Brimful of Asha

"Brimful of Asha" is a 1997 single by British alternative rock band Cornershop, which originally reached number 60 in the UK Singles Chart in 1997. After a remixed version by Norman Cook became a radio and critical success, the song was re-released and reached number one in the UK chart in February 1998 and #16 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The lyrics are a tribute to Asha Bhosle.

Background

This song is based upon the history of film culture in India. Since their introduction, Indian films have relied heavily on song-and-dance numbers. Almost always, the singing was performed by background singers while the actors and actresses lip-sync. Asha Bhosle is one of these playback singers who has sung over 12,000 songs and is referred to as "Sadi rani" (Punjabi for "our queen") at one point in the lyrics. In the slower, original album recording, playback singers Lata Mangeshkar (her older sibling) and Mohammad Rafi (one of the top male playback singers of the mid-century) are mentioned. The lyrics in the bridge contain a number of references to non-Indian music, including Georges Brassens' song "Les Amoureux des bancs publics", Jacques Dutronc, Marc Bolan, Argo Records and Trojan Records.

Norman Cook

Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook on 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English DJ, musician and record producer/mixer.

As a solo electronic act, he has won ten MTV Video Music Awards and two Brit Awards. His records as Fatboy Slim also helped to popularise the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s.

Cook first rose to fame in the 1980s as the bassist of the indie rock band The Housemartins who scored a UK number-one single with their a capella cover of Isley-Jasper-Isley's "Caravan of Love". After the band split, Cook formed Beats International whose début album spawned their signature hit, "Dub Be Good to Me" which was another UK number-one as well as going on to become the seventh best-selling single of 1990 in the UK. Cook then went on to join numerous other acts including Freak Power, Pizzaman and The Mighty Dub Katz to moderate success.

Cook adopted the Fatboy Slim moniker in 1996 and released Better Living Through Chemistry to critical acclaim. Follow-ups You've Come a Long Way, Baby and Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars, as well as their associated singles, including "The Rockafeller Skank", "Praise You", "Right Here Right Now", and "Weapon of Choice", were also met with positive reviews and commercial success.

Tech house

Tech house is a subgenre of house music that mixes elements of techno with house. The term tech house developed as a shorthand record store name for a category of electronic dance music that combined musical aspects of techno, such as "rugged basslines" and "steely beats," with the harmonies and grooves of progressive house. The music originally had a clean and minimal production style that was associated with techno from Detroit and the UK. In the mid to late 1990s a scene developed in England around club nights such as The Drop run by Mr.C & Plink Plonk, Heart & Soul, and Wiggle run by Terry Francis and Nathan Coles. Other DJs and artists associated with the sound at that time included Charles Webster, Bushwacka!, Dave Angel, Herbert, Funk D'Void, Ian O'Brien, Derrick Carter, and Stacey Pullen. By the late 90's London nightclub The End, owned by the former Shamen rapper Richard West (Mr C) and Layo Paskin, was considered the home of tech house in the UK. Tech House tracks are typically between 6-10 minutes in length.

Minimal techno

Minimal techno is a minimalist subgenre of techno. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition and understated development. Minimal techno is thought to have been originally developed in the early 1990s by Detroit-based producers Robert Hood and Daniel Bell. By the early 2000s the term 'minimal' generally described a style of techno that was popularised in Germany by labels such as Kompakt, Perlon, and Richie Hawtin's M-nus, among others.

Origins

Minimal techno first emerged in the early 1990s. The development of the style is often attributed to a so-called "second wave" of American producers associated with Detroit techno. According to Derrick May, "while the first-wave artists were enjoying their early global success, techno also inspired many up-and-coming DJs and bedroom producers in Detroit". This younger generation included producers such as Richie Hawtin, Daniel Bell, Robert Hood, Jeff Mills, Carl Craig, Kenny Larkin, and Mike Banks. The work of several of these artists evolved to become focused on minimalism.