My two cents' worth
If there’s one thing summer gives everyone license to do (aside from cursing the sweltering weather), it’s the making of lists. Places to go, beaches to visit, books to read, resolutions to achieve…the list, well, goes on.
Now I realize this is coming quite late since summer is pretty much over, but one can never be too late when it comes to sharing the good stuff. Or at least the stuff I’ve found myself wholly enamored of since the start of the heat wave. Because, after all, sharing is caring.
Album I’ve been sort-of dying to hear: “Different Gear, Still Speeding” by Beady Eye
In the wake of Oasis’ untimely demise, some might remember Liam Gallagher’s roaring pronouncement that the band would return, unfortunately sans their chief songwriter, but bigger and better all the same. And after nearly two years without hearing from the self-proclaimed kings of ’90s Britpop, enter Beady Eye—Oasis incarnate.
Suffice it to say, my expectations about the new album were never really that high in the first place. For one thing, Noel was gone. He who was the lyrics, the brain, the rapier wit AND the haircut behind the group, gone. For another thing, there was Liam. And as much I love his surly outbursts, iconic vocals, and penchant for dishing out the most memorable one-liners (“It’s a good thing we won, because we were going to thrash the place if we didn’t“), he’s no wham-bam music-maker. That said, I only bought the album out of a preserved sense of loyalty to anything remotely Oasis-related—and because Liam without Noel was just too curious a case to pass up. It was a pleasant surprise, then, to find that ‘Different Gear, Still Speeding’ wasn’t just a sorry case of post-Oasis blues. In fact, I’d go so far as to call it a success all on its own. Not that the record is destined to be a generational classic or anything quite as ambitious (although in Liam’s mind, it probably is already); but you have to give the guys credit for managing to put a clear marker between Beady Eye and Oasis.
The result? A softer, wind-in-your-hair, sun-in-your-face, almost spontaneous kind of production. Fun, even. Without Noel to impose his own brand of “quality control,” it seems that Liam has finally managed to come into his own. A pretty impressive feat, considering how the pressure to excel made Oasis’ last album (“Dig Out Your Soul”) just a bit too tense. Here, the loosey-goosey feel of the whole thing allows the compositions to cruise along despite the absence of any big anthems (Champagne Supernova, anyone?) or Zippo lighter moments on the record. Credit goes to Liam’s sensational, John Lennon-esque delivery—which made the more forgettable tracks (Three Ring Circus) sound almost catchy—as well as to guitarists Andy Bell and Gem Archer, who inflected the album with a sound unheard of even during their Oasis days. Think ’50s jazz piano, a show-girl chorus, and good ol’ country riffs. A classic template. With a twist.
My top tracks: Millionaire, Four-letter Word, Beatles and Stones, Morning Son
Book I just picked up for no apparent reason and absolutely loved: The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
If you’re looking for that surefire mix of history, fantasy, and fable, look no further than this Booker Prize winning piece from the illustrious Salman Rushdie. Written in a language so sublime, I find myself just straining to absorb each beautiful imagery from the page (“In the day’s last light the glowing lake below the palace-city looked like a sea of molten gold.”). It’s hard to say no to a book that can jump between epochs, continents, and characters without so much as breaking a sweat—or losing sight of its unifying thread, for that matter. You have to wonder how Rushdie was able to accommodate the great hodge-podge of figures fighting for the reader’s undivided attention. Niccolo Machiavelli, Akbar the Great, Lady Black Eyes, Genghis Khan, and even the queen of England all in one trade paperback? Madness. And yet, it’s a madness that works. The story isn’t something you can simply devour in one sitting, even if Rushdie does make an effort to make sure the narrative is digestible. Rather, The Enchantress of Florence should be perused steadily, and at a comfortable pace. To be finished in good time. And while the skillful interweaving of plotlines—be it the imagined life of a Mughal princess or the secret kept by a traveling Florentine—colorful characters, and great, overarching themes about love, life, and beauty should be testament enough to the story’s inherent greatness; ultimately, it’s the Enchantress herself—Lady Black Eyes also known as Qara Köz—who imbues narrative with all its magic, mystery, and splendor. If behind every great work of art is a woman, then Rushdie’s novel is definitely no exception.
But who am I kidding? Trying to describe this book is like trying to describe color for a blind man. Do yourselves a favor and just take my word for it—you can’t get more imaginatively complex than this.
