Hits Like A Shot Of Ginger Beer

Cornershop has reunited with Bubbley Kaur for Bounce And Salute, which is a joy to these ears.

I've been fumbling for superlatives, but the official website/label has nailed it in their promo, describing Bounce And Salute as "a song guaranteed to bring out peak summer and everyday sunshine, with classic Punjabi folk lyrics backdropped by a Carnival 77 roots-based music. It’s immediacy hits like a shot of ginger beer and everyone deserves a bit of refreshment."

They are not wrong, and the official video directed by Phil Miller effortlessly captures this with a cheerily garbed woman dancing around a row of beach huts, cutting away to images of ice lollies and fairground rides.

There's a second official video, created from video footage recorded in 2003 at the Damont Record Pressing Plant in Hayes (which I'd always associated with Middlesex but which has apparently been absorbed by the London borough of Hillingdon).

Anyway, I digress. Ben Ayres used to work at the pressing plant, and Tjinder Singh filmed a documentary focusing on the music industry's transition from analogue to digital.

As a music lover who pored over the scratched text and messages in the inner circle of my vinyl collection, the name Damont is of course instantly familiar and it's sad to know that the factory no longer exists.

The promo notes for Bounce And Salute note that Bubbley's lyrics lament "a previous sweetheart that slipped through the destiny of her life", something that she will never forget, whilst the music itself provides an uplifting, optimistic counterpoint.

Beautiful.

Cornershop and Bubbley previously collaborated on 2011 album  And The Double-O Groove Of. If you don't already have this in your life, then you need to do something about that as a matter of urgency. If it doesn't change your life, it will at least significantly improve it.

Cornershop generously made videos for six out the ten songs on the album - click on the links to view.

1)  United Provinces Of India

2)  Topknot

3)  The 911 Curry

4)  Natch

5)  Double Decker Eyelashes

6)  The Biro Pen

7)  Supercomputed

8)  Once There Was A Wintertime

9)  Double Digit

10)  Don't Shake It

My entry point was the Cavemen remix of Topknot, featuring M.I.A., who was so taken with the original that she provided a rap to complement Bubbley's vocals. Cavemen were a duo comprising Steve Mackey (RIP) of Pulp and producer/polymath Ross Orton.

Due to popular demand, And The Double-O Groove was repressed and rereleased in 2025 (including for the first time on vinyl) and you can still buy copies from Cornershop's label Ample Play.

You can also purchase a download of Bounce And Salute for a quid at the same place.

Life Could Have Been Very Different, But Then...

Celebrating Steve Mackey, 10th November 1966 to 2nd March 2023.

By sad coincidence, Steve appeared with Pulp in Tuesday's selection. On Thursday, he was gone at the age of 56. Far too soon.

It was when I was reading the tributes that followed that I began to appreciate how much of Steve's contribution to music outside of Pulp was sitting in my collection. So, rather than a straight selection of Pulp songs, I've gone a little wider and deeper.

Steve's partnership with Jarvis Cocker is undeniable and followed into the latter's solo albums and current releases as JARV IS... Steve and Jarvis also produced several remixes as The Chocolate Layers, with three included in today's selection.

 

I had no idea that he'd co-written, produced and later remixed (as Cavemen) M.I.A.'s debut single Galang. Or that he'd been behind the desk for Spiritualized's 2018 album And Nothing Hurt. Or that he'd produced The Long Blondes and Florence + The Machine. He had a hand in Race Of Life by Vangoffey too, a single from the 2015 collaboration between Louis Eliot (Rialto) and Danny Goffey (Supergrass). Steve also joined fellow Pulp members in writing and performing on Marianne Faithfull's 2002 album, Kissin Time.

 

And then there's Pulp. Not just the bass playing, the song writing, but a fringe to die for circa 1996. Far too many songs to choose from, but the selection starts and ends with two of my favourites, with a This Is Hardcore-era demo snuck in somewhere in between.

 

All in, an hour of Steve Mackey, with love and thanks. The title is taken from a line in this selection's final song and a tip of the hat for a life well lived. Rest in peace, Steve.

 

1) The Trees (Album Version By Scott Walker & Peter Walsh): Pulp (2001)

2) Pilchard (Album Version By Steve Albini & Jarvis Cocker): Jarvis Cocker (2009)

3) Weekend Without Makeup (Album Version By Steve Mackey & Richard Flack): The Long Blondes (2006)

4) Sliding Through Life On Charm (Album Version By Jarvis Cocker, Steve Mackey & Clive Goddard): Marianne Faithfull (2002)

5) Kiss With A Fist (Album Version By Steve Mackey & Richard Flack): Florence + The Machine (2009)

6) Galang (Cavemen Remix By Steve Mackey & Russ Orton): M.I.A. (2004)

7) Up A Tree Again (The Chocolate Layers' St. John's Ambulance Mix By Jarvis Cocker & Steve Mackey): Looper (1999)

8) Dirge (Cossack Apocalypse Mix By The Chocolate Layers aka Jarvis Cocker & Steve Mackey) (Edit): Death In Vegas ft. Dot Allison (2000)

9) My Erection (Demo): Pulp (1996)

10) Race Of Life (Album Version By Sam Dyson, Simon Byrt, Danny Goffey & Steve Mackey): Vangoffey (2015)

11) The Facts Of Life (Remixed By The Chocolate Layers aka Jarvis Cocker & Steve Mackey): Black Box Recorder (2000)

12) Am I Missing Something? (Pilooski/Jayvich Late Night Mix By Cedric Marszewski & Julien Vichnievsky): JARV IS... (2021)

13) Here It Comes (The Road) Let's Go (Album Version By Jason Pierce, Darren Lawson & Steve Mackey): Spiritualized (2018)

14) Something Changed (Album Version By Chris Thomas): Pulp (1996)

 

Life Could Have Been Very Different, But Then... (1:00:25) (Box) (Mega)