former$
the lead-singer of the Talking
Heads. Woman's Gotn Hary It
spawned a college radio hit in
"Wog" and also climbed all the
way to number two on the CMI
Top 2CI Albums Chart In spite
of their slrccesses, many people
at this point had still not heard
of this British-Indian super-
goup.
Tjinder Sing, the lead-vocal-
ist and guitar player, explains
how the band came upon the
name of Cornershop. "The pre-
conception is that Asians
--__:F
gd anYthing to
haven't really
give to society. As long as theY
work 24 hours in their little
shops, then they're happy, and
that's all they want to do in life.
And that's why wc callcd' our
to get away
band Comershop
-
ftom ttrat sterootype iust get-
-
ting rid of the negative connota-
tions around it," he says.
It is easy to see that Singh is
quite poud of his Asian her-
itage, yet he does not think of
his band's music in a sPiritual
way. Singh explains, "A lot of
Asians want to be lifted to a
higher plane either spiritually or
saially when they listen !o mu-
sic. Me,I really don't care to be
lifted up that way. I'm much
morp interested in exPeriment-
ing, pufiing things in waYs that
harrcn't boen done before."
Singh, like many others in-
volved in the music industrY,
feels that the music of PoPlar
culture today is rather unorigi-
nal at b€sl He relates, "I'm
bored with most records and can
rarely ever listen to one all 0P
way through because most
groups se€'m to want to stay
with the same old formula"
What's the use of riPPing off the
Beatles without Putting Your
own element in there?"
It is fairly ea.sy to see that
Singh is a rather outsPoken mu-
sical artist. In fact, shortly after
the release of. Woman's Gotta
Have It, Singh was seen torch-
ing a photo of cult lPro Mor-
risey in front of EMI recud's
offices. Despite this show of
disrespect to one of England's
most popular musical figures'
artisis like Brian Eno and even
The Grid have come to admire
the music of ConershoP.
In 195, the band toured the
US with two extremelY success-
ful indie rock projects in SuPer-
chunk and Scawccd. Convcrsc-
ly, Singh relates why the band
felt slightly out of Place. "We
had a bit of a trepidation over
the tour because of tte bill we
werc on, which was with SuPer-
chunk and Seaweed, t\t'o very
alternative rock type bands. We
didn't thhk it would go so well.
Live, we try to go with the
dance beats, a iany feel, the
Asian elements, the vocals, and
a few samples choPPed in for
good measure. At least a few
people are going to like it," he
says.
Besides playing with SuPer-
chunk and Seaweed, Corner-
shop has crisscrossed ttte US
three times, on their own as well
as with Porno fa Pyros, Stereo-
lab, and Ins Lobos. Attlrc, CMI
Music Fest this year, Corner-
shop showcased their skills on
opening night in hont of a sold
out crowd at the Knitting FactG
ry.
Once again, CanershoP is
creating a stir in the music
world with their newest effort
entitled When I Was Born for
the 7th Time.Iust like heir Pre-
vious recording, Singh and his
bandmates are able to whiP o-
gether a blend of innovative
jazz, ftirious funk, biting techno,
and sprcy Punjabi pop. Singh
has a slightly different view of
the album than what I do. He record include "Good to Be On
says, "(Ihis album has) Some- The Road Again,"
thing for everyone: from coun-
Fy to brunch with hiPhoP,
cricket on the lawn with Punjabi
folk music and a square dance
with the most righteous of
beats".
The record's first single is en-
titled "Brimful of Asha" In ad-
dition to being in heavy rotation
at WFSE. "Brimful...' is also
gamering heavy airplay on al-
tcmativc radio spccialty shows.
ln fact, for the last three weeks
Radio & Records has recog-
nized "Brimful..." as the op
specialty show single in tlte
United Sabs for alternative hit
radio..WENZ in Cleveland was
one of the first commercial ra-
dio stations in the country to
add the single into its regular m-
tatiolt.
The next sure to be single is
"Sleep on the Left Side." The
beat kicls in with Anthony Saf-
frey snumming on tlte tlarmo-
nium, an Indian instrument that
resembles an accordion before
leading into the witty, insighdul
vocals of Singh. The song is ac-
tually much berer maped out
than "Brimful...", but its success
will undoubtedly hinge on the
success ofthe debtrt single.
"Bufier the Soul," an instru-
mental, is one of ttre facks that
truly showcases Singh's ability
to scratch and use samPling ef-
fectively.
"What is llappening" is an-
other song tlnt blends Asian
musical influence with the hiP-
hop culture of today. 'Funky
Days Are Back Again" mixes
beats ala They Might Be Giants
and Geggy Tah tocreate a
sound that fruly has an aPPeal to
the masses.
0ther appealing songs on the
Candyman",
and "'State Troopers."
The band, which also features
founding member Ben Ayres on
keyboard, Peter Bengry on Per-
cussion, and Nick Sims on
drums, has clearly put forth one
of the best albums of 1997. The
album, however, could have
been the best if Singh would
have decided to sing on more
than eight of the 15 tracks.
Furlhermore, the seven in-
strumental tracks are far too su-
perfluous considering Singh's
daft ability to pen songs. Over-
iU, Ure record deserves a listen
and will undoubtedly bring In-
dian music and culture to the
masses here in America-
Comershop is cunently tou-
ing a slew of major market
cities throughout the United
States. Unfortunately for us,
Cornenhop will not be slopping
in Buffalo, Cleveland, and
Pittsburgh.
The tour will be completed on
November 25 when Cornershop
touches down in theWindy City
of Chicago for a show at the
Metro/Smart bar. Hopefully
with the srrccess of their newest
Warner Brothers' effort Cor-
nershop will be able to hit the
markets of Cleveland, Pitts-
burgh, and Buffalo the next time
they are able to tour the United
States.
SHOWTIMES WEEK
FRIDAY.OCT()BER24
7:fl) p.rn- & 9r10.p.t[.
MOVIE:TheRellc
Univenity Center
l0:fi) o.m. - 2:fi) a.m.
Nfhtotrt TBA
Univenity Ceater
SAIIIBDAY.OCIOBEE25
ConccrtTBA
McCsnb Fieldhouse
I!JESDAT..8C[9DEB2g
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