Sorry for not having written more often last month. I feel like I’m still mentally digging out from all that snow. This week has erased almost all memory of 24+ hour snows, but I still harbor a fear that we may get nipped again before March is out.
In the meantime, bask in the glorious sunshine!
I’m sorry, but a Sam Peckinpah film with a happy ending is hardly a Sam Peckinpah film.
I’ve been listening to Spoon’s Transference for the past couple weeks. They’re on of my favorite bands. Britt Daniel has become a great lyricist and the songs have gotten catchier with every album. That is, until now.
I heard an interview with the band last night that made Transference more appealing than it is. Daniel and Jim Eno made the album’s weaknesses sound like strengths. There’s no hiding the fact that their efforts to make an “uglier” record succeeded, so why not embrace it?
They knew what sound they wanted and produced the record themselves, but that’s not the issue. Transference is immediately recognizeable as a Spoon record; the problem is that it’s not a very good one. You’d have to go back to the daring, equally uneven Kill the Moonlight to hear something as infuriating as this. Sequencing, not production, stops Transference in its tracks.
Spoon buried the best songs in the middle third of the album, starting with “Written in Reverse” and ending with the plaintive strains of “Goodnight Laura,” a song that veers dangerously close to maudlin which wouldn’t be so bad if this weren’t a Spoon album.
We’ve come to expect great things. Their sound might be best described as Billy Joel songs as reimagined by Wire. Songs like “Sister Jack” and “The Underdog” burnished their reputation as a band on the cusp of greatness. There’s nothing of that caliber here.
Transference should’ve been Spoon’s magnum opus, the product of two decades worth of hard work from a band at the height of its power. Instead it’s the album you can tell the uninitiated they can safely ignore.
The Philadelphia pizza scene is horrible. I know Doug Wallen dedicated a small part of his life to assessing the Philly pizza culture and I’m sorry to not have taken part. I have, however, sampled more than my fair share of pizza and, contrary to popular belief, never favored any particular spot just out of dumb neighborhood loyalty.
Part of the problem is that people will settle for bad pizza. I would not. I tried pizzas all over town in a quest to find something I could honestly endorse without reservation. It was impossible. People would recommend their favorite spots and I’d bring a pie home only to discover their favorite wasn’t up to snuff.
Helen and I had been feasting on Gianfranco’s pizza, which I would pick up down at 3rd and Market. It wasn’t bad and was a far cry better than most of the delivery spots that serve Port Fishington. (I’m sorry Rustica, but your pizzas are all too smoky and soggy for my personal taste. Santucci’s isn’t bad, actually, but outside the delivery range.)
We decided enough was a enough and driving that distance for pizza was just silly. We searched the neighborhood for something decent, but Cassizzi’s wasn’t cutting it. We finally had to break down and take the nuclear option: calling ahead for pickup at Tacconelli’s.
I’ve put this off for some time. We know it by reputation and had even tried it a couple times, but weren’t so blown away that it seemed worth placing a pizza order at 11 a.m. Pizza is a spontaneous dinner!
Well, after two consecutive nights of Tacconelli’s pizza, I can safely say we’ve been converted. It’s worth the hassle, especially if you live within five minutes drive of Tacconelli’s like we do. We’re no longer pizza nomads, wandering Philly’s desert.
I recently had a stroke of bad luck with my otherwise marvelous Macbook. It was acting funny, so I tried to restart. It stalled out and I tried doing a hard reboot.
Oops.
I found myself staring at a grey screen, the fan whirring out of control. Fun!
Now I’m trying to figure out whether I should take it to an Apple store, or just visit a repair service now that my Applecare term has ended.
Feel free to offer your two cents in the comments!
