Cornershop
When I Was Born For The 7th Time

THE REVIEW

This album by Conershop is excellent (I believe it’s their 6th in a long series, but I might be wrong) and marked their launch into the broader music market with the single "Brimful of Asha," remixed by Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim back in 1997. Here, genre fusion is the norm, and it’s quite satisfying.

The album opens with the classic sound of the Indian harmonium, which, after a few notes, introduces "Sleep on the Left Side," indolent and suggestive with its hypnotic bass riff, the perfect meeting between India and Britpop. It continues with the aforementioned single "Brimful of Asha," which here, unlike Fatboy Slim’s remix, seems softer and tired, with a relaxed and lackluster rhythm. The musical interlude "Butter the Soul" is beautiful, filled with screechy sounds and sonic nonsense. With the track "Chocolate," we enter dub territories with little electronics and a strong desire to experiment. The sitar once again emphasizes the delineation and belonging of the group, introducing "We’re in yr Corner," an almost Indian song with a mantra-like chorus sung as if it were a pop ditty. "Funky Days Are Back Again" says it all in the title, introducing a nice rhythmic backdrop to the dreamy vocals of Tinder Singh, a bewildered and constantly disoriented character (seen in Milan, he seemed like a fish out of water, even on stage). With "What is Happening," we start with classic raga-style percussion, overlapping with sounds, larsen effects, distortions in the spirit of improvisation and the psychedelic soul that permeates the entire album. "When The Light Appears Boy" features sounds taken directly from the street (a market?) and set as background to the inspired and almost religious spoken word. The insertion of a similar village band is nice, lightening everything and adding an ironic and amused note to the track. With "Coming Up," things get serious again: sitar, drums, and samples dominate in this strange and hypnotic mix, very seductive. The following "Good Shit" returns to the traditional song and, leaving behind the experimentalism, returns to auteur pop, nice but, after the previous high, quite dispensable. With "Goo To Be On The Road Back Again," a splendid voice enters, which I couldn’t find in the credits, bringing us back to a song with strong 60s connotations, which wouldn’t be out of place sung at Woodstock in '68... "It’s Indian Tobacco My Friends" arrives, and we return to trip hop/dub territories with a rarefied atmosphere, using little electronics - and here lies the grandeur - with a magical and very atmospheric effect. "Candyman" arrives with a kind of Indianized R&B (actually a bit tired) with hip-hop ambitions in the speech, strange and out of context. "State Troopers" is yet another play of sounds that takes away nothing but adds nothing. And finally, it closes with the cover of "Norwegian Wood," complete with sitar and Indian vocals making Lennon/McCartney's song irresistible and fascinating, giving it an unforgettable mystical and psychedelic aura (I would dare to say the pearl of the album).

An album slightly lengthy but well compensated with its myriad inventions and for having opened (in '97) the Western music world to Indian and Eastern sounds, bringing us later bhangra, Bollywood, and its derivatives. For many, it was a trend that faded within a few years; for others – including myself – it was a beautiful discovery that still remains.