Gomez

These aren't so obscure, particularly not to me. I was brought up listening to Gomez alongside such greats as Van Morrison and The Eagles; to me they're a classic and therefore it seems like they should be to everyone else.

Gomez are pretty successful, more so in America I believe (a song of theirs features in the movie American Beauty) - but quite a few people aren't aware of their music and  this is a sin, which I am here to rectify.

I'd say their best albums are Liquid Skin and Bring It On, the latter of which contains perhaps their most famous song, Whippin' Piccadilly. They're a British Indie band whose use of electric mixing and sounds mingle with jazz influences to create a unique style, funky and bluesy but also modern.

Ben Ottewell's voice is fantastic; powerful and gravelly - and the variety of voices and instruments they employ along with their imaginative, if occasionally nonsensical lyrics ("open hearted surgery never works" ... except it does, doesn't it lads?), are a joy to listen to. From the soulful sensuality of Rosalita (Liquid Skin) to the bouncy energy of Detroit Swing 66 (In Our Gun) and Get Myself Arrested's pure coolness (Bring It On), Gomez are consistently wonderful.

Check them and their entire back catalogue out, you won't regret it.

Transition

Iain Banks is a very well-known writer so this may not seem an appropriate book to review, but as a science fiction novel (not written however, under his sci-fi moniker of Iain M. Banks), this one may have slipped through the cracks slightly; none of my friends who are fans of his have read it.  Even if it's not obscure enough I don't care - anyone who hasn't read it, should.  And since the recent news about his terminal cancer diagnosis, it seems germane to pay tribute to one of my favourite British authors.  The world will be a lesser place without him.


Transition is set in a world wherein the existence of parallel universes had been proven.  Selected people are able to travel, or transition, between these universes with the aid of a drug developed by the inhabitants of an adjoining Earth known as Calbefraques.  These people are overseen and governed by an all-seeing and corrupt parliamentary council known as The Concern.

The characters followed during the novel are largely from the aforementioned version of Earth although they flit between various universes, including our own.  The main protagonist is a hired assassin called Temudjin Oh, enlisted by The Concern to perform tasks of varying skill, violence and size to aid the manipulation of history in multiple worlds.  Through the eyes of those with a clear view of the Concern's overall intentions (such as the mysterious Mrs Mulverhill and the psychopathic Madame d'Ortolan) as well as relatively ignorant outsiders like the cynical entrepreneur Adrian Cubbish of London, Earth (ours), we see the effects of The Concern's actions and the uprising of those intent upon bringing them to an end.

With a twisting and turning plot entangling Temudjin in a battle of political interests, revolutionaries, dangerous experimentation and lethal missions, the storyline gradually unfolds, drawing you in.  Iain Banks has achieved that rare quality in a work of fiction - a storyline rich and complex enough to intrigue and entice the reader, without alienating them with unnecessarily convoluted descriptions or back stories.  It is as complicated as it needs to be without it becoming a negative thing (a fine line often tripped upon, especially by sci-fi and fantasy writers).

Fun, exciting, sexy, filled with action and interesting characters, Transition fulfils everything you could want from a sci-fi novel.  Perfectly crafted and brilliantly written, it's definitely worth a read even if you don't usually go for this genre.
               

Iain Banks