Ciao Bella

Between his sobs, I found out from Lee Lynch that the totally awesome Chumbawumba had announced they were disbanding a couple of weeks ago. If you only know of the band from their hit "Tubthumping" (whisky drink, fall down, get up, etc.), read Aaron Lake Smith's brief history, though I have to take exception to his assessment of their later work as " acoustic lite-techno" - I would characterize it as a valiant attempt to revitalize the British folk-rock tradition. Here's a couple of samples - their (re)recording of the 17th-century "Diggers' Song" (late period) and their scathing rarity "Passenger List For Doomed Flight 1721" (middle post-punk electronic disco period) which is also available as a free legal download from the band's website. Poor Bono!