Cornershop - Straight Aces (2012)

Tjinder Singh formed General Havoc in 1987, while he was a student at Lancashire Polytechnic in Preston, and when he relocated to Leicester, where his brother and sister lived, he formed Cornershop in 1991 along with his brother Avtar on bass, David Chambers on drums and Ben Ayres on guitar, keyboards and tamboura. They first came to the public's attention in the early 90's, when singer Morrissey was being vilified by the UK music press after accusations of racism, and the band were invited to comment, with Melody Maker running a story featuring the band burning a picture of the singer outside the offices of EMI. Their debut release, the 'In The Days Of Ford Cortina' EP, was pressed on "curry-coloured vinyl", and contained a blend of Indian-tinged noise pop, but by the time they released their debut album, 'Hold On It Hurts', in 1994, their sound had mellowed somewhat, and Trouser Press described it as "a politically charged popfest, ten tracks of noisy delights that meld incisive social commentary with a firm hold on British post-punk." The album impressed David Byrne sufficiently for him to sign the band to his Luaka Bop label, but David Chambers left the band after the release of the album, and was replaced by Nick Simms. 

The band re-emerged in 1995 with the '6 a.m. Jullandar Shere' single, and a new album titled 'Woman's Gotta Have It', and they embarked on a tour of the United States, including some dates on the Lollapalooza tour. The critically acclaimed album 'When I Was Born For The 7th Time' came out in September 1997, and featured collaborations with Allen Ginsberg, Paula Frazer, Justin Warfield and a Yoko Ono/Paul McCartney-approved cover of 'Norwegian Wood', recorded in the Punjabi language. Rolling Stone called it one of the essential recordings of the 1990's, and it was ranked No. 1 on Spin's list of 'Top 20 Albums of the Year'. The track 'Brimful Of Asha' was released as a single, and it topped the Festive 50 rundown of John Peel's tracks of the year in 1997, leading to Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) offering to remix the track, whereupon it became a worldwide phenomenon. In 2000, Ayres and Singh released a disco inspired album, 'Disco And The Halfway To Discontent', as part of their side-project, Clinton, and this album inspired the launch of the London-based clubnight called Buttoned Down Disco, which took its name from the third track on the album. Their next official Cornershop release was the 2002 album, 'Handcream For A Generation', which featured Noel Gallagher on guitar, but it was two years before they released any new music, when 'Topknot', featuring the vocals of Bubbley Kaur, appeared on Rough Trade Records. 

Another two year wait resulted in the February 2006 release of the single 'Wop The Groove', featuring guest vocals from Happy Mondays backing singer Rowetta, and in something of a pattern, their 'Candyman' was featured in the Nike advertisement for the LeBron James VI shoe, called the Six "Chalk", in 2008. Cornershop finally released the follow-up to 'Handcream...' in July 2009, with 'Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast' finally appearing seven years after its predecessor, and both the album and it's lead single 'The Roll-Off Characteristics (Of History In The Making)' appearing on their own record label Ample Play. An album in collaboration with Punjabi folk singer Bubbley Kaur, of the 'Topknot' single, was issued in March 2011, with 'Cornershop And The Double 'O' Groove Of' receiving much critical acclaim in the UK. The band also set up the Singhles Club Club, a subscription service featuring a series of musically diverse collaborations and exclusive digital artwork. During the early part of their career the band treated their fans to a number of rare tracks on one-off singles, rare EP's and b-sides, but by the time the band's eighth album 'Urban Turban' was released in May 2012, and was followed in February 2015 by 'Hold On It's Easy', this had ceased to be a regular occurrence, and so this collection of those rare and hard to find non-album songs has to stop in 2012, with a reverential Beatles' cover from a 2012 b-side. It also includes a call-back to the hidden track from the 'Lock Stock & Double Barrel' EP, with their own take on the country tune 'Houston Hash', a discussion about Dixon's D90 cassette tapes, and a pretty straight version of the 50's skiffle classic 'The Battle of New Orleans', proving that they were a much weirder band than I ever gave them credit for!

Track listing

Disc I - 1993-1994

01 Waterlogged (from the 'In The Days Of Ford Cortina' EP 1993)
02 Moonshine (from the 'In The Days Of Ford Cortina' EP 1993)
03 Kawasaki (More Heat Than Chapati) (from the 'In The Days Of Ford Cortina' EP 1993)
04 Hanif Kureishi Scene (from the 'In The Days Of Ford Cortina' EP 1993)
05 England's Dreaming (from the 'Lock Stock & Double-Barrel' EP 1993)
06 Trip Easy (from the 'Lock Stock & Double-Barrel' EP 1993)
07 Summer Fun In A Beat Up Datsun (from the 'Lock Stock & Double-Barrel' EP 1993)
08 Breaking Every Rule Language English (from the 'Lock Stock & Double-Barrel' EP 1993)

09 Naii Zindagi Naya Jeevan (NME/Peel Sessions Singles Club 7" single 1993)
10 Inside Rani (Short Version) (b-side of 'Reader's Wives' 1994)
11 Tandoori Chicken (b-side of 'Reader's Wives' 1994)
12 The Safety Of Objects (b-side of 'Born Disco; Died Heavy Metal' 1994)
13 Rehoused (b-side of 'Born Disco; Died Heavy Metal' 1994)
14 Seetar Man (Clawfist Singles Club split single 1994)

Disc II - 1997-2012
01 Easy Winners (Part 1) (b-side of 'Brimful Of Asha 1997)>
02 Easy Winners (Part 2) (b-side of 'Brimful Of Asha 1997)
03 U47's (b-side of 'Brimful Of Asha 1997)
04 Returning From The Wreckage (b-side of 'Lessons Learned From Rocky I To Rocky III' 2002)
05 Green P's (b-side of 'Staging' 2002)
06 Straight Aces (b-side of 'Staging' 2002)
07 Wop The Groove (single 2006)
08 The Dixons D90 Series (b-side of 'Wop The Groove')
09 Houston Hash (from the 'Battle Of New Orleans' EP 2010)
10 The Battle Of New Orleans (from the 'Battle Of New Orleans' EP 2010)
11 Lynndie England (from the 'Battle Of New Orleans' EP 2010)
12 Love You To (b-side of 'Something Makes You Feel Like' 2012)