It’s Sunday morning and despite losing an hour’s sleep, I’m sitting comfortably in my favorite space in the house with a waking neighborhood at my back, a gently snoring dog off my left shoulder, and a hot cup of coffee to my right. As the morning sunlight slowly fills the room, I am once again — thanks to my sister Cathleen — transported to the west coast of Ireland and awash in the aching beauty and humor that is the writing of Niall Williams. This time it’s his novel History of the Rain that has finally wormed its way to the top of my reading pile. Some of you may remember that the last time I read a book by Williams, I was compelled to share the experience with you. I found This is Happiness to be the perfect literary balm for a mid-pandemic summer, and everyone I sent the book to agreed. If you didn’t find a copy of it on your doorstep this past summer, take my word for it and order a copy from Amazon or your local bookstore. You won't be disappointed.
Niall Williams is a truly gifted storyteller, and History of the Rain is well on its way to joining This is Happiness on my ever-changing "Best-Books-of-All-Time list." His work fills me with inspiration and a belief in endless possibilities. I am awestruck by his ability to spin a yarn, craft a sentence, turn a phrase, and play with words. All the books I’ve read by him, including Love Letters, are similar in theme and tone, but feature a unique plot and cast of characters to convey his doctrine of the life-sustaining power of storytelling. Likewise, Barry Adamson’s musical compositions resonate with me because of his genius to infinitely re-arrange a finite number of musical notes to create melody, harmony, texture and rhythm that is, on one hand, unlike anything else on my shelves — and on the other hand, familiar in enough ways to pique my interest and appeal to my life-long love for spy jazz.
Soul Murder was released in 1992 between Moss Side Story and Oedipus Schmoedipus. It’s an album that reflects Adamson’s creative infatuation with underworld soundscapes and his talent for composing lush, cinematic music that enwraps jazz, soul, rock, big band, and hip-hop, with sampled sound effects and snatches of dialogue like police tape around a crime scene. Although it’s not a soundtrack per se, each song on the album is evocative and immediately transports the listener to a murky world of espionage and intrigue, murder and mayhem with haunting interludes of sombre beauty like a body in permanent repose.
Once again I’m going to eschew the obvious needle drop: a ferocious, ska-soaked rendition of Monty Norman’s classic “James Bond Theme” with a brilliant preamble that ends by proclaiming: “In case there is trouble or we’re under attack, have no fear because Bond is Black!” Instead, the Happy Medium Song of the Day continues it’s tour of Barry Adamson’s “room” with “Split,” where suddenly there’s a knock at the door…
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