Album In Review

By Colin Macleod

Transference (Merge) - Spoon

Success in rock is a lot like baseball. That is not to say that Joe DiMaggio has much in common with Mick Jagger. Both performances require the ability to enter the zone and perform, and all enduring music seems to pull you into a place that is at once familiar and exciting. Upon listening to Transference, it is immediately apparent that you have returned to the realm of ‘the Spoon sound’. The tracks are carried alternatively by wavering synth and the minor key stomp that has become their trademark. The group’s seventh album presents a refined meditation on the themes and mood that have occupied the rest of their catalogue. Notice the refined swagger of “The Mystery Zone”, the grand stomp-and-stab of “Written In Reverse”, or the descending blues of “I Saw The Light”. These familiar forms are the product of a band that continues to become tighter, sonically complex, and more proficient in the studio arts. Transference isn’t a rehash but a confident assertion of purpose: one that has served Spoon well to this point.

Minimalism

Unlike many great songwriters, Spoon have been revered as much for what is absent on their tracks as for what they left on. Here, the masters of modern pop-rock minimalism seem more interested in laying up backgrounds of sound. The stark silence that haunts many of their previous tracks is replaced by airy, wavering instrumentation that shifts and cuts abruptly, creating the dynamic range so essential to a group working with simple song structures. Looped lyrics fly off Daniel’s voice during the chorus of “Is Love Forever?” and the multi-tracked, flanged vocals on “Who Makes Your Money” make the track one of the most beautiful the band has recorded to date.

Still Dancing

Although Transference doesn’t offer many surprises, you will still find yourself, unexpectedly, nodding along. This music does what rock should: it’s cool, catchy, and emotional. Complex song structures seem extraneous given the top-notch production and Daniel’s brilliant, plaintive vocal delivery. Still, one may be left wanting more, even upon repeated listens, than subtle studio whirs and an arresting wail. Of these eleven tracks, a handful stand out as ‘quality’ Spoon work. The previously available “Written In Reverse” is a strong, passionate denial that succeeds despite boring lyrics. “Who Makes Your Money” has a gorgeous, insulated ambience that recalls Thom Yorke “Atoms for Peace” with a giant, plodding bass line, warm, swelling synths and a shuffle of percussion. Despite a promising start, “The Mystery Zone” doesn’t go anywhere for five minutes and is weighed down by ill-advised synth strings in the chorus. The more straight forward “Got Nuffin” and “Is Love Forever?” are both decent showings in the ‘regular rock’ category. The other songs are all serviceable, if forgettable, in the canon. The only true embarrassment is “Goodnight Laura”, a coy, pedantic Beatles pastiche of a ballad which faintly recalls the much earlier, much better “Advance Cassette”, and clocks in at a merciful 2:28.

Given their trajectory following 2007’s stellar Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, one can’t help but feel let down by this release. No doubt, Spoon will continue to succeed with a well established live presence and increased coverage following each album. The slow, hard-won progress to this rank in rock assures them at least a few more turns at bat before irrelevancy. Hopefully, they’ll take a chance, somewhere down the line, and knock another one out of the park.

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Colin Macleod is a renaissance man living in Toronto, where he attends the University of Toronto for Literary Studies. He is a regular contributor to Urbane Magazine http://urbanemagazine.org/ and maintains a personal Tumblr account which may be found at http://aethine.com/.

A CRASH COURSE IN SCOTCH

Photo & article by MATTHEW GRAY for urbanemagazine.org

One of my favourite drinks has always been scotch.  Amidst comments by friends of being a “sixty-year old man”, due to my choice of drink, I have grown quite fond of the stuff.  It’s often called an ‘acquired taste’, due to the high alcohol content, and the very distinctive woody flavours.  The right scotch is similar to an amazing cup of coffee, bar of dark chocolate, or bottle of red wine.  It’s a drink that has a distinctive set of flavours, rather than just one.

The other day, I picked up a bottle of The Balvenie 12-year old single malt scotch.  For all you non-scotch drinkers out there, here’s a breakdown of what that means;

The age of a scotch refers to how long its sat in a barrel or cask maturing, and gaining the flavours of the wood.  In this case, it was aged in two different kinds of cask; one sherry oak, and one traditional oak.  This matters because it affects the flavour of the whisky.  In this case, it’s smooth and well-rounded.

Single malt means that it comes from just one distillery, rather than being a blend of whiskies.

Scotch refers to whiskey that is distilled in Scotland, rather than ‘whiskey’, which can come from the United States, Canada, and elsewhere.  Scotch meets a certain set of stringent quality criteria, and is often regarded by snobs and aficionados as being somewhat superior.

In any case, The Balvenie is a good ‘starter’ scotch; unlike a Glenfiddich, it is full bodied (it doesn’t just taste like rubbing alcohol), and is smooth.  The big question is whether the $59.99 pricetag at the LCBO is justified.  If you’re curious about exploring the world of scotch, the LCBO on Queen’s Quay has a tasting bar where you can explore various blends and malts for substantially less than the price in a bar.