Bio by Kenneth Fitzgerald, Associate Professor of Art - Old Dominion University, Norfolk Virginia USA

It’s a resolve Cornershop has delivered on since its launch in 1993. They began as a raucous guitar-based agit-pop-group – with a difference. Amidst the thrilling din was Punjabi-sung tracks accompanied by sitar and dholki. Captured first on the EPs ‘In the Days of Ford Cortina’ and ‘Lock Stock and Double Barrel’, Cornershop issued their debut LP, ‘Hold On It Hurts’ in 1994. Though still rough and direct, the album’s tracks displayed textures exhibiting a broader musical vocabulary and intent.

Amongst ‘Hold On It Hurts‘s’ admirers was David Byrne, who signed Cornershop in the U.S. to his Luaka Bop label, proclaiming, “We could see that they were headed in a direction that no one else dared travel. And we liked it.” The new transatlantic partnership boosted 1995‘s ‘Woman’s Gotta Have It,’ one of the most startling and venturesome sophomore albums released by a band. The Asian/western mixes and sonic experiments bloomed and took center stage, notably in the U.K. and U.S. club success 6 A.M. Jullandar Shere.

Cornershop‘s breakthrough 1997 record, ‘When I Was Born for the 7th Time’, initiated unprecedented international acclaim. The record is a landmark of sonic invention and adventure, a cornucopia of compelling pan-cultural grooves. The album boasts Cornershop‘s signature track ‘Brimful of Asha’, possessing the most unlikely – yet inclusive – refrain in pop music history: “Everyone needs a bosom for a pillow.” It also included notable collaborations with Allen Ginsberg, The Automator, and a cover of The Beatles ‘Norwegian Wood‘ sung in Punjabi.

‘When I Was Born for the 7th Time’ was included in Rolling Stone‘s “Essential Recordings of the 90’s,” and Spin ranked it #34 in their “90 Greatest Albums of the ’90s” – after making it #1 in their “Top 20 Albums Of The Year” (besting, amongst others, Radiohead’s OK Computer). Similar rankings came from Q, NME, Melody Maker, and The Village Voice, amongst others.

Cornershop‘s recorded response to the attention was true to form and its self. Rather than building the Cornershop brand, they adopted the “Clinton” avatar for 1999‘s ‘Disco and the Halfway to Discontent’. The gratifying success of ‘When I Was Born…’ seemed irrelevant to where Singh and Ayres (now the core of the group and remaining original members) wanted to go.

The destination was the dance floor. ‘Disco…’ is a laid back yet insistent collection of fizzy grooves containing the hallmark guest vocals, stylistic twists, and a toolbox of genres. It provided further proof (if needed) that Singh‘s sonic imagination seemed limitless. This was especially evident when Cornershop quadruple-downs in 2002 on its next album – and masterpiece to date – ‘Handcream for a Generation.’

On the surface, the record follows its predecessor’s path: some band-performances, scratch and sample collages, genre exercises, and cross=cultural fusions traversing reggae, funk, and soul. Tracks are longer and more fully realized, starring a diverse guest cast including legendary soul singer Otis Clay, Noel Gallagher and Guigsy of Oasis, and London reggae figures Jack Wilson and Kojak. 'Handcream...' achieves its singular status for being the band’s most extensively ambitious and fulfilling of the band’s aesthetic.