WunDaGround

somesongsconsidered:

“Brimful of Asha” – Cornershop
(Words/music: Tjinder Singh, available on When I Was Born for the 7th Time, Luaka Bop 1997)

Everyone has a signature mix song.  It’s not quite a theme song and not (necessarily) your absolute favorite song or your favorite artist.  Instead, it’s that crucial go-to song that finds its way onto a mixtape or into a crucial spot in a DJ set.  It’s a song we love yet it accomplishes another intangible task.  Perhaps it’s a song that sets up other songs well, or one with a strong personal association or funny related story.  For me, “Brimful of Asha” is like a melodic hand grenade dropped into a playlist.  It’s specifically useful for an abrupt shift from a serious or somber song into a lighter, bouncier part of the mix, but no matter what comes before it or after it, “Brimful of Asha” shines on its own.

From Tjinder Singh’s opening line in Punjabi (correct me if I’m wrong, of course), “Brimful of Asha” bursts out brightly.  Lyrically, Singh goes through some of India’s most famous playback singers, name checking performers, films, and labels relevant to the music in Indian movies.  However, on another level, “Brimful of Asha” is about a love of music in general.  Singh describes how the songs the playback singers sang fueled dreams, offered support through difficult times, and even serve as a “bosom for a pillow.”  Moreover, Singh keeps referencing 45 records and RPM players; while I couldn’t pick out an Asha Bhosle performance, I know the therapeutic and escapist power of putting on a record and letting the outside world stay at the door for a few minutes.  After all, we all have records/albums/songs that we turn to when we need them.  This is the universal power of music – whether it’s Mohammad Rafi, Miles Davis, or Michael McDonald, we all have the capability to get lost in a record.  It’s especially true with a record as infectious as “Brimful of Asha.”  It’s cyclical riff and repetitive structure even seem connected back to the record itself, and as the band keeps adding subtle layers until it feels like a 77,000 piece orchestra set behind Tjinder Singh, we’re on the other side giving in to the urge to lay our head down on it one more time.

(Two bits of postscript - I can’t find the video for the original song (just the sped up Fatboy Slim remix) but I remember loving it, especially for the animation.  Also, if you’re interested in more depth about the playback singers (and a fairly extensive analysis based on that background knowledge), check out this post).

More on Cornershop: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

Wow! Seriously fucking WOW!!!! You know when I say it I mean it! Check out the rest of the post; I LOVED this tune and have fallen in luv with it all over again after checking out “Brimful of Asha, Explained” Thankyou so much for this gift ;)