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by Seth Rogovoy
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., July 4, 1996 -- Of the multitude of sounds that will be heard at Lollapalooza '96 at the Green Mountain Racetrack in Pownal, Vt., on Tuesday, some of the most distinctive ones will undoubtedly be those coming from the Second Stage between 2:50 and 4, when the English rock band Cornershop is scheduled to perform.
As heard on last year's stellar album, "Woman's Gotta Have It," Cornershop's noise-rock mix is a dense panoply of sounds and influences, the sum effect of which conjures up an Asian bazaar planted down in the middle of London on the eve of the millenium.
It's no surprise, as the band is the brain child of Tjinder Singh, a London native of Indian extraction who was raised on Punjabi folk and religious music. Thus, sitar vies with guitar on a typical Cornershop number. It's not an entirely new idea, as the Beatles were using sitars nearly 30 years ago. But it never quite sounded like this.
"Different things in the music might appear to people in a different way," said Singh in a phone interview last week, speaking from a Best Western motel on the eve of the first Lollapalooza concert in Kansas City.
Singh said this was his band's third trip to the U.S., where its distinctively English brand of post-punk, with influences ranging from the Velvet Underground to Big Audio Dynamite, has been well-received.
"It doesn't really matter if American audiences don't get what people in England might get," said Singh, referring to his music's particularly British political content. The band's name itself is an ironic nod at the English attitude towards Asians, who are viewed as occupying a role similar to Korean greengrocers in American cities.
"There are enough things hidden in the music, whether it's references to other peoples' songs, or things that have happened," he said. "Whether they realize the politics or just think of it as pop tunes doesn't matter. It's just good to be open-ended and to pose different questions to different people."
Among Anka's more recent accomplishments are writing and producing the radio jingle for the Trump Plaza's new advertising promotion, "Leave It All To Me," and signing a four-year, $6 million-plus deal with Bally's Grand Resorts casino in Atlantic City. Music center concert promoter Richard Nader has promised that Anka is bringing his complete Las Vegas show to Lenox. Tickets are $40; special gold patron seats for $100 are available, entitling the ticketholder to meet Anka at an after-concert reception. Call 637-4718 for more info.
Fresh from the opening slot on Joan Baez's worldwide tour, Northampton's Dar Williams plays for the hometown crowd at the Iron Horse on Sunday night at 7....
Lenore Toomey is back in town and once again hosting a weekly song swap at the legendary Dream Away Lodge in Becket on Wednesday nights at 7. Everyone is welcome....
Milltown Studios, a new "cafe/gift store/art space" at 51 Main St. in North Adams, presents the first of a projected weekly series of performances on Saturday night at 8. E.G. Wilde, a singer/songwriter from Northampton -- better known to local audiences as Dawn Fulvi, formerly of Pittsfield -- will kick off the series, which will also include a spoken-word set by a "surprise" poet and slide images. Coffee and pastries will be available; doors open at 7:30; tickets are $7 and available by reservation only by calling 662- 2725....
[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on July 4, 1996. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1996. All rights reserved.]
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