Cornershop & Double-O Groove of

I play the cd here at my home and I never hear any complaints.I guess you could call it "Indie" music,..but so is Modest Mouse and many other bands you'd never guess.This cd is special to me because I had heard it when it first came out and I forgot about it until recently. Their music is about the simple things in life in general, it's happy and has a one-of-a-kind beat that comes only from "Cornershop".

...but for the rest of us who like the wildly inventive and idiosyncratic Cornershop, this is for us. I always enjoyed the smattering of songs sung in Punjabi on previous albums (though I had to look for lyric translations) and wished we could be gifted with a whole album of such tracks, and here it is! ---sort of. The songs are sung in Punjabi by Bubbley Kaur who has a very pleasant voice, if a little limited in range, but the music is Cornershop at their catchy best. I thought some tracks would have benefited by at least a little bit of Tjinder for the sake of variety, but everything on here is solid stuff--- nothing to shudder at and skip. I've always liked Cornershop but there were tracks on every album (except Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast, which was excellent from start to finish) I found almost unlistenable, but that's not the case here. Highly recommended.

I Have been a fan of Cornershop for Years and have 5 of their CD's. I thought that this was a follow-up to "Judy Sucks A Lemon for Breakfast".It wasn't. It is Cornershop promoting an un-known ( To me,anyway.) Bubbley Kaur. If you are expecting to hear vocals by Tjinder Singh,FORGET IT!

The best Cornershop record to date. A kick all the way through.

This is a beautiful, accomplished, singular album. I've been a Cornershop fan for years: Handcream for a Generation has been my favorite of theirs, and one of my favorite albums of all time. I think Double-O is even better than Handcream. It's very different (there are no Tjinder vocals at all), but the soul of Cornershop shines brighter than ever in Double-O. The fusion of Indian and British sounds/musics is PERFECT: and I feel I've never heard anything quite like it. Each cultural reference or borrowing feels celebratory: even the most stolid British sound on the album feels shared with an accepting love. Bubbley's lilting vocals are a playful and angelic constant that met and matched by a constantly varied instrumental/sampled accompaniment. The sound of this album is JOYFUL, playful, international, fun, funky, lush, absolutely beautiful. Makes me happy to be alive!

As a teacher, one thing I teach about - and something which utterly fascinates me is the idea of cultural ownership. Ironically those outside of a culture are often its best guardians and amongst the most devout aficionados. On the reverse of such a statement lies the fact those from a particular given culture are often the ones who understand it least. Point in case: cornershop.Growing up in England, whilst they have forged a groove into the indie Brit-rock, Brit-pop scene, pop/rock musicians they may be (doubtable in my opinion) but they had best leave dabbling with Indian music to the professionals. Whether we are discussing Bhangra, Hindustani Classical Music or Carnatic Music, a single fact remains which undergirds all genres, what one might describe as protocol. This is the biggest failing with all attempts to try and fuse or sample 'Indian' music by the ignorant, that it simply doesn't make sense, like someone trying to write a sentence in Hindi by copying a random selection of characters. Apply that analogy to a concerted studio effort and you get THIS. A bizarre mélange of punjabi pop set to a disconnected backdrop of odd rhythms and loops. Accompanied by as strange eclectic array of instruments and beats that, no matter how hard it tries to be, is never anymore than a random (that is not a positive comment) stab at hitting the target, I mean even the cover Art is off the beat.The whole thing just smarts of people who have no real knowledge and understanding of the intricacies and beauty of all forms of 'Indian' music, producing instead, an offering which is inherently ugly and vulgar, and something which is but a sad pastiche vaguely representant of a stereotypical or imaginary 'India' which one might conceive having never been there. Something even playback singer-esque Bubbley Kaur (who can at least carry a tune) is unable to rescue. And whilst she is arguably the best thing about a VERY uneventful CD, even she would be invisible if she went to India, she is certainly no outstanding talent, no more than a small colourless minnow in the bigger pond of the Indian music business.Whilst I know this is NOT in the same genre at all, if you want to hear real beauty and sensitivity check out Nina Kaur Virdee's 'Gurbani Keertan.' If you want crossover Indian vibes with a classical undertow, then Anything by DJ Cheb I Sabbah should do the trick. Finally if you want pop 'The Rough Guide to Bhangra' is a good starting point.

Die ersten vier, fünf Songs sind wirklich klasse, aber dann lässt das Album stark nach und wird etwas ermüdend. Das ist umso bedauerlicher, zumal z.B. das bezaubernde Topknot schon seit einigen Jahren als Single im Umlauf ist. Deswegen wird dem Fan hier unterm Strich nicht allzu viel Neues und Gutes geboten. Bubbley Kaur hat eine schöne Stimme, aber auf 2-3 Songs hätte ich doch gern Tjinder Singh gehört. Es handelt sich also um ein interessantes und schönes, aber alles in allem nicht wirklich befriedigendes Album. Wer auf Bollywood meets Electronica meets Britpop steht, sollte aber auf jeden Fall mal reinhören.

Le titre 2 Topknot passe sur France Inter à chaque fois qu'il y a une grève. A part ça, je pense que je n'ai jamais entendu ce groupe ailleurs. C'est dommage, car ce mélange de musique indienne (d'Inde) et d'autres genres (jazz, classique, variété, rock, ...) est intéressant. Néanmoins j'aurais préféré plus d'unité dans les titres, car ils sont tous hybridés avec un genre différent des autres et l'on a un peu du mal à écouter le CD d'un seul trait si certains genres ne plaisent pas. Ca fait trop fouillis ou fourre-tout.C'est chanté en indien (je ne sais pas quelle langue, mais ce n'est pas de l'anglais ;-), accompagné par des instruments traditionnels, mais avec synthé, guitare et basse électriques, piano, clavecin, batterie, boîte à rythme, etc. (je ne sais pas dans tout ça ce qui est de synthèse ou pas).A découvrir comme un OVNI.

As a teacher, one thing I teach about - and something which utterly fascinates me is the idea of cultural ownership. Ironically those outside of a culture are often its best guardians and amongst the most devout aficionados. On the reverse of such a statement lies the fact those from a particular given culture are often the ones who understand it least. Point in case: cornershop.Growing up in England, whilst they have forged a groove into the indie Brit-rock, Brit-pop scene, pop/rock musicians they may be (doubtable in my opinion) but they had best leave dabbling with Indian music to the professionals. Whether we are discussing Bhangra, Hindustani Classical Music or Carnatic Music, a single fact remains which undergirds all genres, what one might describe as protocol. This is the biggest failing with all attempts to try and fuse or sample 'Indian' music by the ignorant, that it simply doesn't make sense, like someone trying to write a sentence in Hindi by copying a random selection of characters. Apply that analogy to a concerted studio effort and you get THIS. A bizarre m'lange of punjabi pop set to a disconnected backdrop of odd rhythms and loops. Accompanied by as strange eclectic array of instruments and beats that, no matter how hard it tries to be, is never anymore than a random (that is not a positive comment) stab at hitting the target, I mean even the cover Art is off the beat.The whole thing just smarts of people who have no real knowledge and understanding of the intricacies and beauty of all forms of 'Indian' music, producing instead, an offering which is inherently ugly and vulgar, and something which is but a sad pastiche vaguely representant of a stereotypical or imaginary 'India' which one might conceive having never been there. Something even playback singer-esque Bubbley Kaur (who can at least carry a tune) is unable to rescue. And whilst she is arguably the best thing about a VERY uneventful CD, even she would be invisible if she went to India, she is certainly no outstanding talent, no more than a small colourless minnow in the bigger pond of the Indian music business.Whilst I know this is NOT in the same genre at all, if you want to hear real beauty and sensitivity check out Nina Kaur Virdee's 'Gurbani Keertan.' If you want crossover Indian vibes with a classical undertow, then Anything by DJ Cheb I Sabbah should do the trick. Finally if you want pop 'The Rough Guide to Bhangra' is a good starting point.

I was really disappointed with this, especially after the brilliant first album which included the wonderful Brimful of Asha. It is far more Indian, and I dont mean that in any derogatory way, but I found after a while that the vocals started to grate on me. I dont know what I expected, but it seems a letdown! Sorry Cornershop...