Handcream for a Generation

Amazon.com
For the pessimists who thought 1998's "Brimful of Asha" might have made Cornershop one-hit wonders, Handcream for a Generation acts as a dazzling Technicolor rejoinder. This fourth album by Tjinder Singh's group is a sure-footed survey of international party styles. Through 13 tracks, they manage to locate the secret connections between funk, hip-hop turntablism, boogie rock, roots reggae, French house, Punjabi folk, heavy psychedelia, and, yes, good old-fashioned indie-pop. On paper it looks dauntingly ambitious, and in the hands of any other band it probably would be. But Singh has a talent for finding universal accessibility at the heart of any genre as well as a pathological fear of the clichéd and portentous. So Handcream begins with deep soul singer Otis Clay making the introductions on "Heavy Soup," cranks up a hoary old Stones riff for an extended rant about the music biz on "Lessons Learned from Rocky I to Rocky III," and even finds a use for Noel Gallagher on the 15-minute soaring raga of "Spectral Mornings." Best of all, the whole album's imbued with a spirit that's both celebratory and contrary, one that challenges and stimulates even while it's making you dance on the table. --John Mulvey

Tracks:

Heavy Soup
Staging The Plaguing Of The Raised Platform
Music Plus 1
Lessons Learned From Rocky I To Rocky III
Wogs Will Walk
Motion The 11
People Power
Sounds Super Recordings
The London Radar
Spectral Mornings
Slip The Drummer One
Heavy Soup (Outro)
Bonus Track

Amazon.com

For the pessimists who thought 1998's "Brimful of Asha" might have made Cornershop one-hit wonders, Handcream for a Generation acts as a dazzling Technicolor rejoinder. This fourth album by Tjinder Singh's group is a sure-footed survey of international party styles. Through 13 tracks, they manage to locate the secret connections between funk, hip-hop turntablism, boogie rock, roots reggae, French house, Punjabi folk, heavy psychedelia, and, yes, good old-fashioned indie-pop. On paper it looks dauntingly ambitious, and in the hands of any other band it probably would be. But Singh has a talent for finding universal accessibility at the heart of any genre as well as a pathological fear of the clichéd and portentous. So Handcream begins with deep soul singer Otis Clay making the introductions on "Heavy Soup," cranks up a hoary old Stones riff for an extended rant about the music biz on "Lessons Learned from Rocky I to Rocky III," and even finds a use for Noel Gallagher on the 15-minute soaring raga of "Spectral Mornings." Best of all, the whole album's imbued with a spirit that's both celebratory and contrary, one that challenges and stimulates even while it's making you dance on the table. --John Mulvey

Customer Reviews:

High Quality, some flaws.......2003-11-08

(3 and a half stars) This album has a little bit of everything, from R&B/Soul to Techno/Dance, with some good rock interspersed liberally throughout. It matches my criteria for a good album, in that it has a decent flow/groove throughout. Though not as good as their last album, this is still a superior effort. Taken individually the songs are well written, with some excellent efforts, Heavy Soup is a great opening track, Motion the 11 is a fun reggae/dance track, and Spectral Mornings is a 14 minute raga that never seems to end (this is a good thing, I didn't want it to). This is a band with a tremendous amount of talent, that is definately worth seriously listening to. That being said, I think sometimes they get a little too caught up in their own brilliance and overstate their point. While I was happy with the length of Spectral Mornings, some of the songs seemed to be quite too long, and little too repetitive.
Overall a very ambitous effort, and well executed, but with some flaws that can get slightly annoying. The quality makes up for any shortcomings, and the album holds up after repeated listening.
Maybe 3 and three quarters stars

A Beautiful Ending.......2003-02-24

When I Was Born For the Seventh Time changed the way I thought about music. It opened new worlds to me, changing my musical taste from bubble-gum Oasis style pop to a lover of William Parker, Tortoise, King Tubby, Madlib, Phillip Glass, old funk records and everything else under the sun. It did this by being an easy to understand and at the same time brilliantly innovative and experimental.
This album continues Cornershop's fun-loving exploration of musical styles easily, if not as convincingly and movingly as When I Was Born... Surprisingly, since Disco and the Halfway to Discontent, Cornershop have moved from albums whose strengths were the traditiongal songs and whose interesting parts were the instrumental bits to a band whose weak point is song writing. Not that the songs on this are bad by any means. Staging the Plaguing... and Wogs Will Walk are two of the best tradtional songs Cornershop have ever written. However, the purely instrumental parts, such as Slip The Drummer One, Bonus Track, and Heavy Soup manage to outshine the traditional songs in terms of funk, soul, and ingenuity. The last three tracks on this album alone might be the most beautiful musical statement Cornershop has ever made.
So, with that in mind, buy this.

They Probably Deserve the Fifth Star.......2002-10-23

This album probably deserves 5 stars, but I've got to leave room for Cornershop's previous album "When I was Born for the Seventh Time," which was even better. Cornershop is just one of those bands that makes music that sounds like it's in technicolor while everyone else is in monochrome. Their music simply fulfills so many of the functions that music is supposed to fulfill: rhythm, melody, heavyosity, fun, dancing, social criticism etc. This album is a grab bag of danceable R&B, Reggae, Rock, Funk and Disco styles. They succeed brilliantly at each of them. My 15-month-old daughter loves to jump around to it, and I do too. I also love the lyrics, which manage to be silly and moving, sincere and sarcastic all at the same time. Tjinder Singh's voice is a unique carefully annunciated drone. My wife thinks it's sexy, and I can't help but agree. Since I'm a rocker, my favorite songs are "Staging the Plaguing of the Raised Platform," which has an unforgettable guitar hook and a bunch of kids singing the chorus to great effect, and "Spectral Mornings," which is a 15 minute opus of guitars, sitars, drums and tablas. If you read the reviews of this album, nearly everyone has different favorite songs. This is because Cornershop play so many different kinds of music well. By the way the drumming on this album is absolutely phenominal.

If you like Midnite Vultures...........2002-08-04

1. What is the text about? A sort-of, kind-of tribute to African-American musical tradition
2. What is good about it? The lyrics are kind of cool; the melodies are catchy.
3. What is not so good about it? It seems to me that the album is a retread of other albums that have shown their connection to African-American music. And I can't tell if it's using it as a crutch or a tribute. Whatever it is, it's pretty annoying at times.
4. Who might like it? It's in some ways a little more listener-friendly than When I Was Born for the 7th Time, and usually that's a good thing. It isn't for me this time, but it probably will be for others. Those wou like Midnite Vultures might like this.
5. Personal bias: I really like Cornershop's last album and wanted to like this one more than I do. I don't believe in the concept of selling out.

doesn't live up to previous work.......2002-07-22

I'm a big fan of cornershops previous two albums-woman's gotta have it and when i was born for the seventh time. I really admired their unique sense of music and blend of hip-hop, rock and indian music toghether. However, handcream for a generation lacks cornershops's previous sound. There seems to be less focus on the music like the long intro track-heavy soup that would have have made a good intro if it wasn't so long. The band some didn't use its creaty and intelligence as much on this album. there are some good songs on the album like London Radar and motion to 11.

Average customer rating:

Handcream for a Generation
Cornershop
Manufacturer: Toshiba EMI Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Electronic Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Alternative Dance | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000069L04
Release Date: 2002-08-19

Tracks:

Heavy Soup
Staging the Plaguing of the Raised Platform
Music Plus 1
Lessons Learned From Rocky I to Rocky III
Wogs Will Walk
Motion the 11
People Power
Sounds Super Recordings
London Radar
Spectral Mornings
Slip the Drummer One
Heavy Soup (Outro)
Bonus Track
Straight Aces [*]

Album Details

Japanese Version featuring a Bonus Track: "Straight Aces".

Average customer rating:

A great one
A great one

Handcream for a Generation
Cornershop
Manufacturer: V2
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Electronic Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Alternative Dance | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00005UNIG
Release Date: 2002-04-02

Tracks:

Heavy Soup
Staging the Plaguing of the Raised Platform
Music Plus 1
Lessons Learned From Rocky I to Rocky III
Wogs Will Walk
Motion the 11
People Power
Sounds Super Recordings
London Radar
Spectral Mornings
Slipthe Drummer One
Heavy Soup (Outro) [*]

Album Description

Import only 2002 album.

Album Details

Features Oasis' Noel Gallagher on the 14 Minute Epic Called 'spectral Mornings' and Guigsy on the First Single 'lessons Learned from Rocky I to Rocky Iii'. Other Guests Include Us Soul Legend Otis Clay on the Feel Good Opener 'heavy Soup' and Turntablist Rob Swift of New York's X-men Co-produces Two Tracks.

Customer Reviews:

A great one.......2002-10-10

Cornershop has managed to make a leap forward that's also beautiful and fun. Oh, and ultra-danceable.

A great one.......2002-10-10

Cornershop has managed to make a leap forward that's also beautiful and fun. Oh, and ultra-danceable.