TRADE ROOT MUSIC co-released with
CHUMBA WAMBA
Formed in a squat in Leeds, England, in 1982, the media-proclaimed “anarchist pop group” Chumbawamba has been anything but a typical pop group. They’ve been crisscrossing genres and raising hell via their benefit shows, topical lyrics, and general activist ways in a most “unpop” manner for over 20 years. Never mind their improbable fame that came about from their international hit “Tubthumping” in 1997. Whether they are in electric or acoustic form, this group remains true to their beliefs and still graces their audience with their righteous message, all intertwined in those instantly familiar Chumbawamba harmonies and catchy choruses.
THE BOY BANDS HAVE WON “We should be grateful for the Chumbas. Moving on from that anarchic postpunk phase and the bestselling single ‘Tubthumping,’ they have eased across to the folk scene and reinvented themselves yet again—this time as a classy, low-key harmony band writing inventive, intelligent songs.” —Robin Denselow, Guardian (UK)
Chumbawamba is back, armed with acoustic guitars, accordion and trumpet, five-part harmonies, a bucketful of attitude, and a new 25-track album called The Boy Bands Have Won. It actually has a much longer title than that (see cover for full title), but let’s call it by its pseudonym. The new album is a collection of such ideas; some are just passing thoughts, others are fully formed songs. It’s gentle and warm in tone, but caustic in intent. It plays with culture, with the idea of recycling our own culture. We all have this vast history of “stuff,” musical and historical and in art and sport and politics and a million other things. And it’s all there for the taking. Featuring guests the Oyster Band, Roy Bailey, Robb Johnson, Barry Coope, and Jim Boyes...and a hundred others, give or take a few.
music cd
JUNE 2008
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978-1-60486-027-6
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$14.99 • 5.5 X 5.5 •
AUDIO CD
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50 MIN
• POP-ROCK/FOLK
GET ON WITH IT: LIVE
Anyone who’s been to a Chumbawamba show recently will testify to the importance and relevance of releasing this live album. The band engages and plays off the audience by approaching radical music from a warm and communal standpoint. Aware that so many bands just get on stage and play, refusing to interact with the audience, Chumbawamba are determined to make gigs inclusive, not alienating. People at gigs asked if they could buy the album that sounded most like tonight, and the band felt that none of their albums caught the show as it stands today. Get On With It: Live is pop, folk, a capella, politics, humor, four-part harmony, and five-part anger. It’s sing-alongs and hymns, throwaways and big choruses, old favorites, covers, and two tracks only available on this North American release. FEB 2008
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978-1-60486-001-6
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$14.99 • 5.5 X 5.5 •
AUDIO CD
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53 MIN
• POP-ROCK/FOLK
ENGLISH REBEL SONGS 1381–1984 “Putting this album in the public’s gaze again is doing everyone a service.” —Chris Nickson, All Music Guide
English Rebel Songs 1381–1984 is Chumbawamba’s homage to the men and women who never had obituaries in the broadsheets; those who never received titles or appeared as entry in “Who’s Who.” This is an album that conjures up the tragedies and triumphs of the people who shaped England: its citizens. This album was originally recorded in 1988 when Chumbawamba was determined to stir up a rout in the tiny anarcho-punk community by swapping guitars and drums for a capella singing. The songs were discovered in songbooks, in folk clubs and on cassette tapes, chopped and changed and bludgeoned into shape with utmost respect for the original tunes. Fierce, sweet, and powerful, English Rebel Songs 1381–1984 contains ballads not included on the original album. It’s guaranteed to sway the listener, break hearts, and encourage hope...just as those who inspired the songs by changing history. 90
FEB 2008
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978-1-60486-000-9
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$14.99 • 5.5 X 5.5 •
AUDIO CD
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42 MIN
• POP-ROCK/FOLK