Tag: Britpop

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Tunes

100 best covers: #69 Cornershop “Norwegian wood (This bird has flown)”

<< #70    |    #68 >>

Chances are pretty good that if you haven’t heard tell of Cornershop, you’ve likely heard their huge, worldwide hit, “Brimful of asha”, bolstered in large part by the fabulous remix by Norman “Fatboy Slim” Cook. The original version of that track appeared on Cornershop’s third album, 1997’s “When I was born for the 7th time”. The album was released just past the apex of the Britpop craze and though neither their sound, style, politics, or ethos necessarily matched up with others from the scene, they were still lumped in with that lot simply because they were there. It was likely thanks to their appearance in the British music magazines I was in the habit of purchasing when I had the coin, and the aforementioned ubiquitous hit, that I purchased the album on CD during my final days of university*. And though I did like a lot of its tracks, it took me a few years to really appreciate what Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres were doing. There was so much going on here – psych, funk, rock, dance, ambient, and traditional Indian music – and the culmination of all this was summed up in this fun cover of The Beatles’ “Norwegian wood (This bird has flown)”.

The original, I’m guessing, needs no introduction. Recorded way back in 1965 for the album “Rubber soul”, “Norwegian wood” is widely considered to be one of the first instances of ‘Raga rock’ and was also highly influential on the burgeoning psych rock movement. The song was written by John Lennon, apparently about an extramarital affair, with contributions from Paul McCartney, its composition inspired by the folk ballads of Bob Dylan. But it all really came together when George Harrison added a touch of sitar, an instrument he had just recently discovered and had started to learn, and all of a sudden, we had our first Western rock song to feature the Indian traditional stringed instrument.

So, in fact, it’s quite compelling that Tjinder Singh, whose band name was a play on the stereotypical vision of Indian immigrants in England, would choose to cover this particular track. Reportedly approved by both Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono, his cover translated the words to Punjabi, upped the sitar focus, and in a sense, whether intended or not, reclaimed the use of the instrument and shone a spotlight on his heritage.

It’s never a fair game to try to rank a cover against a Beatles original but I definitely think Cornershop’s version of this track is worth your time. What are your thoughts?

Cover:

The original:

*”When I was born for the 7th time” eventually wormed its way deeply amongst my favourites of 1997, one of the greatest years for music (in my opinion), and landed on my top ten when I counted them down a couple of years ago.

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Gene “Olympian”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: Gene
Album Title: Olympian
Year released: 1995
Year reissued: 2015
Details: 20th anniversary limited edition, gatefold, 180 gram, blue vinyl

The skinny: Back when Gene’s debut album, “Olympian”, was released in 1995, they were being hailed by the British press as the next coming of The Smiths. Of course, they weren’t the first band to have bestowed upon them this dubious and weighty comparison, but in Gene’s case, they not only had the jangly guitars but also a secret weapon in Martin Rossiter, whose vocals rang very similar to those of Morrissey. Close comparison or no, I loved “Olympian”, as did a host of others, and it sold very well. Unfortunately, Gene’s fortunes were tied to that of Britpop’s popularity, like many other bands at the time, and when it waned, so did Gene’s listenership, and their latter albums didn’t sell nearly as well. Nevertheless, when I saw this 20th anniversary pressing on blue vinyl by Demon Records online, I knew I had to have it. And yes, it sounds as lively and fun as it did back then.

Standout track: “Haunted by you”

Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 2002: #16 Supergrass “Evening of the day”

<< 17    |    #15 >>

If you haven’t already, you likely will see over time (if you continue to peruse these pages), that my musical tastes in the 1990s tended towards artists that hailed from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. So when the so-called Britpop (or Cool Britannia) scene exploded in the middle of that decade, I was all over it. Bands that I had already been listening to were all of a sudden getting more exposure and new ones were popping up at an incredible rate. Some of the bands that came out of the woodwork during this time were amazing… but frankly, some didn’t deserve the attention they received. I didn’t get into Supergrass when I first heard them circa 1995 just for this reason. Although I loved the hit single, “Alright”, I feared this zany trio might end up being one of these latter bands.

Supergrass had formed a couple of years earlier, in 1993, by frontman/guitarist Gaz Coombes, bassist Mick Quinn, and drummer Danny Goffey. They were seen as the jokesters of scene because of the humour they injected into their rapid fire and three-minute pop songs. Case in point was their debut single, “Caught by the fuzz”, a narrative regaling Coombes’ experience of getting stopped while in possession of marijuana. I even remember reading an article at the time about how they were in talks to produce a sort of “Monkees” style, outlandish television show, though I don’t remember now why it didn’t come together.

I finally gave Supergrass a chance in 1999 when they released their third album, the self-titled one, and I kicked myself then for waiting so long. By the time 2002 rolled around, I was a pretty big fan of each of the first three albums and I was seriously looking forward to album number four. I bought “Life on other planets” on compact disc from the HMV store at the Rideau Centre with a gift card I had won from work. It was the first album that listed Gaz’s brother Rob as an official member of the band, his keys giving it a fuller sound, and it was an attempt by the band to recapture the energy of their first two albums. The tracks all clock in around the two and three minute mark, the only real exceptions being the final track, “Run”, and track six, “Evening of the day” and these are both due to their extended outros.

The latter track just mentioned was never released as a single and yet still managed to win me over as my favourite on the album and one of my tops of 2002. It’s got a killer groove, snappy snare brushing and cymbal splashing, and peppy guitar rhythms. It also features bassist Quinn with a deep set of vocals and Coombes taking a back seat for the singalong. Then, at the chorus that gives a knowing tip to Spinal Tap, things pick up for some more rock and roll. I often found myself hitting replay on the CD before I ever got to the end of the outro and now do so on my iPod. So good.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2002 list, click here.