Posted in Paper Chase

Monica Ali – Brick Lane

Posted on by Michael

Monica Ali’s first novel, Brick Lane, was published in 2003 and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The story follows Nazneen as she grows up in a village in Bangladesh before moving to London in an arranged marriage to someone double her age.  Chanu is a good man but full of bluster and certainly not the one she would have chosen for herself.  While raising two children, Chanu decides that living on the lower end of British society is not for him and wants the family to move back to Bangladesh.

The rest of the family is resistant, while Nanzeen looks for a life outside of the marriage.  Part of the book deals with Nanzeen’s sister who stayed in Bangladesh and lives a very different life. That part of the story that takes up sections of the book was not as compelling and at times took away from the main story. Overall, it is an interesting look into a world that some of us would not normally see.

7/10

Posted in Paper Chase

Greg McKeown – essentialism

Posted on by Michael

Originally published 10 years ago, Greg McKeown’s book essentialism is a New York Times bestseller and regularly shows up on productivity reading lists to this day. The book focuses on three main areas of evaluate, eliminate and execute.  Look at the core things in your life/job and concentrate on those few things that will see you get further rather than trying to do it all.  Ex – say no to meetings and assignments that will distract you from your core pursuits. Or, instead of having a closet full of clothes that you never wear, get it down to the basics of what you wear regularly and donate the rest.

Block out the noise, lose the Fear of Missing Out, enjoy doing less and not having to keep up with the Joneses. With social media, this does get harder to do and a person can often feel like they are not doing enough.  It is an interesting book and surely helpful to many.  As a person who can say no in many situations, except in buying too much music, I didn’t get quite as much out of it but it gets a slight bump in ratings as it is one that I will likely refer back to from time to time. 

7.5/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Liam Gallagher John Squire – Liam Gallagher John Squire (2024)

Posted on by Michael

At the end of his barnstorming sets at Knebworth in 2022, Liam Gallagher brought out John Squire to perform the Oasis classic, “Champagne Supernova”.  From there the stage was set for the two to collaborate on an album of songs that Squire was writing. The Gallagher/Squire team have done a fine job of picking out the singles as those are the best on the album.  “Raise Your Hands” has a stomping beat with much riffing and a catchy chorus. “Mars to Liverpool” has a very lad aware lyric of “Jesus Christ, about last night/I can only apologize” and the duo channel their vintage selves on the five-minute lead single, “Just Another Rainbow”. The most Stone Roses sounding track is the heartbeat of the album and the one truly great song.

Those three tracks are surrounded by similar sounding ones that are less memorable.  “I’m So Bored” has a punk rock attitude without the snarl, “You’re Not The Only One” adds some barrelhouse piano to the sound, and the whole thing ends with “Mother Nature’s Song”. The latter being a downtempo one with mostly basic rhyming lyrics but still somehow manages to breakthrough to be a decent closer.  Hardly life changing stuff from the older lads but a solid enough listen for those pushing 50 and beyond.  

6/10

Posted in Paper Chase

Charles Bukowski – Post Office

Posted on by Michael

Charles Bukowski’s first novel, Post Office, was published in 1971. Taking on the persona of Henry Chinaski, the book is a semi-autobiographical time of Bukowski’s life where he worked as a letter carrier, quit to bet on horse racing, then returned a few years later to become a mail clerk. In between, Chinaski has several boozy relationships with various women that never work out. 

A highly readable book, Post Office is a non-judgmental look at a way of life for someone with little ambition other than to get through the day with a, roof over his head, lady on one arm and a case of beer in the other.

9/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (1970)

Posted on by Michael

The first sounds heard on Black Sabbath’s 1970 debut album is rain and church bells. The opening title track is an ominous song, full of doom and dread about a figure dressed in black standing in front of the person, it’s a terror as Ozzy Osbourne screams, “OH NO…”.  A new sound was born with that song, one that would influence thousands of other bands. 

Short, clipped Ozzy vocals punctuate the chorus on the harmonica driven “The Wizard”. A heavy, bluesy groove envelopes the standalone track “Wicked World” where Ozzy sings, “people go to work just to earn their bread/While people just across the sea are couniting their dead”.  On the North American release, several tracks are stuck together to form a suite of music.  Geezer Butler’s bass solo on “Basically” leads into “N.I.B.”, a song about lucifer falling in love. The last suite of music closes out the album including a cover of “Warning”.

The Black Sabbath debut is a classic metal album.  The riffs that Tommy Ionni spreads across the almost 40 minute album that was reportedly recorded in one 12 hour session.  To add to the legend, a mysterious woman graces the cover, distorted and standing in front of a medieval castle. Turns out, the world was ready for the hard blues sound mixed in with what we now call doom metal, the album went top ten in the UK.  Welcome to 70s rock!

9/10