More about: Noel Gallagher
'If shaking your ass for a living is considered art...'
Noel Gallagher has come out in support of Beck after his interruption from Kanye West at the Grammys, saying that his musicianship (particularly on the banjo) makes him more worthy of his award than Beyonce.
Speaking to Stereogum about the incident where Kanye West interrupted Beck on stage at the Grammys before announcing "Beck needs to respect artistry and he should've given his award to Beyonce", Gallagher is firmly in the singer songwriter's camp.
Addressing Kanye West he explained: "Well, No.1, somebody should buy that boy a dictionary. And he needs to look up the fucking term 'artistry' and then see if it reminds him, in any way, of Beyoncé. If shaking your ass for a living is considered art, then she’s right up there, no? Can I also point out: Beck can play the banjo. The banjo. That makes him a genius."
Warming to his theme, Gallagher also complained about the number of people who work on a Beyonce record. "We could boil this down to two separate things," he said. "Beck writes all his own music, OK? There you go, the end. You have to employ a fucking team of songwriters and eight producers and nine engineers, or you can sing it, hum it, play it yourself, I don’t know. You decide. I know what side of the fence I’m on."
Elsewhere in the interview, Gallagher touches on a number of topics including Kanye's song with Paul McCartney ("I’m not interested. I fucking love him dearly, but if he was singing with Kanye that’d be different. Is he just like, noodling around on piano?") and Jack White's recent rider leak ("I don’t understand the culture of people poking fun at artists because they’ve got requirements on the rider which probably, speaking from experience, Jack White probably had very little to fucking do with, d’you know what I mean?").
Despite recently announcing "It doesn't look like I'm playing Glastonbury" Gallagher is still among the rumoured acts to top the bill at the festival this year. He has announced however that he is is headlining London's Calling Festival as well as appearing at T In The Park.
Gallagher's other upcoming UK tour dates are below.
For tickets and information, visit here.
Belfast, Odyssey Arena (March 3)
Dublin, 3 Arena (4)
Nottingham, Capital FM Arena (6)
Glasgow, The SSE Hydro (7)
Manchester, Arena, (9)
London, O2 Arena (10)
Oasis - 'Waiting For The Rapture': Taken from the band's underrated Dig Out Your Soul, this song signals an evolution from their '90s Britpop sound that makes it even more tragic that they never recorded another album.
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - 'The Death Of You And Me': The instrumental to this song is surprisingly light and fluffy, but Gallagher's vocals, even when they're in falsetto, provide just enough grit to cut through any potential sickliness, and strike a perfect balance.
Oasis - 'The Importance Of Being Idle': The opening guitar riff itself is a strong enough intro to justify the song's existence, but the "I don't mind" bridge gently slides the rug out from under the listener's feet just enough for them to stand up and pay attention. The song builds to a chorus which never quite arrives, and yet it never feels incomplete.
Oasis - 'Live Forever': The first Oasis single to reach the top ten in the UK, 'Live Forever' manages to be both euphoric and melancholic, delivering moving, introspective lyrics in an entirely unsentimental tone. Always a favourite at festivals.
Oasis - 'Don't Look Back In Anger': With lyrics like "Please don't put your life in the hands of a rock 'n' roll band who'll throw it all away", 'Don't Look Back In Anger' is an intelligent, nostalgic, self-deprecating beauty.
Oasis - 'Stop Crying Your Heart Out': One of fairly few Oasis songs to be accompanied, for the most part, by a single piano, with very little guitar. The lyrics are unashamedly sentimental, yet with none of the saccharine falsity often associated with sentimentality. When Gallagher sings: "All of the stars are fading away, just try not to worry, you'll see them some day", you believe every word.
Oasis - 'The Masterplan': "That's my favourite song I have ever written I think," said Noel of 'The Masterplan'. "I was really fucking proud of it and I still am." Rightly so.
The Chemical Brothers - 'Setting Sun': Noel provided the vocals for this neo-psychedelia number, and though it's the probably the instrumental parts that are the most iconic, when the unmistakable tones of Noel Gallagher cut through the electronica, the song steps up a level from its contemporaries.
Oasis - 'Champagne Supernova': Noel admits that "some of the lyrics were written when I was out of it." That explains the chorus. We've no idea what "Someday you will find me caught beneath a landslide in a Champagne Supernova in the sky" means, and we don't think Oasis do either. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, 'Champagne Supernova' is one of the band's greatest songs.
Oasis - 'Wonderwall': Never has a song that is essentially all on one note been quite this effective. It's hardly a shining beacon of Liam Gallagher's vocal gymnastics, and yet it's got a certain undefineable charm that's caused it to become quietly iconic.
More about: Noel Gallagher
