Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
No they haven't!!, 7 Mar 2008
I've been a fan of Chumba since the late 80's/early 90's. I didn't think that they'd top A Singsong And A Scrap. I'm wrong. The album is a beautiful modern folk acoustic album. It's got everything you could want from Chumba.....unless you only know of "the hit". It's thought provoking, funny, serious, caustic, cute and undoubtedly folky. there's even a song I can sing at Morris music sessions.....El Fusilado...probably my fave track, although Sing About Love is a wonderfully subtle protest song. I love the shortness of many of the tracks...it's amazing that you can make a point in song in such a short space of time. The harmonies are (as ever) a wonder.
I am in awe of Chumbawamba, and their ability to make music that is so affecting.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
just fantastic, 15 April 2008
Saw Chumba live, singing loads of these songs, couldn't wait to get the album. They are just out of this world in terms of vocal perfection, harmonic gorgeousness and thought provoking/witty/angry/passionate/perceptive lyrics. Can't stop listening.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Bittersweet harmony, 4 April 2008
Wow! this is an outstanding album and a triumph for purveyors of fine, original and passionate music. Like many others my only previous experience of the Leeds band is their (almost) chart-topping 90s anthem ;Tubthumping'. That and seeing them douse John Prescott with water at the 1998 Brit Awards. So I was more than pleasantly surprised to hear a band I'd presumed long-gone appear on Radio 2 performing tracks from this album for Mark Radcliffe. The sheer versatility, range and refusal to be pigeon-holed deserves acclaim in itself; not since The Beautiful South's 'Carry on up the Charts' have I heard a pop song as witty and inventive as 'Add Me', the thoughts of an internet stalker, whilst 'El Fusilado' is a plaintive ode to a man who survived execution by firing squad. These are just two of the 25 gems on the album - not all full length songs but some simply snatches of thoughts. The band also line-up several 'icons' for their caustic firing squad: Margaret Thatcher, Bono, Manchester United FC and Hello magazine to name but a few. The real beauty of the album though, lies in its determination to say it how it is; this is not simply a lukewarm dig at popular culture but a brave and original statement against corporate life and the insidious erosion of the freedom and originality that Britain was once famous for. Bittersweet is an overused adjective but it certainly fits here - and the elements of pop, folk and acoustic rock are the perfect counterpoint to the blunt and necessary lyrics. Buy this album; don't download it, or I fear the boy bands really will have won.
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