Live (Shepherd's Bush Empire 23/4/2002) (Cornershop in general)

Member Name: Ian Proudfoot

Product:	Cornershop in general
Date:	26/04/02 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Inspiring , Funky

Disadvantages: Jeffery Lewis, No Motion 11

Being quiet for a few years, seems to have given Cornershop a new lease of life. Their new album 'Handcream for A Generation' although not setting the charts on fire has had the critics salivating. Blending the sounds of Bollywood and Britpop should really end up as a disaster. Cornershop however fuse the two with ease, adding elements of Daft Punk style funk and lo-fidelity hip hop to their musical stew. Live however, Cornershop have been notoriously sloppy. Tonight's performance puts at end to these claims as the newly session musician backed Cornershop are tighter than a gnat?s chuff.

The gig, however begins in a mess with the Indie shambling of Jeffery Lewis, who makes early Beck sound as well drilled as a squad of Marines. Lewis' music is not completely without charm. One song peaks with the fury of prime Pixies. However the rest of it recalls the stoner acoustics of Evan Dando era Lemonheads without the songs or the charm.

Next up are the normally reliable Toes. I?ve now seen them live about five times supporting a variety of acts. Each time previously I've always been impressed. This time around though there seems to be something lacking. The scrawling blues rock holler of 'Sally' still kicks serious bottom, but the new material aired seems to show the Toes have a lack of ideas. Most of it sticks to the same formula and lacks enough variation and hooks to rise the band above the ranks of "shows promise".

It is there left for Cornershop to save the night. Arriving to the sound of 'Heavy Soup, the band congregate on stage, each band member adding a layer of sound to the intro tape building a heavy seventies funk rock groove. Then core members Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres arrive on stage and then the action begins.

Although Tjinder remains an distant front man throughout the gig, it's the strength of the music he has created that makes Cornershop an essential live experience.
New tracks like 'Staging the Plaguing of the Raised Platform' are mixed effortlessly into classics like 'Sleep on the Left Side' and 'Good Shit'. The constant playful funk undertow of the tracks propelling them forward. The Shop even drop in their Punjabi version of the Beatles 'Norwegian Wood' and it acts as a fitting tribute to George Harrison's eastern beliefs.

The highlights however have to be the Oasis amplified version of 'Brimful Of Asha' and the sitar led Psychedelic epics 'Spectral Morning' and 'Jullander Shere'. 'Brimful' is removed from both the context of the original and the Fatboy Slim overhaul and is turned into a throbbing rock monster. Whilst 'Spectral' and 'Jullander' are massive walls of sound where the drone rock of Mogwai collides with the mysticism of India.

Since the heady days of their number one, it would seem that Cornershop have been forgotten about by the record buying public. However both their new album and their live performance has proven that they are a legitimate and creative musical force within the music scene.

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