Readymades (album)
| Readymades | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Chumbawamba | ||||
| Released | 18 June 2002 | |||
| Recorded | 2001–2002 | |||
| Genre | Anarcho punk, hard rock | |||
| Length | 48:33 | |||
| Label |
MUTT (UK) Universal Records/Republic Records (US) | |||
| Chumbawamba chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
| Robert Christgau |  link |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  link |
Readymades is the tenth studio album by Chumbawamba. It continues the eclectic mix of techno, rock and folk of their former albums, albeit to a less ambitious scale than WYSIWYG. It also features vocal samples from contemporary and traditional folk artists, some of whom Chumbawamba would go on to work with in the future.
A special version of the album, Readymades And Then Some was released in 2003. It came with bonus track–peace anthem "Jacob's Ladder (Not in My Name)" and a bonus DVD.
The album's title refers to the use of everyday objects as art by Marcel Duchamp.
The album's artwork pays a homage to the I Have Nothing to Say And I'm Saying It poster designed by Alan Fletcher, which was in turn a self-portrait of German Dadaist John Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfelde).
Track listing
All tracks written, arranged and produced by Chumbawamba, except where noted.
| # | Song Name | Length | Sample(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Salt Fare, North Sea" | 4:28 | Lal Waterson & Olly Knight ("Salt fare, north sea"), from their song "Some Old Salty" | |
| 2 | "Jacob's Ladder" | 2:52 | Harry Cox's vocals from the song "The Pretty Ploughboy" the album A Century of Song ("And they sent him down into the war to be slain, be slain... / And they sent him down into the war to be slain.") Guitar from Davey Graham's song "Anji" |
"(Not in My Name)" version released as single; Written by Chumbawamba & Davey Graham |
| 3 | "All in Vain" | 4:15 | Janet Russell ("I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain...") | |
| 4 | "Home with Me" | 3:56 | Originally used a sample of the opening line of Elliott Smith's song Say Yes: "I'm in love with the world". The band couldn't secure the rights, and replaced the sample with themselves singing "Your world, my world". | |
| 5 | "If It Is to Be, It Is Up to Me" | 4:42 | Coope, Boyes & Simpson, lyrics ("And as we sail, blows wild the gale") from the poem "Bound for Van Diemen's Island" by Jock Purdon | |
| 6 | "Don't Try This at Home" | 4:02 | ||
| 7 | "Song for Len Shackleton" | 3:36 | Belle Stewart | See Len Shackleton |
| 8 | "Without Reason or Rhyme (The Killing of Harry Stanley)" | 3:45 | Joe Heany Janet Russell ("I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain...") Spoken introduction by Jeremy Hardy |
See Harry Stanley |
| 9 | "Don't Pass Go" | 4:18 | Coope, Boyes & Simpson ("Didn't he know it was a waste of time / All stitched up by a thin blue line") | |
| 10 | "One Way or the Other" | 4:02 | Dick Gaughan's song "Prisoner 562" (also known simply as "Prisoner"), written by Oswald Andrae ("Peace won't come by words alone") | |
| 11 | "When I'm Bad" | 4:21 | Coope, Boyes & Simpson, lyrics ("They try in vain our minds to chain") from the poem "Bound for Van Diemen's Island" by Jock Purdon | Vocals by Sally Riozzi |
| 12 | "Sewing Up Crap" | 3:45 | Vocals by Michelle Plum & Abi Riozzi | |
| 13 | "After Shelley" | 4:29 | Kate Rusby ("Sho lo, lu la lo, sho lo, lu la") | Written by Chumbawamba & Kate Rusby |
Album Detail
"When we decided to mimic Moby's sampling of traditional black American blues singers on his album Play, we turned to British folk music and its great voices. Kate Rusby, Dick Gaughan, Coope, Boyes & Simpson, Harry Cox. Our album Readymades was put together in a skewed homage to some of those voices. We half expected criticism from the folk world for messing around with the music, but found that the folk audience is assuredly open to change and diversity. Since then – even in the last four or five years – the modern folk voices and players have multiplied and expanded, folkies are looking younger and cooler and there are loads of new folk albums out every month. Good or bad, the music's often inspiring and exciting. That there's still a radical voice in folk music (and especially in its audience) makes it easy for us to write and play the way we're doing right now. Trying to be part of a radical tradition that, for us, encompasses our own histories (mostly northern working towns, The Beatles and punk rock!) and the history of rebel songs in the places we've lived." (description from here).
Personnel
- Jude Abbott – Trumpet, vocals
- Dunstan Bruce – Vocals, bruitist sound collages
- Lou Watts – Vocals, keyboards
- Boff – Guitar, merz
- Neil Ferguson – Bass, mouse
- Alice Nutter – Vocals, propaganda
- Harry Hamer – Drums, programming
- Danbert Nobacon – Vocals, ukulele
with
- Simon Pugsley – Trombone
- Toby Greenwood – Saxophone
- Rrose Selavy – Acoustic guitar
- James Reiss – Scratching
- Richard Mutt – Tea-chest bass
- Michelle Plum (credited as Michelle Plumb), Abi Riozzi, Sally Riozzi & Janet Russell – vocals