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Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, ART, IDEAS | www.spikemagazine.com thinking it may not be that bad. That’s not the only time on this record that the grouchiest sod recording today shows an uncharacteristically warm side. In ‘Breaking The Rules’, a wonderfully light uplifting backing carries a mockingly bemused tale of a man “who tried to break his mind breaking the rules”. Probably the closest Smith will ever come to a wry self-mocking acceptance of his popular image. A sign of the comfort-zone probably unthinkable just a few years ago, during the sorry days of on-stage punchups in New York. It seems his fourth (or is it fifth?) marriage, this time to keyboardist Eleni has brought forth something at least bordering on contentment. I’ve found most Fall albums in the past decade, however many gems in the first half, tend to run out of steam a bit on side two. Fall Heads Roll bucks this trend more than any other. Even the sillier ones like ‘Bo Demmick’ (a drum-based-track with a concentrated stream of abuse against one hapless individual – main refrain – ”Hey fat-eh!” while conceding “He was called BUY The Fall music online from and … a lot of things”) make you actually want to listen all the way through. The first track is the worst track, and there is not one silly piece of crap on the whole product. Lover that I am, that is rare. (Put it this way: would you like to listen to a compilation album consisting of ‘WMC Blob 59’, ‘Bug Day’, ‘And This Day’, ‘Fireworks’, ‘Mollusc In Tyroll’? Half of the Levitate album? Well, not me.) There’s a fantastic sound going on all the way though here. I thought I’d forgotten it, but here it is again. That others may hear it for the first time is a minor miracle. If you wanted to turn a friend on to The Fall you’d be just as well playing this to them as the early rockapunkabilly days or the mid-80s Brix poppier rockier period. That in itself is an incredible achievement. Its not just that you couldn’t imagine another band being anything like The Fall ever again, you couldn’t really imagine anything being like The Fall ever again. The blooded moon goes on shining, and is no less respected, and nor should they be. � 212 More Spike email RSS Facebook Twitter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, ART, IDEAS | www.spikemagazine.com Interview [published April 2002] Stefan Fatsis: Letter Better Jonathan Kiefer discusses the torrid world of competitive Scrabble playing with Word Freak author Stefan Fatsis Sure, Stefan Fatsis is nice, but he’s also a freak. That is, a passionate aficionado – and an unusual specimen. Fatsis is a Scrabble expert. He has written a book about the game, and can speak authoritatively on its mechanics, history, and cultural significance. And he can play, better than most people in the world. But – and this is important – although his Scrabble skill is orders of magnitude greater than yours or mine may ever be, Fatsis is not likely to use the phrase “orders of magnitude,” in conversation or in print, without quotation marks. Nor to use words like “azido” and “oiticica” and certainly not “vogie,” because he understands that such words really aren’t usable, not even on standardized tests. In Scrabble, however, they’re gold. “You can argue that the process of getting good at Scrabble is the most inclusive use of language,” the clean-cut and bespectacled Fatsis said recently, enjoying the down time between a Reno, Nevada Scrabble tournament and a Berkeley, California bookstore appearance. “You’re using words that don’t get used. I love that!” Thus is Fatsis precisely the appropriate narrator for Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius BUY Stefan Fatsis books online from and And Obsession In The World Of Competitive Scrabble Players. He is also, of course, the main character. “It is sort of like Plimpton,” he offered, meaning George Plimpton, the journalist-cum-temporary, tongue-in-cheek Detroit Lions quarterback. “Except I got good.” Do not think it was easy for Fatsis, normally a mildmannered Wall Street Journal sportswriter, to become a Scrabble expert, especially in a mere couple of years, and especially while committed to writing a book about trying to become a Scrabble expert in a mere couple of years. He devotes many pages to self-flagellation for a stubbornly intermediate ability. “The hard part about it was wanting the narrative to turn out a certain way,” he said. “It did add to the pressure. I was fortunate that I was able to get good enough. Maybe it would have turned out differently otherwise.” After a moment, he added, “Or maybe I would have kept playing until I made it.” As you might deduce, Word Freak keeps its subtitle’s promise, and the gravitational constant in Scrabble’s universe is obsession. But, as Fatsis explains in 213 More Spike email RSS Facebook Twitter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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