Chumbawamba Album: “Readymades and Then Some [Bonus DVD]”

I own several albums by Chumbawamba, and have always felt bad for them that they've been dismissed as a one-hit wonder (for "Tubthumping") when in actuality they're an incredibly talented political band that crafts every one of its albums to be unique and beautiful.

And of all their albums, this one's my favorite.

The albums samples heavily from old-time British folk music recordings, and though all its songs are political, if you don't read the album's liner notes you can just enjoy the songs as well-crafted, danceable, lovely songs.

"Salt Fare, North Sea" contains beautiful piano, "Jacob's Ladder" features danceable reoccuring horns, and "Home With Me" is the album's best song and is featured prominently in the award-winning short film "Suicide Tom" by filmmaker Dakota LaCroix. The song starts with a nice lilt of a keyboard bumping along, female backing vocals, and goes into a kind voice naming a series of great memories, and swells into the chorus, "I sailed the seven seas...carved my love on trees...I brought the whole world home with me...home with me." It's about always keeping the good moments of life, in your head and in your heart, and it's beautiful.

All of the songs are great though, and any money you might spend on this album would be money well-invested. It's terrific. "Readymades" will make you feel happy, melancholy, and like life is worth living. And read the liner notes, and you might learn something about world politics and the anarchist view.

"Readymades and Then Some" is especially nice because in addition to the album it comes with a DVD featuring long excerpts from a cool documentary of the band. It's also got a remix of "Tubthumping" by The Flaming Lips that's honestly not that good--but it's interesting.

The packaging of the DVD with the Readymades LP makes for a perfect match. The original album was very strong, the DVD is very entertaining. Recommended for the Chumbawamba fan.

I pity the fool who thinks that Chumbawamba can be classified as a "One Hit Wonder" group. READYMADES goes to show their breadth and talent as a musical group. If WYSIWYG is their "American"-themed album, then READYMADES is their British-folk-music-sample-mixed-with-breakbeats album. The starting track, "SALT FARE NORTH SEA" is incredibly catchy--as is "ALL IN VAIN" and "DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME." This album even has--gasp--a quasi-calm love song, "Home with Me"... the most ambient of Chumbawamba's albums so far, their lyrics still pack a social commentary punch. Worth the money, the time, and sharing it with friends.

For those of you who still relate this band to simply "that one song", you are in for a real treat and surprise. This album has a wonderful sound to it that even the naivest of listeners can enjoy. On top of it's smooth beats and nice sound, it also contains political messages the band is well known for... still not slamming them directly into your face like some other political bands. Buy this album. If you're disappointed, get a life.

the Readymades ...and Then Some sessions are very groovy! the songs in the Readymades CD are captivating and the sleeve notes are something to think about. the ...and Then Some DVD is a great window of opportunity to observe the faces that are Chumbawamba. rare clips from the 80's all the way to the Readymades era are filled with exclusive material you can't get anywhere in the world unless you have a Region Code 2 DVD player.