MC Recommends: A Tina Turner single with a story; Kolkata Old-Fashioned at Chef Sujan Sarkar’s Indienne in London; an 8K TV that costs half a crore rupees; adventure motorcycle KTM390’s India launch; an aniseed-flavoured vodka; a book that takes you beyond disruption as an economic idea; and Lexus collaborates with Abraham & Thakore on limited edition jackets.
experiences
Tina Turner’s River Deep, Mountain High
“You are the epitome of power and passion,” Beyoncé wrote on her Instagram tribute, echoing the sentiments of millions of Tina Turner’s fans. The iconic rockstar, who recently passed away, has left behind an unmatched legacy. It is difficult to pick just one song to remember her by. But if we had to choose, here is a single that isn’t just a great Tina number, but also has a unique story.
The song River Deep, Mountain High was produced by American music producer Phil Spector. It is said to be his best-ever song, thanks to his unique ‘Wall of Sound’ technique. Turner was collaborating with her controlling and abusive husband, Ike Turner, on the single. Spector wanted to keep him out of the studio, so he came up with an unusual contract. The album and single would be credited to Ike & Tina Turner, but Ike was paid $20,000 to stay away from the studio, with only Tina’s vocals being used on the record.
Tina later narrated how she was astounded to find the producer had assembled a full orchestra and choir to create his famous ‘Wall of Sound’. Also called the Spector Sound, it is a music production formula developed by him. Sound from the recording studio was fed to speakers inside specially constructed rooms with very thick and hard walls. Microphones then picked up the reverberated sound in the rooms and fed them back to Spector in the control room. This natural echo added a layer, a depth to the single. “I was just a girl from Tennessee who got caught up with Ike and became a singer,” Tina wrote in her autobiography. “Never, ever had I seen anything like this, except in a movie.”
Several music critics say this is Tina Turner’s finest recording, one she gave so much of herself to. Listen to this recording here.
restaurants
Cocktail: the old-fashioned way
At his restaurant Indienne, Chef Sujan Sarkar serves two tasting menus that re-imagine classic Indian recipes through a progressive lens. On the menu, for instance, is a passion fruit pani puri that packs a tart punch and a mushroom éclair crowned with goat cheese and shaved truffle. Equally interesting is Indienne’s cocktail menu, designed by ex-Masque bartender, Chetan Gagan. The recent addition to this menu: two Kamet Single malt-infused cocktails.
Truffle Old Fashioned uses the single malt wash with burnt butter and white truffle oil, stirred with white truffle Okinawa artisan black sugar syrup, and 3 dashes of black truffle bitters, garnished with cherries compressed in white truffle oil. But the more interesting cocktail is the Kolkata Old Fashioned, in which the single malt is folded in with fresh ginger and roasted mango elixir, topped with a spritz of Islay Whisky, and dust of raspberry chaat masala. If you are in London, you know where to head for your evening tipple.
The drinks cost around $25 each.
books
Beyond Disruption by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
Conventional wisdom tells us that there can be no growth without disruption, particularly in business. In a new book, the authors of Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, who are professors at INSEAD, take a contrary view. They write: “Nondisruptive creation opens a path for all of us to innovate and grow without displacing industries, companies, or jobs — by solving brand-new problems and creating brand-new opportunities beyond existing industry boundaries, whether those problems and opportunities are existing but unexplored or newly emerging.”
Instead of disrupting existing ideas, they recommend looking for opportunities to innovate and solve new problems: like the loneliness of the ageing, the need for privacy as new technologies encroach into all aspects of our lives, alternative energy options, or even life beyond earth!
gadgets
An 8k TV by Bang & Olufsen
8K TVs are never cheap, but Bang & Olufsen’s luxe 97-inch 8K TV, the Beovision Harmony, has pipped them all in the expense stake. Besides a large lounge, you’ll need pretty deep pockets to acquire this masterpiece. At Rs 50 lakh, the 97-inch TV costs the same as a luxury car.
Bang & Olufsen’s design aesthetics marks the TV: The motorized wood and aluminium speaker-covers glide apart to reveal the largest LG-made OLED on the market, affording stellar picture quality. Bang & Olufsen’s Atelier Service also offers bespoke design. The Beovision Harmony can be customized with a façade dressed in either oak wood, natural aluminium, brass-tone aluminium with smoked oak, or bronze-tone aluminium with walnut. At the heart of the TV are several advanced core technologies, most notably a new α (Alpha) 9 Gen 3 AI Processor. This processor promises to further finesse the picture quality and enable a host of specialized features for various types of content.
automobile
A fully-kitted KTM 390
The famous Austrian motorcycle and bicycle manufacturer has finally launched a fully-kitted version of the 390 Adventure in India. Unlike the standard 390 Adventure, which comes in a Dark Galvano Black and Atlantic Blue paint scheme, this one is available only in Rally Orange to better resemble KTM’s legendary Dakar Rally bikes.
KTM 390, a legacy rally-ready motorcycle, enjoys a cult following. Its fully adjustable suspension and spoke wheels in a vibrant rally orange colour make it a technologically cutting-edge adventure bike.
food
Smoke Lab’s gluten-free Aniseed Vodka
Smoke Lab Vodka’s Aniseed Vodka is an Indian twist to the classic. The delicate mix of saunf (fennel) and liquorice ensures that it has a creamy, sweet taste, which is impossible to find in vodka.
Smoke Lab’s Aniseed is distilled five times using ultra-modern charcoal filtration. Moving away from potatoes, the homegrown small-batch vodka uses Indian basmati for distillation. The delicately spiced Aniseed variant was awarded a Double Gold, Gold and Silver medal, respectively, at the World Spirits Design Competition in San Francisco earlier this year.
fashion
Lexus x Abraham & Thakore’s limited edition jackets
Lexus x Abraham & Thakore collaboration is clearly a match made in luxury heaven. The luxury sedan maker and the designer duo have come together for a collection of limited-edition luxury men’s jackets.
Lexus Life is a range of handcrafted jackets crafted using the Trapunto technique – layers of tabby silk are stitched together to create a layered, tone-on-tone effect. The Corozo buttons are made from the nut of a palm tree, which is often known as ‘vegetable ivory’.
The women’s puffer jacket features a contrast stitch and is quilted in pure shot. Like all of Abraham & Thakore’s signature work, the collection reinterprets traditional craftsmanship in modern ways.
